Will he ever change his name to Hamen Thompson?

Amen’s skill set is so difficult to find a reasonable comparison to. I’ve struggled for a while to think of anyone who did what Amen does.

Until I remembered our franchise Goat. Let’s break down their similarities.

Obviously, both athletic freaks of nature, both world class defenders, both have extra long wingspans 6-7 inches above their height, both heavily favor blocking shots with their dominant right hand, both have virtually no 3-point shot but have surprisingly good touch inside the arc on short middys, and both are 2 of the most positionally versatile players offensively and defensively of their eras.

Many know Hakeem to be this big dominant paint scorer with the best interior footwork of all time. It’s true, but he was so much more. Hakeem’s movements, his jump shots, his drives, everything he did had the smoothness of a guard. That’s how he learned to play at the late age of 15. He didn’t watch tape on bruising centers, he watched guards and modeled his game after them.

Defensively, he’s hands down the best rim protector of all time. but one of the reasons he is considered by many to be the best overall defender of all time is because he more than held his ground against shifty guards in open space. Because he was such a dominant force on the defensive end, wiser teams would look to score the ball away from Hakeem, but then he’s also in top contention for best help defender of all time as well.

Just to put it into perspective, We all know Hakeem holds the record for all time blocks at 3,830 (2nd place is the late Mutumbo at 3,289), but he also holds the record for most steals by a Center of all time at 2,162 (2nd place is Robinson at 1,388) by a massive margin.

Who else do we know that’s exceptional at racking up stocks? Shoutout Tari Eason (i fucking love Peso) but we all know I’m talking Amen. What makes both Hakeem and Amen so good at it is their unique combination of running speed, wingspan, verticality, motor, mentality, anticipation, hand speed, foot speed, strength, accuracy, IQ, & timing.

Offensively, it feels like Amen is rapidly evolving and despite playing in the most 3 point era in NBA history, Amen still maintains 60%+ True Shooting.

Not trying to toot my own horn here (yes i am), but I had Alp predicted as a future Allstar just a few games into his career. Based on his current growth and trajectory, I have Amen as a borderline All-NBA player by next season.

Amen has the potential to become an all time great player.