Great article on Dream over at SI.com. I think that everyone else has been realizing over the last few years what we always knew: how unique Hakeem was to this League. He never got the attention his contemporaries enjoyed; but let's face it - sports writers didn't want to talk about the quiet, humble man when they had guys like Barkley, Rodman and Jordan to write about!
But we knew. We always knew.
Sounds like some of the NBA elite know as well.
Eight years have passed since Hakeem Olajuwon last dream-shaked his way off an NBA court. And though the two-time NBA champion and one-time MVP's career is but a series of YouTube clips or NBA TV Hardwood Classics to much of the league's current generation, his influence is quickly spreading via a growing network of stars who have made Olajuwon their own personal Yoda. Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, Emeka Okafor -- all have called upon the 12-time All-Star in recent years to help refine their talents.
"It's always good to get advice from successful veterans, and he's a Hall of Famer," said Smith, who worked with Olajuwon in 2008. "Everything he gave me I was able to borrow -- countermoves, go-to moves, knowing how to play post defense. I would try to mirror his moves and he helped me work on all the things he was critiqued on when he was a player."
The tutoring is a bit underground for league circles, spent out of the eyes of other NBA teams at a gym near Olajuwon's home in Houston, where he spends the summer of each year before returning to his wife and seven children at his home in Amman, Jordan. Though usually lasting no more than a few hours for a few days, Olajuwon's lessons are personal in nature, custom-designed to take advantage of a player's unique skills and teammates.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... z1BUzZAoR0