One of the Myths of Our Times is that old standard, "Hakeem has a lot of class." I disagree. Hakeem is just as selfish as any other great athelete. In a world of Latrell Spreewell's, Scottie Pippen's and Bobby Knight's, Hakeem has looked like Prince Charming. But, to paraphrase Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (as we so often do on the Clutch City BBS) I knew Prince Charming, I worked with Prince Charming...Hakeem Olajuwon, you are no Prince Charming! (Sorry, that was unnecessary). It is easy to be classy when banners are being hung, trophies are being handed out and David Robinson's are being toyed with, but the true test of character is how you handle adversity. Hakeem's back-handed insults at Rudy (see the Miami Hearld article) and breach of a confidentitality agreement he made just a week ago are simply dispicable. Hakeem is not going gentle into that good night (retirement) and I can't blame him. I think that Hakeem deserves more than the average benefit of the doubt. I don't even think that Hakeem "owes" something to Houston, or that he should finish his career in Houston. (I stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago.) What I fault Hakeem for is giving up on his teammates and coaches *in the middle of a playoff run*. Hakeem, I love you, but get over yourself! -Elvis Costello ------------------
Hmmmm, now where have we seen this before? Does Vernon Maxwell ring a bell? It may not be the same story, but the title is still the same. Player Quits On Team ------------------ "Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is." -- Barbara Bush
hakeem isn't giving anything up here. the rockets dont use dream here and everyone knows it, maybe the rockets can work out a deal where we get something in return. but dont compare dream to scottie because that is just ignorant, hakeem brought this city its first championship, did scottie do anything? we wanted scottie to fit in here, do we want dream to? i'd have to say no. olajuwon knows that the style of basketball the rockets are playing here does not mesh well with his,so he wants to look elsewhere. i think the rockets have a great chance at making the playoffs, but i am not too certain on a championship (just yet anyways).olajuwon wants one more shot at a championship, should we really fault him for that? ------------------ http://www.democrats.com
dc, no we shouldn't fault him for that. but should he fault the organization for not releasing him. if this behavior is not a well calculated maneuver to force a release, I don't know what is. This is the classic case of it being the time for the organization to do what's best for it. No faulting necessary. No character assassination necessary. Hakeem appears to be making a public stand here. I want him to be publicly sat down. Benched for good. Not to punish him. But to make a stand. This is not to be tolerated by the organization twice in two years!!! [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited January 31, 2001).]
heypartner: A-freakin'-MEN brother! The fact is that Hakeem is a man like the rest of us (except for the women in the house - no offense ). He makes both good and bad decisions. He is human. He should no more have his character assailed for his problems this year than he should be lauded as a saint for what he has done in the past. I'm sorry to see it end up like this, but it doesn't change how I feel about Hakeem, the player or the man. He is a good guy who, like everyone else, isn't perfect. What is most important here is the integrity of the team because, I assume, we are Rockets fans first and Hakeem fans second. The success of the franchise is of much greater importance than the success of one man. ------------------ Me fail English? That's unpossible.
HP, Spot on, Dream has gone public once saying "If it helps the franchise i don't mind being traded or waived". The Rockets respond saying it won't happen, so Dream goes publis again saying "he wants to play in Miami this year" hoping the public will take his side cause Dream has served Houston well deserves to have another shot at a title. Crap . Punish him and punish him good RT and CD, suspend him. Osetertagg cops a one game ban for a trade request. Suspend dream and tell him how it is he will not be waived or traded, so deal with it and if he continues with the attitude use the bench to further punish him, how dare he insult the Rockets organisation and its fans in this way. ------------------ CUT Tino These Heaves are just getting Ridiculous!
The point is we shud give hakeem what he wants and deserves. If we truly respect what he gave us back in 93-95 and all the highlights throughout his career, we'll repay him by allowing him end his career the way he wud like. He is only suffering in the new rockets system and its too late in his career to make an effort to fit in. so lets stop wasting time worrying ab hakeem and trade him. ------------------
Maybe Hakeem is just creating a diversion so that Clutch or Doc can sneak some trade info on this board. ------------------ Kenny Thomas had a foul called on him in the Western Conference Finals.
Sprewell did one bad thing. Scotties only dissed Charles and Houston, but he apologized for one. Funny you bring those names up, instead of those ****ing murdererd that give sprts a bad name. ------------------ Cuttino Mobley Online
Jeff, man you were more than right about Hakeem's first comments in Nov. Merlin, 1. #34 quite possibly could have blown our trades by going public 2. #34 can't really even be traded to a playoff team unless we blow our future 3. #34 can't trash the coach in public like #33 did; how does that look to future FAs or the current players 4. #34 cannot force a release if Les doesn't want to pay the man 5. #34 should not have broken a confidentiality agreement with Les point is: there is no reason for him to go public *WITH* dissension. It absolutely hurts the organization. Why would any team consider trading for him, when they can just wait for a waiver. Is your point that we should have released him when he first asked? I can buy that argument. But can you agree that there is harm done now, and we must now respond to that with eyes to the future? [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited January 31, 2001).]
FrancisFan, #33 dissed Rudy and the system as well, and he dissed #34. Not all in the last quote, but he dissed everyone.
I didn't hear about him dissing Rudy, but that's still not as bad as murder. ------------------ Cuttino Mobley Online
Until his coaching debut with the Cougars, people thought Clyde was a classy person, too. Behind the scenes he was an a$$. His true side came out when he bombed at coaching. Old School ------------------ I voted YES!
heypartner: Your "#34" is almost as funny as Lance Zerlein constantly referring to #33 as "Scott Pippen". ------------------ Me fail English? That's unpossible.
It doesn't matter what Hakeem has done for the franchise, it seems like you guys just love to hate him sometimes. Why? Why are you so upset with Hakeem? Don't say that he has hurt the Rockets, because they are not likely going to the playoffs. They have been around .500 all year, and nothing has changed over the course of the season. So why do some of you hate him? He hasn't insulted the city or the organization. He even apologized for his comments regarding Rudy? So what could be the reason? My guess is that you guys simply don't want to see the man play in another uniform, because that would hurt. I'm guessing you all want to see Hakeem end his career the right way, with the Rockets. I know I do. Just stop bashing the guy. There is way too much bashing of Hakeem going on. We should just concentrate on bashing Karl, John, Kobe, Cuttino, Jason, Rudy, Gary, Pippen, and ESPN. ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death." [This message has been edited by ZRB (edited February 01, 2001).]
Charles called Scottie, "#33" last year before he got his apology. ------------------ Cuttino Mobley Online
While there isn't much exaggeration in your comments this time; you've still got things all turned around again....we love hating you. And there is just not enough bashing of ZRB going on. I am far, far from hating Hakeem. This is more like the need to reprimand an employee feeling. You don't hate the person. You just are looking out for the company. go find yourself some reason, ZRB. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited January 31, 2001).]
Exactely hp. ------------------ Ceo of the Walt Williams fan club. Web site coming soon atheistalliance.org
hp: You definitely nailed it. I don't hate Hakeem at all. I don't even dislike him. This hasn't made me lose respect for him either. I just think it is a distraction and he, of all people, should know better than that. If this came from anyone other than Hakeem, that person would be tarred and feathered on this board. Hakeem is not immune from criticism any more than Rudy is or Steve or Cuttino is. ------------------ Me fail English? That's unpossible.
