Can Older Folks Educate Us On The Time Hakeem Demanded a Trade?

@tinman

 

Back in the day before twitter, you only heard about things after the fact.

Seems Hakeem and Charlie Thomas patched things up on the flight to their preseason games in Japan. A lot was made about Hakeem re-dedicating himself to Islam around the same time, and that inner peace allowing him to accept things and trust his teammates more. This is the legend, anyway. I'm sure things weren't that simple.

 

Never compare Harden to Hakeem.

 

Aww, op calling for some fireside chats with the elders, sipping bourbon-laced hot chocolate and talking rocket stories.

 

Hakeem doesn't go to Vegas or party at strip clubs and he don't give rappers honey buns.
Different type of mentality I guess. One's a champion, one's not.

 

They were going to trade him for Danny Manning and Stanley Roberts if I remember right.

 

Maybe Harden will become muslim?

 

It was much tougher back then.

There were no woj bombs. You had to get the story from these heavy crt television or from your local newspaper.

Sometimes the stories would be detailed and timely... Most of the time it was just general fluff pieces and at least a few days old

People like @DaDakota would bombard the forums err... I meant the newspaper editors with their complaints and long letters for why Tim McCormick shouldn't have been traded.

There was also a guy who constantly wrote letters to the chron editor about being an 89er. Sadly noone understood him.

It was a dark time.

 

We got our Houston sports talk information from such luminaries as:



replete with racially insensitive and sexist blather.

But to try to flesh out what happened a bit, I'll include here the Dream's wiki entry:

(The 1991-92 season) was a low point for the Rockets during Olajuwon's tenure. They finished 42–40,[19] and missed the playoffs for the first time in Olajuwon's career. He missed two weeks early in the season due to an accelerated heart beat.[28] Despite his usual strong numbers, he could not lift his team out of mediocrity. Since making the Finals in 1986, the Rockets had made the playoffs five times, but their record in those playoff series was 1–5 and they were eliminated in the first round four times. Following the season, Olajuwon requested a trade in part because of his bad contract; his salary was considerably low for a top center, and his contract specifically forbade re-negotiation.[29] He also expressed displeasure with the organization's efforts to surround him with quality players. He felt the Rockets had cut corners at every turn, and were more concerned with the bottom line than winning.[30] Management had also infuriated Olajuwon during the season when they accused of him of faking a hamstring injury because of his unhappiness over his contract situation.[31] His agent cited his differences with the organization as being "irreconcilable",[32] and Olajuwon publicly insulted owner Charlie Thomas and the team's front office.[29][33] With the 1992–93 season approaching, a reporter for the Houston Chronicle said that Olajuwon being dealt was "as close to a sure thing as there is."[34]

So by all appearances it was a even bigger fecal display than what we've seen recently, but as previously mentioned, Hakeem and Charlie Thomas patched things up on an overseas return flight (or so the story goes) and the Championship years were just one season beyond.
The Harden/Rockets relationship just seems to be irreconcilable because of the constant sports / social media drumbeat, whether on our phones, desktops, or in our ears.

 

Unless Harden converts to Islam, he gone. He is not given up the ratchet life.

 

Hakeem missed some games late in the season because he said he had injured his hamstring. GM Steve Patterson said their was no medical evidence that Hakeem was hurt and he did it because he wanted to re do his contract so Dream got pissed and asked to be traded. Then all kinds of rumors from teams like the Lakers offering Worthy and Divac to Miami offering Glen Rice and Seikley (sp maybe) in packages for him. I think once training camp started Hakeem felt like he liked the direction of the team and on the flight to Japan to open the season he had a heart to heart with owner Charlie Thomas and they hashed out their differences and I believe he got a new contract shortly after they returned to Houston.

That season didn't start off good they were plodding along around .500 and they blew a 4 point lead in the last minute in a game against Portland and then things clicked and that team went on a crazy run the rest of that season that laid the foundation for Clutch City.

 

If you want a real treat @Deckard can tell you what is was like when the Rockets moved to Houston

 

No Hakeem only told his girlfriend that he would marry her if she got pregnant and left her when she did. Hakeem also slapped a teammate for not passing him the ball.

 

I was a kid and a casual fan before I really started learning about the game, but it's interesting to study the game's history and put things in perspective.

It was actually worse. Hakeem, Kobe and even Pippen had bigger trade demands, but the team stayed strong, talked with the player, built a roster and won chips later.

 

Locked on Rockets has a podcast episode (iTunes or Spotify) interviewing Bullard on it. He apparently sat near them on the plane and overheard parts of the conversation on how Hakeem and Charlie were able to hash things out. I'm not sure Harden and Tilman/Stone or whoever would be able to work it out as they did but who knows.

 

why not

 

Already has the beard, or did I go too far

 

Hakeem won the first title when we got a new owner. We should probably try that one.