Writer shares stories about NBA legend

Mirin Fader wrote a bestselling biography on Giannis Antetokounmpo , a basketball star still in his prime. Her follow-up is an inside look at Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon, a basketball star who retired over 20 years ago.

Fader’s new book Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon explores the life of the Hall of Fame center. Olajuwon powered the Houston Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships (1994, 95) and became only the second person to be named the league’s MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season (1994). We recently caught up with Fader, a senior staff writer at The Ringer , to discuss her latest work.

Dream will be released on Oct. 15 but is now available for pre-order wherever you buy books and at Hachette Books .

Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Awful Announcing: Hakeem Olajuwon retired in 2002, so why write a book about him now?

Mirin Fader: “I felt like Hakeem is probably the most criminally underrated player in the NBA. There just hasn’t been much on him, and I felt he was being left out of so many discussions of all-time greats. When we talk about the best big men to ever do it, you don’t hear his name these days.

“In my first book on Giannis Antetokounmpo, part of it was about the landscape of current international players dominating the NBA, specifically African players dominating the NBA. I thought, ‘Who is the pioneer that has paved the way for the Giannis-es, the Joel Embiids of the world? Who was the first true African superstar? I just thought, ‘Dream, he’s the perfect subject.'”

What else motivated you?

“I love to do human interest type of stories that get to the heart of a person’s story beyond sport, and just knowing what I knew about Hakeem’s journey into Islam and why he was so revered and respected beyond the basketball court, I just felt like it would be a compelling subject.”

How much access did you get to Olajuwon?

“He is extremely private. There’s a reason why nothing has been done on him. He is dedicated to his religion, and because of those things, he has purposefully not wanted to do anything in the spotlight. I met him in the home of one of his friends. Essentially, Hakeem ended up not wanting to speak for himself but helped me get to people close to him. I got to go to Hakeem’s mosque. He has a mosque downtown in Houston. He gave me numbers for close friends, so he ended up being helpful. I truly respect how private he is.”

Did that make your job more difficult?

“It didn’t. I think in biographies, by definition, because it’s not coming from the (person) themselves, it’s far more common. You look at the Martin Luther King book that just came out. (The) Bo Jackson (book) by Jeff Pearlman . It’s pretty rare to get full access. But I think it’s the most journalistically sound approach. There’s no bias. You are a third person. You have no relation. There’s no ghostwriting. I interviewed over 260 people for this book. It explores so many other dimensions of the person that you would not get with just speaking to the person himself.”

What would you consider the most interesting detail in Dream ?

“The one thing people know about Hakeem is this dreamlike fairytale myth of how he came to America. The legend goes he happened to be in Lagos which is where he grew up. He happened to meet this white American coach who happened to be coaching there. The coach, Chris Pond, says, You’re an amazing player. I’ll help you play in America.’ Somehow, they get a plane ticket, and Hakeem is allegedly supposed to go to St. John’s and play there, but then he is so cold at the airport he decides, ‘Nope, I can’t live in New York.’ By luck, fate, and accident, he lands in Houston. Weather determines the fate of history. It’s an amazing story. The truth is much more complex.”

What is the truth?

“I did so much research into Chris Pond, a FOIA request into it all. The truth, from interviewing the St. John’s coaches, is they never recruited him. There was never a plan to go to St. John’s. The plan was pretty much always Houston. I think the most interesting parts of the book are unpacking the mythical nature of his story.”

How did Olajuwon wound up at the University of Houston?

“From my research, (Pond) wanted to show himself as this all-world recruiter. He over-promised and perhaps embellished his account over the years. He told reporters he worked for the State Department . I found out that he never worked for the State Department. He could have been a contractor or freelancer. That’s a possibility. For sure, he had connections in the area. He did coach in Africa, specifically the Central African Republic team . He essentially just called (Houston coach) Guy Lewis and kept changing his story about how it happened. It appears that he embellished a lot of it. (Olajuwon) was never even guaranteed a spot at Houston. They just said, ‘Yeah, you can try out.’ It just wasn’t this sure thing or this fairy tale.”

What was life like for Olajuwon in college?

“He loved it. It was such a transformative time for him. There was not a culture shock because English is the language of Nigeria. It was more so the homesickness of being away from his family. But his teammates were there for him. They comforted him, and he just enjoyed those friendships. When the team became good and turned into Phi Slama Jama , there were so many fun moments. The team was thriving. He was at the center of it all. Not knowing much about the rules of basketball a year earlier to being on top of the college basketball world was thrilling.”

What was the biggest misunderstanding overall about him?

“It was the Deep South, a lot of racism, especially for the University of Houston, an all-black team. At one of his games, there was a sign that said: “Cage the Cougros.” That shows you the type of racism in Texas in the early 80s. Nobody had ever seen an international player, let alone somebody from Africa. Hakeem spoke at the time about how people thought that he came from ‘the jungle.’ People thought he came from a ‘poor background,’ when it wasn’t true. He came from a middle-class background. People didn’t know anything about Africa. He had to deal with a lot of ignorant questions.”

How much is his faith a part of your book?

“It’s a huge part of the book. Faith was so central to him growing up, but then he abandoned that faith for much of his college years until about midway through his career. In the late 80s, is when he started feeling spiritually empty. Successful on the court and successful materially, but something was missing. I talked with so many people who were part of that spiritual transformation. Also, the book gets into the impact that he had on so many different Muslim communities around the world and what he meant to Muslims in Houston as well, seeing him talk about Islam so lovingly. Religion gave him such a sense of purpose and discipline.”

What kind of stories were you able to get from him winning his first NBA title?

“One of the most moving stories was that after he won that first championship. Instead of going out and celebrating with the rest of his teammates and drinking champagne, he cannot do that because it’s against (his religion). He’s prohibited to have alcohol . He went to the mosque. I spoke with a person who was there that night who saw him after winning the championship, and he just could not believe that Hakeem was there. I thought that was so beautiful that your celebration is going back and praying and giving gratitude.”

What’s next for you?

“I’m going on a tour . It’s my first-ever tour. I will be in L.A. where I’m based, and then I’m going to Houston, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. I’m excited. I didn’t get the chance to do this because my first book came out during the pandemic, so all my events were over Zoom. I’ve been talking to my mentors. They’ve been telling me to enjoy the moment.”

For more information on Mirin Fader’s tour, please visit rsvp@found.ee/DreamEvents .

The post Mirin Fader on her new book ‘Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon’ appeared first on Awful Announcing .