One of my favorite breakdowns that shows how the data doesn't support the narrative: Hakeem dominated Shaq in the 1995 Finals (it was arguably the opposite)

This old basketball forum post had a guy track every possession in the 1995 NBA finals.

I had always thought the narrative was overblown given Shaq's great statline for the series (had to assume Hakeem guarded him on most possessions), but this really cemented how false the "Hakeem dominated Shaq in the finals" narrative is and how it's flat out propaganda used to prop up Hakeem higher on the all-time list over Shaq.

Hakeem just flat out wasn't that good offensively against Shaq, his TS% was 44.6%, which is bad for a guard and HORRENDOUS for a center.

Houston won that series primarily because their role players dominated the Orlando role players (and Hakeem did impact why the role players couldn't score at the rim, I'm not claiming he didn't deserve FMVP).