TV host known for click bait and stirring the pot went too far this time
Bayless says Ginobili was Better than Dream
Feb 19, 2019, 8:06 am
Photo by Tim DeFrisco/ALLSPORT/Getty Images
By now most fans of sports talk shows on radio and TV can figure out that Skip Bayless is all about stirring the pot for the sake of clicks, retweets, and shares. I have found myself caught in the middle of one of his ludicrous takes and responding to him on social media as if he would actually have data and back up to validate his ridiculous opinion.
It's all fun and games until he involves your favorite team or the best players in your franchise's history and then it becomes personal. Yesterday he went a bit too far for most Rockets fans and fans of NBA basketball in general when he said Manu Ginobili was a better player than Hakeem Olajuwon. There is fodder and playful banter, and then there is blasphemy and blatant disrespect. This comparison blows right by the first option and firms plants itself smack dab in the middle of the latter. You can't compare apples to oranges and you can't compare the Dream to Ginobili.
About the only way you can make a case for the Spurs legend over Olajuwon is to count rings and NBA championships. Hakeem has the two titles that he won in the back-to-back seasons of 1993-94 and 1994-95 with the Rockets, while Ginobili has four rings all with San Antonio. Aside from this catagory, the rest of the comparrison is so heavily weighted in Olajuwon's favor it's not even funny and for Rockets fans it's downright insulting.
I mean Ginobli was a fantastic international player winnig a gold medal for his home country of Argentina as well as a Euroleague championship. When you add his four NBA titles he is one of only two players in the history of the game to have won those three prestigious championships in a career. He played 16 years in the NBA and made the playoffs in 15 of those 16 seasons. He was the NBA 6th man of the Year in 2008, All-Rookie 1st team in 2002-03 and a 2 time All-Star. He averaged 13 points per game, 3.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists over his NBA career and Basketball Reference gives him a 20% chance to be ellected to the Hall of Fame for his total body of work. Whether or not he makes the Hall is not the issue, the fact that Bayless decided to make the outlandish comparrison to Hakeem and the nerve to say he was better is what is so offensive to so many. It's a compliment to Manu but a slap in the face to Olajuwon.
Hakeem Olajuwon averaged 21.8 points per game in his storied career along with 11 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 3 blocks and 1.7 steals over an 18 year career. He was a 12 time all-star that played in the postseason 15 times, was a two time defensive player of the year, two time Finals MVP, one time NBA Most valuable player, six time all-NBA first team, five time all defensive first team and all- rookie first team in 1984-85.
There is hardly a conversation about the best and most athletic and comlete centers ever to play the game that doesn't include Olajuwon. He is the all-time leader in blocked shots in NBA history and the only player ever to win the MVP, Defensive player of the year and Finals MVP in the same season. When he retired he was in the top 10 all-time in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocks. He is the greatest player in the history of the Houston Rockets and his No. 34 has been retired by the team.
To top it all off he appeared in back-to-back Final 4's with the University of Houston and was named to the NBA's top 50 players of all-time. If you want to compare "the Dream" to other players in NBA history, you start with names like Jabbar, Chamberlin and Russell, not Ginobli. The numbers don't lie and neither do the awards and accolades. This is one debte Bayless needs to skip just to save face and attempt to salvage a shred of credibility. Dream on Skip, dream on!
The Houston Texans addressed their most glaring needs by selecting offensive tackle Aireontae Ersery and a pair of Iowa State receivers in the NFL draft.
“The idea was to try to add good players, good people that are young, tough, hungry, that want to win, that put the team first,” general manager Nick Caserio said. “These picks exemplify that.”
The Texans got players that could help them quickly despite not picking in the first round for a second straight season. They didn’t have a first-round pick last year because of trades, including the one to move up and get defensive end Will Anderson with the third overall pick in the 2023 draft.
This season they shipped the 25th overall pick to the Giants on Thursday in exchange for several picks.
Their first selection in this draft was receiver Jayden Higgins, who was taken with the second pick of the second round. They added Ersery later in the second round with the 48th overall selection and picked up Higgins’ teammate Jaylin Noel in the third round.
Ersery could be Houston’s left tackle of the future after the offseason trade of five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Ersery started 38 games at left tackle over three seasons at Minnesota where he was a third-team All-American last season.
He comes to Houston to help shore up a line that allowed C.J. Stroud to be sacked 52 times last season, which was the second most in the NFL.
The Texans added veteran tackle Cam Robinson this offseason and Ersery will compete with him to protect Stroud’s blind side as the Texans attempt to reach the playoffs for a third straight season under coach DeMeco Ryans.
The 6-foot-6, 331-pound Ersery, who was the Big Ten’s Offensive Lineman of the Year last season, can’t wait to play with Stroud.
“C.J. Stroud is a baller,” Ersery said. “I’m so honored to be a guy to help out and come in and help protect him. I’m just super stoked and I know I’m going to a great organization.”
Cyclones teammates
Higgins and Noel join the Texans to add more depth at receiver to complement star Nico Collins with Tank Dell recovering from a serious knee injury and Stefon Diggs gone to the Patriots.
Higgins, who has been compared to Collins, had 87 receptions for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns last season for the Cyclones and Noel added 80 catches for 1,194 yards and eight scores.
After Higgins was drafted, Noel never imagined he’d be heading to Houston, too. He shared on social media a fortune he received from a Chinese restaurant that read: “Look forward to an unplanned reunion with an out-of-touch friend.”
Noel later shared his feelings about joining Higgins on the roster.
“I was surprised,” Noel said. “But they’ve seen that 1-2 punch all year. They’re going to be very happy with those selections for sure.”
Caserio said a talk with Iowa State coach Matt Campbell on Friday helped him make his final decisions on the receivers.
“He was effusive in his… belief and praise of both Higgins and Noel,” Caserio said.
The Texans now have three receivers from Iowa State on their roster after drafting Xavier Hutchinson in the sixth round in 2023.
Overcoming obstacles
Ersery and his four siblings were raised by a single mother and experienced homelessness when he was a child despite her working multiple jobs. He is thrilled to have put those struggles behind him as he embarks on his next chapter.
“I’ve got that hardworking mentality from her,” he said. “So, growing up times were tough but now I’ve got my foot in the door and I look forward to trying to change some things around.”
Caserio loves guys with work ethic like Ersery’s and said that’s one reason why they believe he’ll fit in with the Texans.
“If you come in and put your head down and work and just get better, take advantage of your opportunities, you’re going to have a shot to have success and do a lot of good things for the organization,” he said.
What’s in a name?
Along with Noel, the Texans added another Jaylin in this draft with they picked USC cornerback Jaylin Smith in the third round.
“We got Jaylins, and we got all these guys around. It’s going to be hard to keep them straight,” Caserio joked on Friday after they picked Smith.
Then on Saturday, the Texans added another player with the same name, albeit with a different spelling, when they took Penn State safety Jaylen Reed in the sixth round.
That gives them four players with the same name and three different spellings as the three rookies join starting safety Jalen Pitre on the team.
Doubling up
Along with drafting two players from Iowa State, the Texans also added a pair of players from Southern California when they picked running back Woody Marks in the fourth round after drafting Smith in the third.
Marks ran for a career-high 1,133 yards with nine touchdowns for the Trojans last season after transferring from Mississippi State.
Be sure to watch the video below as NFL.com Draft Analyst Lance Zierlein shares his thoughts on all the Texans' picks!