Texas Monthly Talks

Hakeem Olajuwon

Interview by Evan Smith

September 2008

(Page 2 of 2)

Yes. At the national stadium, the handball court is next to the basketball court. Every time the basketball coach would see me, he would tell me, “Handball is not your sport. Basketball is your sport.” The coach, Coach Ganiu, tried to get me onto the basketball court for a long time. When he finally did, the team was practicing. He called the assistant coaches and the rest of the team to one side of the court, and he called a point guard and me to the other side. He gave me the concept of my position [center] in basketball, of how important it is. It was unbelievable the way he described my role—I clearly saw myself doing it. He said, “This is the paint—you know, it’s painted red, because that’s blood. It’s very physical in there. And you, in your position, rule that lane. You rule the court. You rule the middle.” He gave me this concept of domination: Dominate the middle, dominate the paint, you know? Anything that’s in the paint, you’re dunking it on offense. You don’t think layup or any other shot. When you get a ball in the paint, there’s no different thought: You go in for a dunk.

That explains the Phi Slama Jama mentality at the University of Houston—you were already a dunking machine.

Exactly. When you dunk on people, they start getting out of your way. And on defense, the concept Coach Ganiu gave me was the same: Anything that comes in, you block it. He told me to come back for two more practices. And during those he would stop everything if I didn’t get the ball. He would tell all the players on the team, “Anytime you see my big man run the floor, you have to give him the ball.”

You were literally the center of everything.

It was a privilege. I played the most important position on the team.

How did the U of H coaches become aware of you?

I was put on the Nigerian national team, and we played an African tournament. We went to Angola—my first exposure internationally. Our confidence level was high because we had a lot of young, very tough players. Even though we lost to Central Africa, I was the most valuable player of the tournament. After the game, the coach of the Central African team, Christopher Pond, who was from North Carolina and had coached in many countries all across Africa, came to our hotel that night and advised me not to go back to Nigeria. He said, “They will try to keep you there so you can play for them. But you need to be in America.” He said he would pick me up the next day and take me to the American embassy in Angola. And he did. He had a list of different schools and different coaches, but when he picked up the phone, he called Coach [Guy] Lewis [at the University of Houston]. He told him, “Coach, I have a player here who you will love. Seven foot tall, he’s going to dunk everything.” Before he arranged a visa for me, the consul general at the embassy wanted to know if they would give me a scholarship. Coach Lewis told the consul general, “If he’s as good as they say, we’ll give him a scholarship.”

What did you think of Houston when you first got there?

When I first came to Houston, I thought, “America!” So it was exciting. When I caught a taxi from the airport, they almost took me to Austin because I struggled to say the h. He said, “Austin?” But the driver realized it couldn’t be Austin, because who would be taking a taxi that far?

I can’t imagine what they thought of you when you arrived on campus—and what you thought of them.

It was a dream come true, you know? When I first got there, Coach Lewis was waiting for me, and he said, “You might want to watch the players.” So we went outside, and I saw the players running—some seven-footers, some six-six, some six-nine. A big team. As a competitor, you have to ask yourself, “Can I compete on this level?” In Nigeria I was dominating, but everyone had told me, “You can’t do that in the States. You will play against guys of your size.”

But you held your own.

When I was ready for my turn and got in there, they immediately saw that I owned the middle, that I was a shot blocker. A shot blocker is like the police. Imagine you’re driving and you see a police car; you slow down. When the shot blocker is in the lane, it’s a different game. After two blocks, they’re going to change their shots. They know immediately that they can’t go through the middle. The way I play the game, they know that they have to be legitimate to score. If they’re not legitimate, they’ll be rejected.

So began a great college career.

One of the best. In my college career, I went to the Final Four three times. We went to the Final Four my freshman year, and I didn’t even know what the Final Four was.

At the end of your junior year, you decided to enter the NBA draft rather than graduate.

As a player, your goal is the NBA. During my freshman year, when I went to see the Rockets play, I was real excited because I realized, “Man, I can play in the NBA.” I would see somebody make a move and drive and go to the basket, and I’d think, “Wow, I could have blocked that. Somebody should have blocked that.” I thought maybe there must be something that I didn’t see.

You were drafted number one overall, ahead of some kid named Michael Jordan. That’s still amazing to me.

It goes back to what my coach in Nigeria told me: When you’re a center, you’re the most important position. That’s it, you know? Michael Jordan proved to be exceptional. But the Rockets never regretted for one second making me the number one pick. They needed a center. You’re a center, you rule the draft.

Was the NBA everything you thought it would be?

I didn’t know how the NBA was supposed to be. It was a life experience. I’d read about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Dr. J. I had their posters in my room in college. Now I was playing games with the great players I’d admired for a long time. It was amazing, but at the same time, I had to win games. I had to beat them. I realized that even though they were at the end of their careers, they had the experience. It was a battle, but after a while I found I was one of the best too—and then, all of a sudden, people started coming out from behind to challenge me. So I had to defend myself.

What do you think of the NBA today?

It’s a different generation—a natural progression from the generation of Kareem, Artis Gilmore, Moses, Dr. J, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird to my generation, Michael Jordan’s, Charles Barkley’s, Patrick Ewing’s to a new generation. I hear from some people that the league is so soft that they don’t have centers, but you can see what a Tim Duncan is doing in San Antonio. They say he’s a forward, but he’s not a forward. He’s big. He’s playing center.

You still like watching basketball?

Except for the playoffs, I cannot watch a whole game now. Every time I watch it, I see people take bad shots. I see a lot of fundamental mistakes. These are pros. I mean, when you get to the pro level, your decision-making should be better. Your basketball IQ should be higher.

How’s your basketball IQ these days? Could you get back on the court and play in the pros today?

Well, I play pickup games every summer. The fundamentals are still there. I’d have to go back to the basics of training at a high level. But the skills, the moves, that’s a gift—that’s talent. You don’t lose that.

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