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Today the Basketball Hall of Fame announced it's inductees for 2008.
The group of inductees includes Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Pat Riley, Adrian Dantley, and Dick Vitale among others. For all their battles, it is truly fitting that Ewing and Hakeem are inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame together.
Hakeem Olajuwon is truly one of the greatest NBA players of all time and I don't think we will ever see another center with his skill set. He was powerful and agile was great on defense and had all those crazy moves down low in the post. Hakeem is very deserving of his Hall of Fame induction and we definitely can forgive him for what Kevin Johnson did to him.
Here is Hakeem's bio from NBA.com:
In Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon, the Raptors have one of the best centers ever to play the game and one of the most accomplished players in league history.
The NBA named the Nigerian-born Olajuwon one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996-97 in conjunction with the league's 50th anniversary celebration. Showing remarkable agility, moves and shooting touch for a big man, Olajuwon led the Houston Rockets to the only NBA championships in franchise history. In 1993-94 he had a storybook season, becoming the first player to be named NBA MVP, NBA Defensive Player of the Year and NBA Finals MVP in the same season as Houston won its first NBA championship. The following season he rallied the Rockets from a sixth seed in the playoffs to their second straight NBA crown, making Houston one of only five NBA franchises ever to win back-to-back titles.
Despite stellar play from Olajuwon during his first few seasons in the league, the Rockets had settled into mediocrity since the team's trip to the NBA Finals in 1986--Houston didn't win a playoff series from 1988 through 1992. Beginning in 1992-93 Olajuwon got even better, taking himself and the Rockets to new levels of success. Introducing a new line of spins, fadeaways and jump shots, he became virtually unstoppable on offense while continuing to mature both on defense and as a team leader. In the next four seasons he averaged 26.1, 27.3, 27.8 and 26.9 points per game. In 1993 he was NBA Defensive Player of the Year and runner-up for league MVP as the Rockets won 55 games and advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals.
The group of inductees includes Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Pat Riley, Adrian Dantley, and Dick Vitale among others. For all their battles, it is truly fitting that Ewing and Hakeem are inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame together.
Hakeem Olajuwon is truly one of the greatest NBA players of all time and I don't think we will ever see another center with his skill set. He was powerful and agile was great on defense and had all those crazy moves down low in the post. Hakeem is very deserving of his Hall of Fame induction and we definitely can forgive him for what Kevin Johnson did to him.
Here is Hakeem's bio from NBA.com:
In Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon, the Raptors have one of the best centers ever to play the game and one of the most accomplished players in league history.
The NBA named the Nigerian-born Olajuwon one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996-97 in conjunction with the league's 50th anniversary celebration. Showing remarkable agility, moves and shooting touch for a big man, Olajuwon led the Houston Rockets to the only NBA championships in franchise history. In 1993-94 he had a storybook season, becoming the first player to be named NBA MVP, NBA Defensive Player of the Year and NBA Finals MVP in the same season as Houston won its first NBA championship. The following season he rallied the Rockets from a sixth seed in the playoffs to their second straight NBA crown, making Houston one of only five NBA franchises ever to win back-to-back titles.
Despite stellar play from Olajuwon during his first few seasons in the league, the Rockets had settled into mediocrity since the team's trip to the NBA Finals in 1986--Houston didn't win a playoff series from 1988 through 1992. Beginning in 1992-93 Olajuwon got even better, taking himself and the Rockets to new levels of success. Introducing a new line of spins, fadeaways and jump shots, he became virtually unstoppable on offense while continuing to mature both on defense and as a team leader. In the next four seasons he averaged 26.1, 27.3, 27.8 and 26.9 points per game. In 1993 he was NBA Defensive Player of the Year and runner-up for league MVP as the Rockets won 55 games and advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals.
In 1993-94 Olajuwon attained the pinnacle of achievement when he won both the league and NBA Finals MVP Awards while leading Houston to its first-ever NBA crown. The Rockets entered the 1994-95 postseason seeded sixth, but Olajuwon averaged 33.0 points on .531 shooting from the field in the playoffs to help Houston capture its second consecutive NBA championship. His transcendent performance throughout the postseason earned him mention among the greatest winners in recent history--players such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Isiah Thomas.
Following his triumphant 1994-95 season, Olajuwon, who had become a naturalized American citizen in 1993, was named to the 1996 Dream Team, which would win gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Check out this video below of Hakeem that has some ridiculous blocks from Hakeem among other highlights:
Following his triumphant 1994-95 season, Olajuwon, who had become a naturalized American citizen in 1993, was named to the 1996 Dream Team, which would win gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Check out this video below of Hakeem that has some ridiculous blocks from Hakeem among other highlights:
The other big inductee was Patrick Ewing, a great player in his own right, here is his bio:
Patrick Ewing was born August 5, 1962 in Kingston, Jamaica. He grew up playing soccer and cricket with no dreams of a professional basketball career. It wasn't until he moved to the United States in his teens, that Ewing discovered basketball. He proved to be a quick learner, starring at Cambridge Ridge & Latin High School under the tutelage of Mike Jarvis.
The 7'0" Ewing was highly recruited coming out of high school, he chose Georgetown. The Hoyas were lucky to have Ewing who led them to three NCAA Championship Game appearances in his four years there, including a Championship in 1984. Ewing dominated college basketball during his senior season when he won the Naismith Award as the nation's best college basketball player. He finished his career as Georgetown's all-time leader in blocks and rebounds.
The New York Knicks won the first-ever NBA Draft Lottery in 1985 making Ewing the first overall pick. Ewing did not disappoint, winning Rookie of the Year honors. One of the best centers in the history of the NBA, Patrick Ewing has been a member of the All-Star team 11 times during his career.
Ewing proved to have a complete offensive game in addition to being an intimidating defensive presence. Ewing used a deadly baseline jumper and a patented move across the lane to stay among the NBA elite throughout his career.
His best season came in 1990 when he was named to the All-NBA First Team and finished fourth in MVP voting. Team success came in 1994 when Ewing got his first chance at winning a championship ring in the finals versus the Houston Rockets. The Knicks lost to the Rockets in seven games, despite an impressive performance by Ewing who set Finals records for blocks in a game (8) and in a series (30).
Despite missing much of the 1998-99 season due to injury Ewing is the Knicks' career leader in numerous categories including scoring, rebounds, steals and blocked shots. During his career, Ewing has been a member of two gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic teams (1984 & 92) and was selected as one of the NBA's 50 Top Players of All-Time.
Watching this video of Patrick Ewing reminds me just how atheltic he was, we seem to forget this because he was really hobbling around at the end of his career but he was one of the most ferocious players in the league.
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