Rumors

Dan Patrick: How would your Rockets have done against Jordan's Bulls? Robert Horry: We would have beat him. We would have beat him. You know, it’s… Everybody wants and everybody's like, "Well, Jordan actually loses sometime. All the greats lose sometime." If you just go by our record against the Bulls when we were there and we were pretty good. I think when it comes to matchups, and I think Vernon matching MJ was a pretty good matchup. Myself against Scottie was a good matchup… So now, who was gonna match up with Dream (Hakeem Olajuwon)? Nobody. So playing for Phil, and knowing Phil's mentality, I think we would have won that series. And I know a lot of people like, ‘man, you crazy!’ I'm like, people forget Jordan came back in ’95. He had a double nickel against the Knicks, but he got beat by the Orlando Magic. Why? Because his team wasn't good enough.

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Charlie Villanueva: There's only five players in NBA histories with 17,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals, and a thousand blocks: Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James and Shawn Marion. All those guys are Hall of Famers, except Shawn Marion.

YouTube

Kevin Durant: This is my 19th season. Hakeem Olajuwon: I said KD can play as long as you want to play with the fundamentals. Durant: Somebody asked me if I can play until five more years. I'm like, damn, that's a long time, man. Five more. I'm 37. Olajuwon: Just take it one year at a time. That's why I say I take it a day at a time and see what happens. Durant: I just really want to get your view on the game today and the style of play, how you think is evolved from your time? Because a lot of cuz a lot of people frown upon how we play the game today. Olajuwon: Really? Durant: Yeah. Because the '90s era was just such a golden era for basketball and a lot of centers played, a lot of physicality and on our game was more spread out. A lot of three-point shots, a lot of scoring. Olajuwon: Today's game, there’s a lot of shooters. I mean, I've seen guys passing up a layup [laughter] and kick it for three. But they knock it down! You have to respect it. I've seen guys on the on the fast break just pull up for three. If you do it… Durant: I love that shot, too. And it's encouraged now that coaches want us to take those. Olajuwon: You have to adapt. I mean today's game is open, a lot of skilled players, physicality… A lot of athletes in the game today. You just have to enjoy the competition basically.

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KD: “Somebody asked me if I can play five more years. I’m like, damn—that’s a long time. Five more… I’m 37.” Hakeem: “Just take it one year at a time.” KD: “That’s why I take it a day at a time and see what happens.”

YouTube

Top Data NBA... Live!: HOF Russell Westbrook (3 points today) has passed Hakeem Olajuwon and is now ranked 14th all-time with 26,947.

x.com

Growing up, he pored through old VHS tapes of superstars like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin McHale, and Hakeem Olajuwon. Nobody put more work in than him at becoming an old school post-up master. It took great humility to give that part of his game up. "Obviously, I love playing in the post. I will always love playing in the post. Any opportunity I get in there, I'm going to try to," Garza said. "But the role I have on this team emphasizes my screening, my ability to stretch the floor, crashing the glass. And having a role and being able to impact winning is amazing. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Sporting News

Giannis Antetokounmpo: I don't like working out with players that they play in the game today. I like working out with all-time greats. I'm not going to compete against them. And I want all of them to know that I respect them and value them, right? I've worked with Hakeem Olajuwon. I've worked with Kevin Garnett. I've worked with Kobe Bryant, I'm going to have the opportunity to work with Carmelo Anthony. I've talked on the phone with Scottie Pippen a lot of times. So, people that I can take stuff from them and add to my game. So, working out with Kobe was an incredible experience and I learned a lot of things. I had my notebook because I was younger back then. I was probably 22.

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Shams Charania: I heard a funny story, you know, he spent a week in Houston working out with Hakeem Olajuwon. You know, every day they're having these on court sessions and then afterward they would play ping pong together. And someone around Wemby told me he literally lost every game against Hakeem Olajuwon in ping pong. He did not win once. Hakeem beat him every single time. But every day he was back at it wanting to play Hakeem at ping pong and he would just take L's and I'm like that's the only L he's taking all all summer all year like cuz then goes on the court and he's able to absorb all these lessons and just how dominant he looks his competitive fire I think is great to see.

YouTube

Do you think Hakeem Olajuwon’s style of basketball will ever be replicated? Why or why not? Vernon Maxwell: No. The feet-work is impeccable! I mean, he’s like a ballerina dancer out there! I mean, you don’t see guys spinning off of guys and guys falling out of bounds and behind the backboard shooting those shots like he does. No. You’re never ever going to see that again.

ScoopB.com

Victor Wembanyama met the 62-year-old Hakeem Olajuwon in April at the NCAA men's college national championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio. They sat courtside. "He said he would love to work out with me," Olajuwon, whose Hall of Fame NBA career included two championships, 12 All-Star appearances and an MVP award, told ESPN. "I said, 'You've got everything already.' He said, 'No, no, no. I've watched you play, and I'd like to know now just the secrets behind all the moves. I would love that.'"

ESPN

Back inside Olajuwon’s gym, the Rockets icon asked Wembanyama what he wanted to accomplish, a question more existential than cliché after this summer of international experience. "He basically wanted to know how to leverage. Let's leverage any opportunities you have, inside, outside, with opportunities in different situations without wasting energy," Olajuwon told ESPN. "I know how skilled he is. So, our concept was not for 'big men.' Our concept was 'big guards.' You don't want to dribble like a big man. We are big guards where you can play 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 with the freedom to create outside, inside, crossover and pull up without wasting any energy with any player because you have the advantage every night on everybody." Through four 2½-hour workouts in early September, Wembanyama developed his own variation of the Hall of Famer's "Dream Shake" in addition to other tightly-wound spin moves that might leave opponents dizzy this upcoming season.

ESPN

Aziz Olajuwon, son of NBA Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, announced his commitment to Stanford on Saturday over Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, and his father’s alma mater, Houston. Olajuwon is a four-star-rated recruit at the small forward position from high-profile IMG Academy in Florida.

San Francisco Chronicle

San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama received some Hall of Fame-worthy basketball training with Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon. The Spurs center shared a photo on his social media of Olajuwon in the gym with him, giving him tips on how to improve as a player.

Kens5.com

How do you compare Dwight’s defense to other greats like Hakeem Olajuwon? Wilkins: “He’s one of the best defenders in the history of this league. There is no question on how dominant he was defensively. That’s the truth. A lot of times guys didn’t want to come to the basket against Dwight (laughs). They didn’t want to come to the basket against him. It was his ability to move without the ball. He wasn’t one of those guys that had a lack of mobility. He was very mobile for a big guy. He was very mobile. It’s not just about being athletically solid. But his court awareness and ability to help defensively was huge. You have a lot of big guys where it takes them a little bit more time to get there from A to B. But with Dwight, he was quick for a big guy. He was very quick for a big guy.”

SportsKeeda