Hey guys, not really big news or anything, but I'm sure everyone is a little curious what the greatest Rocket of all time is up to. I see him daily at the mosque. Last weekend we had a lock-in over there and Hakeem talked to all the youth, giving us a speech about how to maintain our unique identities as Muslims. He related his experiences of being in the NBA and how he kept up with the 5 daily prayers while being the only Muslim on the team without intererfering with the team chemistry. He is back in Houston for the summer, and then he will head back to Jordan where he studies Arabic full time. He is the nicest, most humble guy I've ever met. Very soft spoken, and whenever we asked him questions about his NBA days, he never talked about how good he was. We asked him if he's better than Shaq, he wouldn't say it, he would only say good things about Shaq and nothing about himself. He still keeps up with the NBA, and he said that he really likes T-Mac's game. He's a very religious man, and overall just a great guy.
This may be one of the best things I've read on this board for quite some time. I think the way Hakeem left, and the fact that he now lives out of the country, has caused the soft spot that he held in EVERY one of our hearts to wane a little. Reading this post brought back some of those feelings. Thanks for sharing.
I've never seen a man strive just as hard to avoid the spotlight as he did to become a champion worthy of the attention. Glad to see he is doing well.
My wife works at a Montessori school in Sugar Land. I couple of years ago, he enrolled his daughters there and he toured the place. I was pissed she didn't get his autograph for me, but I understood she didn't want to bother him with that stuff at that moment. Anyway, all the stuff we all hear about he is humble, tries to stay out of the spotlight, etc, etc; the last thing I would expect is what she said he was driving... a custom H3 Hummer with dark black tinted windows, custom rims and the whole works. I just thought it was funny he was doing the whole rapper, 'Cribs', bling-bling thing with his automobile.
H3s weren't even out a couple of years ago..didn't they just introduce them this year or something? huh? huh?!
Isn't it ironic that the athlete this city should bow down to the most doesn't give us much of a chance to do so? I met him twice, once when we were at U of H and once at the Houstonian around '97. For a guy that once took basketball pretty seriously he doesn't seem to at all much these days. Still there's never been anyone better or with a more appropriate nickname. I hope some day he really understands what he gave us, and then asks Les for another check.
Umm...That might be his brother, because Hakeem doesn't have a Hummer if I am not mistaken, I have never seen him in one. He has a toned down Benz, and his brother is very tall as well (about 6'9 or so I believe) and looks a bit like him, but his brother is more of a "bling-bling" guy. May be your wife confused him with Hakeem. Believe me, Hakeem is not a bling-bling guy, unless his brother bought the car for him and did that stuff without his permission
i was in Houston for the summer a few years back and i met him at one of his mosques.... i forget the street name...in Stafford i think.....me and one of my boyz were playing basketball before prayers.... and keep in mind i had'nt met this guy in my life....so we see this Merc pull up and see Hakeem get out....me being a wuss did'nt want to bug the guy so we kept playing.... instead he waves at us and starts walking towards us....i was like damn....he stood there and watched us play for about 2-3 minutes....i was a nervous wreck....it was funny i asked my boy to let me get past him a couple of times to make myself look good ... i don't know of too many superstar ball players that would waist there time watch scrubs play ball....so i have to say....thats the coolest thing a NBA player could do....great guy....and he talked to us after prayers...so it was a cool experience... very humble individual.
I remember a game I say him play at UH, it was against Missouri I think, it was his first "big game" and I thought, this guy is going to be great. It was an honor to have witnessed his career. I hate the way it ended, but what a ride. Fans, I think we are on the verge of another "ride." Hang on. The personnel moves this off season are critical. If the Rockets make the right decisions, the team is primed to become a serious contender. Any Hakeem's out there, probably not.
For some odd reason, this thought just came to my mind... Can you imagine Hakeem "The Dream" with the T-Macster playing on the same team in their primes? We all can dream, can't we?
He just doesn't see or carry himself as a celebrity, and the worst thing one can do is if you see Hakeem, you start shaking and acting like you have just seen God. Just tell him something like, "Wassup Dream? How is life treating you?", and act like you don't care much for him.
thatboyz, Which mosque was that? the main ISGH one? I used to see him there plenty back in the day. This might actually motivate me to attend the Friday prayer for a change
I remember meeting him at a fundrasier for a mosque like 10+ years ago. He was sitting by himself and just watching the crowd. My uncle knew him and took me to meet him. I remember reaching out to shake his hand and all he said was "No you should use your right hand when greeting somebody". I was probably like 8 at the time and was totally in awe of him. Truly a genuine guy. Oh yeah he also donated like 15 autographed basketballs to be auctioned off at the fundraiser along with donating a substantial amount himself. Great guy.
Did you reach out with your left hand or something? I know you were only eight, but I think that's funny that you would do that, especially being Muslim (I'm assuming you or your parents practice Islam)
Oh yeah, I forgot to add that part. I personally didn't want to ask him these kinds of questions, because he doesn't like to be known as "Hakeem the Basketball Legend." and talk about himself, but he'll gladly talk about other things. But some of the other kids who were oblivious to that asked him something to the effect of "Hey, Hakeem! Will you come back and coach Yao Ming? He's weak!" To which Hakeem replied by saying that basketball was a big part of his life, but he has passed that phase and he's not interested in coming back to coach.
