NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon 's last few years with the Houston Rockets weren’t all roses. Like most superstars at the tail end of their careers, he was in denial of his decline, which was why the Rockets no longer made him the number one option on offense. “The Dream” wasn’t happy about that, and in the summer of 2000, he threatened to leave the team.
"There's a lot of excuses about maybe I'm old, but that's not true," Olajuwon said as reported by ESPN. "I'm fit. I'm healthy. The other teams know that because they double- and triple-team me when I get the ball. I'm enjoying this style, but you can't go away from the post completely. That's not winning basketball."
The Rockets offense in the 2000s
In that same season, the Rockets relied more on a guard-oriented type of offense featuring the team’s leading scorer, rookie Steve Francis, and their second-best scorer, sophomore Cuttino Mobley. The main reason why Houston partly went away from Olajuwon was because he was coming off four straight injury-riddled seasons. It also didn’t help that the 12-time NBA All-Star dealt with a respiratory problem and had a hernia injury that required surgery.
So, by the time Olajuwon came back and finally felt healthy enough to compete, he was disappointed in the touches he was receiving on offense. That was the same season the two-time NBA champion averaged just 10.3 points and 6.2 rebounds a game in 23.8 minutes — his lowest numbers since his rookie year in the league.
"If the Rockets won't use my talent this year, somebody else is going to use it next year," Olajuwon told the Chronicle . "They say I'm too old, but you have to think next year I'll be older, but I'll produce more."
"I'm enjoying this style, but you can't go away from the post completely," he added. "That's not winning basketball. If you don't use it this year, then that's motivation for next year to get someone [else] to use it.”
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The next year ended up being Hakeem’s last hoorah
Olajuwon ended up coming back to the Rockets for the 2000-2001 season, only for everything to remain the same. He played 55 games but barely saw his touches and averages improve. The big man ended up being the fourth-best scorer on his team and gradually realized that the team was heading in a different direction, one that didn’t have him as their main priority.
“The Dream” left Houston after the 2000-2001 season and spent his final year in the league with the Toronto Raptors, where he basically had his retirement tour. For as legendary as Olajuwon was, he had no answer for Father Time, which ended his remarkable career after 18 seasons.
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