Funny how Hakeem Olajuwon is whining his way out of the NBA. Remember the old days, Hakeem punching players, refusing to play, demanding trades, and generally acting like a jerk? Then, suddenly, the guy is a "religious example of peace and serenity" as the team wins two championships. Granted, Hakeem was the horse and deserved all the accolades showered upon him for his athletic accomplishments... But, looks like he is still a jerk. While I would agree that the Rockets pretty much suck right now, it just makes Hakeem look like more of an a*hole for kicking them when they are down. Let's see... The Rockets paid the guy in excess of $60 million dollars during his NBA career. Les Alexander ponied up a huge contract for him when he was PAST his prime, even before the likes of Kelvin Cato and Jim McIlvane were getting $40+ million dollar contracts. The Dream was treated with more respect and dignity in Houston than most players ever are. The problem here isn't the Rockets, it's what we've known for a while. The dude is out of touch with reality as far as his age and skill level. Last year he moaned because of reduced minutes. Yet, he was hardly that productive when he did get minutes. Sure, he had some standout games towards the end of the year, but overall, as evidenced by this season, he is no longer able to dominate games or even some of the mediocre centers around the league. He should be more upset with himself for not retiring sooner when he could have walked away from the game more or less on top. Oh, and speaking of this season, the Raptors are just a .500 team right now, when everyone expected the addition of Hakeem to make them title contenders. Boy, Hakeem, looks like the Rockets really lost a gem by letting your sorry ass go to the Raptors. What are you averaging this year? 8 points, 7 rebounds in 27 minutes... What were you averging last year? 11 points, 6 rebounds in 26 minutes... Guess that move to Toronto really helped you out! You get one more minute per game and you don't have to take as many shots. What an UPGRADE... Loser.
There is clearly no question that Hakeem is not the player he was. However, he clearly was the best center on the team last year, and played well in the 2nd half of the season. I think what pissed Hakeem off was being consistently yanked late in games by Rudy consistently in the entire first half of the season. We lost a lot of close games in the first half of the season last year with opponents penetrating to the hoop and no presence in the middle on defense. Most of the radio sports reporters were perplexed by Rudy's moves late in games, and when questioned about it Rudy would only mutter that "it's all about matchups"....yeah right. At $17MM over the next three years, he's certainly overpaid by "real world standards" or even NBA standards of production. He now gets used by good centers in the league. His production is very inconsistent, and he's a shadow of his former self. However, given what he's produced for the Rockets, he's underpaid in my view relative to Glen Rice (at $27MM) or Kelvin Cato (at $20MM) or Moochie (at $10MM)...or Ostertag or McIlvane or a number of other players...
But that's only if you set severely overpaid players as the norm. Against the norm, he's overpaid. Compared to those guys, almost anyone is underpaid. Just because Hakeem's contract is absurd, rather than ludicrous doesn't justify it . That's like saying that because your stock declined 10%, instead of 50%, that you made a good investment.
It was time to move on. Hakeem was the Rockets Steve IS the Rockets. The torch had to pass sometime, and since we are about 4 years from being in REAL contention, I think CD and Rudy decided to do it now. DaDakota
I agree 100%. I never wanted them to "pay Hakeem for his past accomplishments," or "sign him to some absurd contract just because" and all that crap. All the first half of last season, I sat in bewilderment while we would lose games in the 4th quarter while Matt freaking Bullard was playing center and Dream was on the bench. I just could never understand that. IMO, the Rockets disrespected him in that way. Everybody knows that Dream isn't what he was, and no one expected the Rockets to pay him for what he used to be. My only gripe with the whole situation was the Dream needed to be playing more. Him sitting on the bench in the 4th got us nothing but losses and did nothing for teaching our youngsters. Please note that nowhere did I say that we should have been running our offense through Hakeem. I only that we should have been playing the man who as of last year, was still amongst the better centers in the NBA. Was Dream justified? No. Does he have a point? Yes. Should he have gone about this in an entirely different way? Yes.
But he's not getting more participation now, Lynus, and he says he's satisfied. Wouldn't that mean that his problem was one of location, rather than playing time?
With the market of the last couple of years, a 10% decline might be a good investment... Why can't you guys get over it? Stop bagging on Dream, dammit. If the Rockets had taken the approach Toronto did, and emphasized Dream's D, they could have worked something out. As it was the Rockets wanted Dream to sign so he could retire a Rocket, which while an admirable sentiment, is not the result Hakeem wanted. He wanted to be wanted for what he could do now, and there is nothing wrong with that. In Toronto Dream is proving he is exactly what the ROCKETS need, a defensive force in the middle that compliments the outside offensive game. Maybe if the Rockets had said "Dream, we are not running the offense through you anymore 'cause we're guard oriented now and that is our future. What we DO need is a D and rebounding 5. Your O has deteriorated but we still feel you can be that D force," then he would have stayed. Maybe he wouldn't have stayed, BUT the Rockets weren't really offering him even that kind of spot on the team. Too bad since he IS showing his defensive prowess has not deteriorated like the O.
HayesStreet, you make a point about the Rockets not emphasizing Hakeem's D more last year. The point is, Hakeem was whining about the fact that he wasn't taking enough shots. So, maybe the Rockets were trying to emphasize his D more, and he was pissed off because he wanted to shoot more. The problem with Hakeem's exit is, he is so far out of touch with reality. It just goes to prove that his ego is so huge that he actually thinks a franchise that did nothing but try to accomodate him somehow owes him more just because they didn't buy into his delusions about how good he thinks he still is. I mean, come on... If he was that great, don't you think the great Lenny Wilkens would be giving him more shots, or more than 27 minutes a game? I think the problem is that we're seeing just how much of a team player the guy really is. It's like, "Sure, I'm all about the team. Now, just give me the damned ball!" This whole incident is so disappointing to me because for a while I WANTED to believe that Hakeem had really changed his ways. Looks like I was wrong. Too bad... He really had me going there for a little while. I guess he had the rest of us fooled, too.
If they did 'everything to accomodate him' then he'd still be a Rocket...So this is just false. I do agree that Hakeem has probably accepted his offensive limitations in Toronto, but I believe Toronto also gave him the straight up skinny on his expected role. I think Rudy and CD love Dream so much that they were never honest with him about exactly how low he was on the O totem pole. Instead Rudy just coached that way, hence Dream says 'they were never honest with me, they just said what they wanted the public to hear.' I am not sure how great a coach Lenny Wilkins is. In fact I think he's pretty overrated. Good players always want the ball. Hardly a bad trait. And he seems to have adjusted to NOT getting the ball. It all goes back to the Rockets not giving it to him straight.
I'm not so sure that the Rockets didn't do everything to accomodate him. The only thing that would have accomodated Hakeem at this point was to suddenly in one off-season build a championship team, then pay him way more than he is worth for his level of output at 38. Hakeem's expectations are the problem. Let's get something else straight here.. Hakeem didn't leave Houston because Toronto was more honest with him. Hakeem left Houston because he wanted to be the "key piece of the puzzle" to a team that got very close to an NBA Finals appearance last year. He wants the glory, on national TV, plain and simple. That's why this B.S. about him leaving because the Rockets weren't straight with him is such B.S. --- he didn't want to be on a rebuilding team, he wanted to play for a contender. I don't blame him for it. I would do the same thing. But to kick a hurting, down organization that did nothing but pay you $60+ million and treat you like royalty for almost your whole career... Hakeem is the one who needs to be more up front and realistic here. Plus, everyone knows that around the league the Rockets organization has a good reputation for the way they treat players. Many of the former Rockets still love Rudy (see Robert Horry, Mario Elie, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley). So, why is Hakeem going off? Becuase he is an *******, plain and simple. He's only the winningest coach in NBA history, and already in the basketball Hall of Fame and considered one of the 50 Greatest players of all time as a player. I don't know if you can call that overrated...
How do you know this again? And you know what his expectations were how? Is that what the Rockets told you via the media? Or do you have access to Hakeem's thoughts? So speaking out against your former employer is "kicking them when they're down"? What if he's telling the truth? Why should he have to keep his mouth shut? And how do you know he was "treated like royalty"? I seem to remember the organization accusing him of faking an injury, as well as trying to trade him. Does that sound like royalty to you? How do you know he's not being realistic? Did you have inside access to the Hakeem/Rocket negotiations that prove what Hakeem said to the media is false? Let's see, I'm not sure Carlos Rogers would agree with you. Or Scott Brooks (who said to the media that Rudy promised him he would always be a Rocket as long as he was the coach). Othella Harrington might not either-- players who sign long-term, low-money deals because they like the organization typically don't like being sent to Vancouver. Kevin Willis would probably tell you it's "just a business", since that's how the Rockets treated him when they shipped him off. Or Mario Elie. I've heard Sam Cassell say many times that he didn't think the team should have been broken up. I still don't see how speaking out against your former employer makes you an a-hole, especially if what you say is the truth. Is the employer always right? Should the employee just keep his mouth shut and move on? Simply because he got paid? Or is it because since the Rockets play nice in front of the media, they can't possibly be wrong? So Hakeem can't tell his side of the story when asked about it? That makes him an a-hole?
OK, I'll admit, I don't "KNOW" it for sure, OK? But how much of what is speculated on this BBS about what players/office people for the Rockets are thinking is actually "KNOWN". I am expressing what I think the situation is. To me, when you assess a situation as an observer it sometimes is obvious what the truth is. To me, in my opinion, this is the truth as I see it. From reading this article last year: http://stumedia.tsp.utexas.edu/webarchive/02-01-01/2001020107_s09_Olajuwons.html Read the article, and tell me he isn't 1) Pissed off because he feels he isn't playing enough or getting "used" properly (translated as: "GIVE ME THE DAMNED BALL!"), and 2) Looking to be on a team that he thinks is in contention for the playoffs. Look, I'm only going on his words. That's how I'm assessing what I think his expectations are. Neither is the case here. I'm just going on past experience with Hakeem. If you read the first post in this thread, it is a well-known fact that Hakeem used to demand to be traded before just about every game (and YES, I DO know this for a fact because I happen to know someone personally who was VERY closely associated with the Rockets organization in the '80s to early '90s -- I will not mention their name because I don't think it's appropriate), and routinely get into fights on the court. He was well-known to be one of the more difficult players in the league until his religious awakening which just happened to coincide with the Rockets getting close to the Finals in '93. Sure is easy to be a nice guy when you're winning! First of all, he is kicking them when they're down. They're an easy target right now. If the Rockets were in first place in the Midwest, I don't think he would have said those things because they would have been looked at as complete BS (which I happen to think they are). Dude, what are you smoking? Carlos Rogers was a scrub part of the Pippen trade. He got more quality minutes in Houston than he had for his whole career prior to that. Othella was lucky he got the deal he got. The Rockets gave him $17 mil when he was hardly an NBA proven commodity. I'm sure he didn't sign the deal contingent on the Rockets never trading him. He took the money while he could get it. The dude is only averaging 8.6 points in 23 minutes this year for the Knicks. The Rockets paid him handsomely for what he is capable of. And as far as Kevin Willis is concerned, he was ecstatic to return to the Rockets and praised the organization on his return saying he loved playing here. I agree with Cassell that in hindsight the team shouldn't have been broken up. I thought the Barkley deal was a knee-jerk reaction when they had a great team already. But, look where Sam ended up, he's making tons of cash and the Rockets let him move on to where he is. I've never heard him having bad blood towards the organization. Have you? How do YOU know? My point is simply this: Hakeem is talking trash because he refuses to accept that he is no longer a dominating player. The Rockets were aware of that and he would not accept a new role with the team. It's obvious from the article I linked above. Now, he is on a better team but I hardly think the dude was imprisoned in Houston. He's actually LESS productive this year than he was last year. It's all about the glory for him, which isn't bad, except that he has to ruin it by talking trash against an organization and making it look like it's their fault he's getting old and can't score 28 points a game anymore.
These sentences contradict each other. Either they did everything to keep him or not. Hakeem's expectations of what his role should have been may have been in excess of what they should be, but the Rockets knew what his expectations were, they just couldn't help talking out the sides of their mouths out of fear of a PR backlash. No, he left because the Rockets were saying one thing in public while acting another way in private. Sure he wants glory, but that is irrelevant to whether the Rockets were dealing straight or off the bottom of the deck. Like royalty? Hmmm....like when they accused him of faking an injury? Like when they said "Yeah we want you" and then offered him less than some of the backups. Oh, right. That clears it up. It cause he's an *******. Or maybe fans who cheered the guy (i'm sure you did at least while we were winning), and then rip him when he leaves for a better situation are the real assholes? COULD BE! Horry was no more happy about getting shipped to Phoenix than Cassell was (he wasn't). Elie was let go. Clyde driven into retirement by Barkley's crap. Next. I guess you forgot Hakeem is also one of the 50 greatest players of all time. Wilkins playing career is irrelevant. His coaching record including a lot of regular season wins, along with other such luminaries as Bill Fitch and Dick Motta. His playoff winning percentage is worse than Larry Brown, Tom Heinsohn, John MacLeod, George Karl, Alex Hannum, John Kundla, (oh Lord) Jerry Sloan, and yes even Bill Fitch (who has lost more regular season games than he's won). Have you ever heard of John Kundla? Not to mention his percentage is worse than Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, K.C. Jones, Chuck Daly, Billy Cunningham, and Red Holzman. And he hasn't done squat since the 70s.
Look, my point is even BEFORE the dealings that happened this off-season, Hakeem was already asking to be released or traded LAST YEAR because he wanted to play on a contending team and he felt his role was too diminished. Well, he got one thing he wanted -- he's on a contending team. But, his role is the same. He plays the same minutes, he takes about the same amount of shots, and his average is actually lower than it was last year. The Rockets didn't force him out the door, he had a contract on the table, and the Raptors are paying him $750,000 more per year than the Rockets offered him. I'm sorry, but that just doesn't seem a huge injustice to me. If anything, Hakeem could have done what Barkley was man enough to do, which is play for less money to stay with a good organization. I've never been a fan of the Barkley deal, but I was impressed when he did that. Not only could Hakeem not muster up the class and integrity to give something back to the Rockets in the waning years of his career, he couldn't even have enough self-control to keep his mouth shut and actually NOT insult the Rockets and kick them when they're down. The Rockets organization tried their best to accomodate an aging center that is WAY past his prime. He just wasn't willing to accept being on a rebuilding team that is looking to the future by giving Francis and Mobley more opportunities to be prime offensive options. Hakeem is the past, and he has been for the last 2 seasons. Problem is, he's living in the past because he thinks he can do much more than what he's doing now. Yet, he takes this whole situation and puts it on the organization as if it's their fault. If you can't see that, then you are blinded by some kind of fantasy image of what you think Hakeem is, or maybe you buy into his fantasy of who he is.
I can understand from one perspective that it's difficult when at one point in your career you're the league MVP and the finals MVP, and then 6 or 7 years later you're the 4th option on offense and not even on the floor in the 4th. BUT, whenever a player leaves as a free agent, there's really only 1 thing that comes to my mind -- $$$. And to tell you the truth, I think Dream's comments had very little to do with his perceived role on the court, and almost everything to do with his perceived notion of being properly taken care of for bringing the city 2 championships. I think Dream would have been very happy playing the role he's playing in Toronto here in Houston ... if he would be compensated the same. He got a better offer in Toronto, and furthermore Rice got a serious lump of cash for coming to Houston AND Moochie got a fat contract. The Rockets said Dream was their top priority, and I bet seeing those guys getting good deals vs. Dream not getting the contract he wanted kinda ticked him off. That's where (I believe) the comments about not being honest & fair (or whatever) with him really stem from. Remember, with free agency, it's all about the $$$.
I agree with most of your post, but this I can't agree with. If he doesn't think a $65 million contract from '96 thru '01 was good compensation, when for the last 2 years of that contract he was either injured most of the time or not playing even close to his previous level (in every statistical category), then he is once again out of touch with reality. When the Rockets gave him that contract he signed it. If he wanted more he should have held out then or asked for it. At that time, it was a HUGE contract (this was before the Kevin Garnett $126mil contract). I do think you have a point there. He probably is pissed that younger players got better offers.... But, since when DON'T younger players get better offers? Who pays over-the-hill veterans huge contracts at the expense of their team's future? I don't know many teams who do (maybe except the Knicks who shelled out way too much for Rice -- and now we're paying for it thanks to good old Dan Fegan). Also, I don't think he would be happy playing the role he's playing on a losing team. Now, he can be a fourth option and get limited minutes but he is on a winning team. Can you imagine how loud he'd be whining right now if he was part of a 14 game losing streak AND getting limited opportunities. However, if he had stayed, he would probably be the #1 option (with all the injuries and such) and possibly averaging over 15 points a game, like he did towards the end of last year. Hey, he might actually be happier with that role. But, he left. Oh well.
