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**OneBadLT123** · 02-14-2008, 08:23 PM

Rockets great likely to appear on ballot with biggest rival Ewing

Quote:

NEW ORLEANS — Throughout his storied 18-year NBA career, Hakeem Olajuwon could never quite get his arms around the idea of one day being a Hall of Famer.

Now, however, in his first year of eligibility, the Basketball Hall of Fame is reaching out to embrace the Rockets icon.

Olajuwon is expected to be on a list of finalists for the Hall of Fame's Class of 2008 when it is announced Friday at a ceremony that is part of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Likely joining him on the list of finalists will be former collegiate and pro rival Patrick Ewing, along with ex-stars Adrian Dantley, Chris Mullin and Dennis Johnson and longtime NBA coaches Pat Riley and Don Nelson.

Cornholio · 02-14-2008, 08:30 PM

How many get in each year?

**Pimped Out** · 02-14-2008, 08:39 PM

Him being on the ballot is clearly a no brainer.

**OneBadLT123** · 02-14-2008, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cornholio

How many get in each year?

I don't know if there is a minimum like in football. I just think its whoever is eligible to make it in. I could be wrong though.

hroz · 02-14-2008, 11:46 PM

I dont know how many get in per year. But if its one player then it will be the Dream.

EDIT: By the way this was not meant to disparage the career of Ewing in anyway. Reading it again it felt to dimish Ewing's achievements. In no way was I trying to do that.

Cornholio · 04-07-2008, 06:36 PM

Update the thread title!!!

Quote:

What was improbable on the day he stepped off the plane from Nigeria and inevitable by the time his glorious 18-year NBA career ended, became official when Hakeem Olajuwon was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday.

“For many years, you’ve been a future Hall of Famer,” said the former Rockets and University of Houston star. “You hear that. It’s an honorable title. But now, for the Hall of the Fame to call you, it’s like, ‘Wow! Is that really true?’

“All of these legends, great players who have played in the past and you have been selected to be among them. I think that is the highest honor that any player can receive.”

Olajuwon is joined in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame’s class of 2008 by former players Adrian Dantley and Patrick Ewing, coaches Pat Riley and Cathy Rush and contributors Dick Vitale and Bill Davidson. The enshrinement ceremony will take place Sept. 5 in Springfield, Mass.

Olajuwon led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995 and the Houston Cougars to three consecutive Final Four appearances from 1982 to 1984. A two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Olajuwon still holds the NBA record for blocked shots (3,830) and is the only player to record more than 3,000 blocked shots and 2,000 steals in a career.

He was also a five-time member of the NBA All-Defensive First Team, a six-time All-NBA First Team performer, and the 1994 NBA MVP. He recorded 26,946 points and 13,748 rebounds in 18 NBA seasons, good for ninth and fourteenth respectively on the all-time NBA leader board.

The selection is the culmination of a storybook journey that saw him pick up a basketball for the first time at age 17 in his native Lagos, Nigeria and, less than one year, board at a plane to the United States for a trip that would change Houston sports history.

He revolutionized the center position and became a pioneer who opened the door for so many of the international players in the NBA today.

“Breaking new ground was not designed,” Olajuwon said. “It wasn’t a goal for me. It was important to believe that I have been given this talent and capable to fill my role as a player and a leader on the team. Your teammates believe that we have this position covered. That’s been my role on every team that I played.”

It is significant and fitting to Olajuwon that he enters the Hall of Fame in the same class with his long-time rival Ewing with whom he battled on the court for nearly two decades. Ewing’s Georgetown team defeated Houston in the 1984 NCAA championship game. But Olajuwon led the Rockets to the first of their back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 by overcoming Ewing’s New York Knicks in an epic seven-game NBA Finals series.

“It’s special for me,” Olajuwon said. “Because Patrick and I from the beginning in college we have history and I have tremendous respect for him. Now to go in together makes it more sweet. When you look at Patrick in college, you know that he is like you. You see yourself.”

The former opponents shared stories over breakfast on Monday morning and reflected on their experiences, their battle scars and the fact that they used to circle the dates when they’d face each other on the NBA schedule.

“Definitely,” Ewing said laughing. “You knew when you had to gear it up. Hakeem and I have been battling each other for years, starting in college and culminating in the NBA. I won a ring from him in college and he won one from me in the NBA.

“Hakeem is a remarkable player. We both started young and raw in our game and we excelled and became great players.

“We both are warriors. We both wanted to excel. We both wanted to dominate. Naturally, when you play against the best, you want to perform at your best. So we both looked at each other as the best and both respected each other’s game and wanted to go out and perform at that level.”

Even though it was a foregone conclusion that he would be elected in his first year of eligibility, Olajuwon said the phone call from the Hall was a thrill.

“On Tuesday, I was told I was supposed to expect this phone call,” “Even though I was expecting the call, it was different when I actually got it. They say, ‘You are officially elected.’ That was so emotional. I couldn’t believe that it was actually official. You are a Hall of Famer.”

**OneBadLT123** · 04-07-2008, 07:30 PM

Awesome, I read this at work today and it finally put his career to close.

I have been waiting to see this day for many, many years. He is the sole reason alone why I fell in love with basketball.

jdiggidy · 04-09-2008, 07:49 AM

I understand Hakeem and Patrick will be forever linked as rivals but I wish people would make the distinction that Hakeem was clearly the better player. His career and playoff averages and totals are all better than Ewing's. Hakeem's playoff stats are way better than Ewing's.

Like hroz, I'm not diss'in on Pat's career and he is definitely an HOF'er but, if I got the first pick in the draft 100 times in a row I would always choose Hakeem over Patrick no question.

Just reiterating, I just wish Hakeem would get more recognition than Pat when people write or speak about the two of them together. Houston Rockets Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon has a very nice ring to it!!!

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