Just saw it on ESPN Sportscenter. Should be running till 9 or 10 am. Kobe talks about his trip to Houston to visit Hakeem Olajuwon among other topics. A very cool interview to say the least.
I can't find it online right now. I'm sure it will get posted later on, if someone could post the full video..that'd be greatly appreciated. thanks. for now though, it can be seen running on espn sportscenter.
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/index talks dream about midway through.... <object width="384" height="216" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="ESPN_VIDEO" data="http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" allowNetworking="all"><param name="movie" value="http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="wmode" value="opaque"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"/><param name="flashVars" value="id=4755624"/></object>
I try to look at it from Hakeem's perspective. Here you are living your life mostly overseas, away from the game. You don't have any interest in coaching, but you've found you enjoy working one-on-one with NBA players on post moves and controlling the paint. You've worked with Okafor, run a small camp for some marginal big men, and done a photo op with Yao Ming. Then out of the blue, the best player in the world calls you up. This is a guy who just won his fourth championship and a Finals MVP. He tells you how much he respects your game and that he'd like to learn from you if you've got a little time. That's pretty humbling. How was Hakeem supposed to say no?
Hakeem is a basketball player before he is a Rockets player. As much as us fans love him, you also have to remember that we let the legend go to Toronto. While he will no doubt always root for Rockets first, he is above our petty emotions of "OMG KOBE IS NOT ON ROX" or "Why isn't he helping us train our guys?" One of the game's greatest players respected his game and wants his help to take his game to another level, given Hakeem's personality, of course he is going to help. I bet you if Landry called up Hakeem and asked for lessons, Hakeem would say yes as well. Hakeem is just that kind of a guy. I mean, we are talking about a guy that signed for a shoe deal with SPALDING to provide kids with his shoes at cheap prices.
These guys are competitors above and beyond all, so when someone like Dream sees the fire inside a guy like Kobe, of course he's going to want to help him. It's all about achieving goals, and I think Hakeem felt like Kobe was worth spending some time with. Besides, I really feel like Hakeem can help someone like Kobe or LeBron way more with their games than he could ever help someone like Yao. Yao's physical limitations are just too hard to overcome, whereas Kobe has the athleticism that was more akin to Hakeem's style.
