1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

[real rockets history] Hakeem resigns with the Rockets

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by tinman, Jun 6, 2011.

?

Why did Hakeem resign with the Rockets?

  1. Money

    18 vote(s)
    26.5%
  2. His injury magically healed

    4 vote(s)
    5.9%
  3. beat Charlie Thomas in a card game on the plane from Japan

    2 vote(s)
    2.9%
  4. loved Houston too much

    25 vote(s)
    36.8%
  5. didn't want to lose discount at Gallery Furniture

    5 vote(s)
    7.4%
  6. saw in dream the Tmac/Yao era, had to save the Rockets

    5 vote(s)
    7.4%
  7. had to or Clutch wouldn't create Clutchfans

    9 vote(s)
    13.2%
  1. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 1999
    Messages:
    97,542
    Likes Received:
    40,171
    http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1993_1117400

    Thomas makes Hakeem a Rocket until '99/Four-year, $25.4 million extension puts lid on turbulent era

    EDDIE SEFKO Staff

    TUE 03/16/1993 HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Section Sports, Page 3, 3 STAR

    Less than six months after Hakeem Olajuwon hurled insults like "coward" and "fool" at Charlie Thomas, the Rockets' owner finally threw something back at Olajuwon that speaks louder than words.

    Money.

    On a day that proved even the most strained relationships can be salvaged, Olajuwon on Monday signed a four-year contract extension worth $25.4 million. He is under contract with the Rockets until 1999.

    Moments after the announcement, Olajuwon and Thomas wore smiles and shared a hug.

    Who woulda thunk it? In October, nobody expected this union to make it through the winter. Olajuwon had demanded a trade, in addition to his other remarks. The Rockets had impugned Olajuwon's integrity by implying the All-Star center faked an injury.

    Then, Monday, Thomas said it really wasn't all that bad.

    "Kittsie (Thomas) has said a lot worse things than Hakeem did," Thomas said. "And we're still married."

    So are Olajuwon and the Rockets. Everybody was joyous at the announcement of an agreement that had been reached about a month ago and had become public in the past week.

    With Olajuwon scheduled to make almost $6 million in the next two seasons, his compensation for the next six years totals more than $31 million. The contract brings Olajuwon's salary in line with that of the other top NBA centers.

    The extension includes a clause that allows Olajuwon to buy out of the contract after the 1996-97 season and become an unrestricted free agent. The extension escalates in value yearly, and sources said it would take a contract in excess of $8 million per season to coax Olajuwon to buy out the final two years of his deal with the Rockets.

    "I've made my commitment," Thomas said. "But if the market changes drastically, that takes care of the situation. It gives Hakeem flexibility, which he hasn't had in previous deals.

    "It's a good deal for both of us. I think it shows we're all committed to seeing this thing through."

    It was indeed a day of commitment. Olajuwon is under contract until 1999; Thomas said the Rockets are for sale, but he is in no hurry to part with the franchise.

    "When you're a car dealer, you never eliminate the possibility somebody might make you an offer you can't refuse," Thomas said. "But if I ever do sell the team, somebody will have to come to me with a cashier's check. They're going to lose something, too, if I'm going to lose something."

    So, with Olajuwon content and the Rockets' 13-game winning streak, the future starts now.

    "I'm just glad it's over," Olajuwon said. "Now, we can shoot for the championship."

    That word was something that was tossed around freely Monday.

    "We've got 4 1/2 years to win a championship," Thomas said. "I think we can win a championship. I'm not here to promise we will. But we're a contender. We've never been as deep as we are this year.

    "Anything can happen. Injuries can happen. But I think we've proven that we can play with the best of them. We've got a legitimate shot to do something."

    "It's a gigantic day in Rockets history," said coach Rudy Tomjanovich. "I'm happy for Hakeem. I'm happy for Charlie. But I'm really happy for me, because it makes my job a lot easier."

    Olajuwon's agent, Leonard Armato, had a big hand in working out the details that will keep Olajuwon with the Rockets. He said the groundwork is in place to produce potentially huge dividends.

    "Hakeem is very happy to be in Houston forever," Armato said. "Everybody feels like a family now, and good things happen in a family atmosphere."


    Could that championship happen in this atmosphere? Only time will tell, but Monday's events were a step in the right direction. Almost as impressive as the contract was how much ground Olajuwon and the Rockets have covered in a year.

    Last March, Olajuwon was embroiled in a dispute with Thomas and general manager Steve Patterson. Olajuwon said he had a hamstring injury. The Rockets' doctors cleared him to play, but an independent doctor detected Olajuwon was injured and advised him not to play.

    The Rockets claimed Olajuwon was feigning the injury to expedite a contract extension. When the cloud lifted, Olajuwon had demanded a trade. On the Rockets' media day in October, Olajuwon unloaded. He called Thomas a coward for hiding behind Patterson and said the franchise was run by fools.

    So how did the gap between Olajuwon's October surprise and Monday's extension get bridged?

    "When you have two people as smart and business-minded as Charlie and Hakeem, you can find a way to make something work," Patterson said. "I don't ever say never. You go through different phases of relationships. It's like being married. Sometimes, families have squabbles."

    Armato and Thomas were essential.

    "The key to success was opening the lines of communication," Armato said. "Once we did that, things worked out pretty quickly."

    The lines of communication were opened on the 13-hour flight to Japan for the season-opening games against Seattle. Olajuwon and Thomas sat together for several hours.


    "The numbers on this contract are basically the same as we talked about on the plane flight to Japan," Thomas said.

    He said dealing with Armato was a pleasant negotiating experience.

    "He's the kind of fellow I'd like to buy a car from," Thomas said of Armato. "He sells quality merchandise. He does not deal in the bargain basement. We talked several times, and the deal came out exactly like we had talked about. I've made a friend in Leonard."

    That the extension had been agreed upon a month ago would explain why Olajuwon hasn't seemed to be under pressure lately. He showed no signs of wear and tear. He has been phenomenal from the start of the season, averaging 25.2 points, 12.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocked shots and shooting 53 percent. But he has amassed those numbers without forcing his game on the club. He has been the consummate team player, averaging a career-high 3.3 assists .

    "I thought about the extension three years ago," he said. "But this won't change me. It never distracted my play. I don't think I was broke before."

    Olajuwon, 30, said he had not considered whether he will play beyond the life of this contract, which will end when he is 36.

    "I'll worry about that then," he said.
     
    D-rock likes this.
  2. Clutch

    Clutch Administrator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 1999
    Messages:
    22,644
    Likes Received:
    31,822
    Obviously the extension went a long way in making Olajuwon happy, but isn't it interesting that if he hadn't sought/signed an extension, his contract would have come up in the summer of 1995, fresh off a second consecutive championship.

    Cha-ching!
     
    Killatron 2000 and D-rock like this.
  3. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 1999
    Messages:
    97,542
    Likes Received:
    40,171
    Les would have paid him some Juwan Howard like contract! :cool:
     
  4. Ziggy

    Ziggy QUEEN ANON

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 1999
    Messages:
    36,740
    Likes Received:
    13,133
    No question about it, Hakeem was worried about the supporting cast. He knew he couldn't do it all by himself. But money was the real factor. It always was with Hakeem. Nothing wrong with that.

    If it wasn't about money he would have retired a Rocket. I don't blame the guy. Maurice Taylor wasn't worth losing the best player in Houston sports history over.
     
    clos4life and D-rock like this.
  5. Chris Jent MVP

    Joined:
    May 27, 2011
    Messages:
    966
    Likes Received:
    48
    that's the thing that always perplexed me. why make such a big stink over the contract extension when expiration was so far away ???
     
  6. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 1999
    Messages:
    97,542
    Likes Received:
    40,171
    Didn't Mo Taylor miss a season cause he got hurt playing pickup basketball?
     
  7. rock4ever

    rock4ever Member

    Joined:
    Jan 30, 2010
    Messages:
    1,257
    Likes Received:
    38
    Player accused of faking injury? Wonder why Hakeem wasn't ROASTED by Houston media like Tmac was? Maybe Patterson didn't have half his PR team working for the chronicle like Daryl Morey does:rolleyes:
     
  8. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2007
    Messages:
    53,668
    Likes Received:
    41,551
    Even at that point in Dream,s career he had earned way more respect than T-mac has in his whole career.
     
    D-rock likes this.
  9. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 1999
    Messages:
    97,542
    Likes Received:
    40,171
    yes, he's earned more respect and he's accomplished more on the basketball court.

    On top of that, the city of Houston loves Hakeem because he was legendary at the U of H and brought the Cougars to national greatness.
     
  10. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 1999
    Messages:
    97,542
    Likes Received:
    40,171
    Patterson still resigned Hakeem. His intent was not to drive Hakeem out of Houston.

    The city of Houston loved Dream. Hakeem went to the university of Houston. you know this story?

    <iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-2mPL_fcLO0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
     
    #10 tinman, Jun 8, 2011
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2011
  11. Rockets Jones

    Rockets Jones Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2008
    Messages:
    4,145
    Likes Received:
    58
    Tinman, please post his HOF speech if you have it.
     
  12. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 1999
    Messages:
    97,542
    Likes Received:
    40,171
    I can't find it, but there's what they did for him in Houston

    <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/c_Z7ZV-RO0I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
     
  13. nolimitnp

    nolimitnp Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2007
    Messages:
    3,482
    Likes Received:
    284
  14. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 1999
    Messages:
    97,542
    Likes Received:
    40,171
    [​IMG]
     
  15. nolimitnp

    nolimitnp Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2007
    Messages:
    3,482
    Likes Received:
    284
    Seeing Olajuwon in another uniform, especially on a team that had absolutely zero chance of a championship, never should have happened.
     
    D-rock likes this.
  16. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Jan 14, 2002
    Messages:
    48,669
    Likes Received:
    17,295
    Close but not quite. Hakeem saw money as how much respect the organization had for him. It wasn't really about money. Hakeem turned down lucrative shoe deals that would have dwarfed his NBA salary over principle. However when the team didn't want to pay him what he felt other players were getting, he saw it as disrespect.

    So in a way it was about money, but only so much as Hakeem saw money as a show of respect.
     
  17. Bigpetelikeiron

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2007
    Messages:
    164
    Likes Received:
    8
    I was there for this and let's just say there must have been pepper or onions in the air BC my eyes were all watery!;)
     
  18. david_rocket

    david_rocket Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2003
    Messages:
    9,484
    Likes Received:
    829
    I was there too, and my eyes were all watery! I bet they put pepper in the air conditioner. ;)
     
  19. dback816

    dback816 Member

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2003
    Messages:
    4,506
    Likes Received:
    160
    Terrible comparison. The Lakers-Celtics rivalry was dead for more than a decade and Shaq even wasn't part of the Lakers when it was "reignited" briefly.

    Besides, Shaq at least carried Wade to a ring in Miami, not to mention the runs he made with Hardaway. He has had a respectable career outside of LA.

    Hakeem's....shall we just say "departure", was much more embarrassing and harder to stomach.
     
  20. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 1999
    Messages:
    97,542
    Likes Received:
    40,171
    God Bless Rockets owner Charlie Thomas who got the big fella to resign
     

Share This Page

  • About ClutchFans

    Since 1996, ClutchFans has been loud and proud covering the Houston Rockets, helping set an industry standard for team fan sites. The forums have been a home for Houston sports fans as well as basketball fanatics around the globe.

  • Support ClutchFans!

    If you find that ClutchFans is a valuable resource for you, please consider becoming a Supporting Member. Supporting Members can upload photos and attachments directly to their posts, customize their user title and more. Gold Supporters see zero ads!


    Upgrade Now