Every day, SBNation.com will celebrate a random photo series from the past or present, making your morning a little more colorful.
Photo Of The Day: Hey, Look Everyone! It’s Hakeem Olajuwon!
HAKEEM IS SKEPTICAL.
The dream! I was falling asleep last night and it occurred to me that Olajuwon’s maybe the most criminally under-appreciated superstar of the 90s. Did you know he averaged 29, 11, and 4 during the ‘94 playoffs? Also averaged more than 4 blocks per game. The next year, he dropped 33, 10, and 5 along the way to another title? Can we talk about how absurd these details are?
It’s not to say anyone’s ever really doubted Olajuwon’s talent, just that we don’t talk about it enough. I mean, how often do you hear someone say about a big man, “he’s got that great fifteen foot jump shot, just like Patrick Ewing.” Or, he’s “the next Shaq.” Or he anchors a team on both ends, “just like David Robinson.”
The obvious retort is that nobody has ever replicated Hakeem, but that’s BS. Nobody’s replicated Young Shaq, either, but they still toss out the comparisons. The reason we don’t hear as much about Hakeem is because he was quiet as a player, he keeps an ever lower profile in retirement, and those Rockets title teams just never meant much to anyone outside Houston.
Ewing played in New York City, for instance, so he resonates with us more. Although in that case, I guess it evens out since Knicks fans probably remember Olajuwon better than anyone.
But you see my point. And while we’re here, wouldn’t it be hilarious if someone cast Hakeem Olajuwon in a Hangover-type comedy? Like, imagine the next day’s drunken realization, “Last night was crazy... What HAPPENED?” And then Hakeem Olajuwon walks out of the bathroom shaking his head. He wouldn’t even have to speak to be hilarious. Anyway, enough thinking out loud.
...More random Hakeem shots!
You know what’s more awkward than that photo? Pretending that someone named “Hakeem Olajuwon” was born in America.
Though I’d have KILLED to see Hakeem’s battles with Shaq in USA practices that summer.
Speaking of which... This is just a awesome photo. My new desktop background, actually:
Because... LONG LIVE HAKEEM. We don't say that enough these days. He was the man—on and off the court. So thanks to Getty Images for taking us down memory lane. And finally, in a related story, Greg Ostertag was incredibly awkward.
See More:
