Rumors

Growing up, he pored through old VHS tapes of superstars like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin McHale, and Hakeem Olajuwon. Nobody put more work in than him at becoming an old school post-up master. It took great humility to give that part of his game up. "Obviously, I love playing in the post. I will always love playing in the post. Any opportunity I get in there, I'm going to try to," Garza said. "But the role I have on this team emphasizes my screening, my ability to stretch the floor, crashing the glass. And having a role and being able to impact winning is amazing. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Sporting News

Giannis Antetokounmpo: I don't like working out with players that they play in the game today. I like working out with all-time greats. I'm not going to compete against them. And I want all of them to know that I respect them and value them, right? I've worked with Hakeem Olajuwon. I've worked with Kevin Garnett. I've worked with Kobe Bryant, I'm going to have the opportunity to work with Carmelo Anthony. I've talked on the phone with Scottie Pippen a lot of times. So, people that I can take stuff from them and add to my game. So, working out with Kobe was an incredible experience and I learned a lot of things. I had my notebook because I was younger back then. I was probably 22.

YouTube

Shams Charania: I heard a funny story, you know, he spent a week in Houston working out with Hakeem Olajuwon. You know, every day they're having these on court sessions and then afterward they would play ping pong together. And someone around Wemby told me he literally lost every game against Hakeem Olajuwon in ping pong. He did not win once. Hakeem beat him every single time. But every day he was back at it wanting to play Hakeem at ping pong and he would just take L's and I'm like that's the only L he's taking all all summer all year like cuz then goes on the court and he's able to absorb all these lessons and just how dominant he looks his competitive fire I think is great to see.

YouTube

Do you think Hakeem Olajuwon’s style of basketball will ever be replicated? Why or why not? Vernon Maxwell: No. The feet-work is impeccable! I mean, he’s like a ballerina dancer out there! I mean, you don’t see guys spinning off of guys and guys falling out of bounds and behind the backboard shooting those shots like he does. No. You’re never ever going to see that again.

ScoopB.com

Victor Wembanyama met the 62-year-old Hakeem Olajuwon in April at the NCAA men's college national championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio. They sat courtside. "He said he would love to work out with me," Olajuwon, whose Hall of Fame NBA career included two championships, 12 All-Star appearances and an MVP award, told ESPN. "I said, 'You've got everything already.' He said, 'No, no, no. I've watched you play, and I'd like to know now just the secrets behind all the moves. I would love that.'"

ESPN

Back inside Olajuwon’s gym, the Rockets icon asked Wembanyama what he wanted to accomplish, a question more existential than cliché after this summer of international experience. "He basically wanted to know how to leverage. Let's leverage any opportunities you have, inside, outside, with opportunities in different situations without wasting energy," Olajuwon told ESPN. "I know how skilled he is. So, our concept was not for 'big men.' Our concept was 'big guards.' You don't want to dribble like a big man. We are big guards where you can play 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 with the freedom to create outside, inside, crossover and pull up without wasting any energy with any player because you have the advantage every night on everybody." Through four 2½-hour workouts in early September, Wembanyama developed his own variation of the Hall of Famer's "Dream Shake" in addition to other tightly-wound spin moves that might leave opponents dizzy this upcoming season.

ESPN

Aziz Olajuwon, son of NBA Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, announced his commitment to Stanford on Saturday over Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, and his father’s alma mater, Houston. Olajuwon is a four-star-rated recruit at the small forward position from high-profile IMG Academy in Florida.

San Francisco Chronicle

San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama received some Hall of Fame-worthy basketball training with Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon. The Spurs center shared a photo on his social media of Olajuwon in the gym with him, giving him tips on how to improve as a player.

Kens5.com

How do you compare Dwight’s defense to other greats like Hakeem Olajuwon? Wilkins: “He’s one of the best defenders in the history of this league. There is no question on how dominant he was defensively. That’s the truth. A lot of times guys didn’t want to come to the basket against Dwight (laughs). They didn’t want to come to the basket against him. It was his ability to move without the ball. He wasn’t one of those guys that had a lack of mobility. He was very mobile for a big guy. He was very mobile. It’s not just about being athletically solid. But his court awareness and ability to help defensively was huge. You have a lot of big guys where it takes them a little bit more time to get there from A to B. But with Dwight, he was quick for a big guy. He was very quick for a big guy.”

SportsKeeda

IMG Academy continues to lure top talent to Bradenton, Fla. Ascenders hoops will have a blue-chip name to know joining their roster for the 2025-26 season. Four-star small forward Aziz Olajuwon, the son of NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon, is transferring from Clements (Texas) to IMG for his senior season, he told League Ready’s Sam Kayser on Monday evening.

on3.com

Kyrie Irving: "I'll give you another name, right? That we're not going to allow people to revise history: Hakeem Olajuwon. Salams to my big brother, man. Salams to Hakeem. We're not going to let people pretend like Hakeem was not that. Before there was a Tim Duncan, there was a Hakeem Olajuwon." "Now, I'm not comparing the two—I'm not. But I'm saying before there was a Kobe, there was a Mike. Before there was a Mike, there was a Julius Erving. You guys gotta really just put it in perspective how I'm saying these things."

YouTube

Even when the right players go high, they don’t always provide those teams with the relationship to winning that they hoped for. Take the top pick. The last No. 1 pick to win an NBA championship with the team that drafted him is Kyrie Irving, who went No. 1 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011. He is one of just six No. 1 picks since 1980 to do that: Irving, LeBron James (2004, Cleveland Cavaliers), Tim Duncan (1997, San Antonio Spurs), David Robinson (1987, Spurs), Hakeem Olajuwon (1984, Houston Rockets) and James Worthy (1982, Los Angeles Lakers).

New York Times

Brian Geltzeiler: The following players have won a league MVP, the scoring title, a championship, and finals MVP in the same season Michael Jordan Kareem Abdul Jabbar Shaquille O’Neal Hakeem Olajuwon Shai Gilgeous Alexander is on the verge of joining this list

x.com

NBA: More history for SGA ?? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joins Kobe Bryant, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history with 15 or more 30+ point games in a single postseason!

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