Hakeem Olajuwon made it to the Finals very early in his career, then years later when Mike retired.
What does that tell me? If he had been surrounded with the right pieces, he would have contended more. Those two rings mean a lot, even if Mike wasn't around. He wasn't teamed up with multiple All-Stars, yet did a back to back? Look at how competitive the West was back then when he was winning and when he wasn't.
All rings are not created equal in my world.
That's to say nothing of the fact that, he retired top 10 in points, rebounds, blocks, and STEALS. Nobody has EVER done that. EVER. Not only that, but dude offensive skills were ridiculous.
I remember a session of Open Court, and the way the players talked about him, you could tell that they regarded him more highly than most fans did, and thats because they actually had to play him. No one can do it alone, but what all he brought to the table individually, we ain't gon' see that again for awhile.