Who Forgot To Pick Up This Guy?
- Thread starter paultzman
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Old story, but still aggravating. Never knew about the baggage handler. Per Zags:
Did St. John’s Miss Out on Hakeem Olajuwon?
Jan 28, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; NBA former player Hakeem Olajuwon waves to the crowd during the game between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The greatest revelation from the 30 for 30 on “Phi Slama Jama” is that St. John’s appears to have missed out on Naismith Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon.
In the documentary that aired Tuesday night on ESPN, former Houston captain Eric Davis told the story of how Olajuwon, a native of Lagos, Nigeria, came to be a part of the Houston program that reached three straight Final Fours from 1982-84.
“Hakeem lands at JFK in New York and St. John’s is supposed to meet him,” Davis recalled. “No one’s there. He has three other tickets. One for Louisville, the University of Houston and Providence. He walks outside at JFK and it’s cold.”
Said Olajuwon: “As soon as I walked through that door, the breeze hit me from outside. I couldn’t even go outside, so I just went straight back in. What am I gonna do?”
Davis: “He sees a baggage handler that happens to be Nigerian and he asks him, ‘Hey, which one of these have weather similar to Lagos, Nigeria?’ The baggage handler looks and he says, ‘Houston.'”
Olajuwon: “So I changed my ticket to Houston. So I went to Houston and nobody was there.”
Davis and Houston’s Mike Young then went to the Houston airport to meet Olajuwon on the orders of legendary coach Guy V. Lewis.
“Look for a kid from Africa, probably going to be about 6-foot-7,” Lewis told his captains.
Turns out, Olajuwon was a 7-footer, not 6-7.
“He’s a 7-footer alright, but he only weighs about 170 pounds,” Davis recalled of first seeing Olajuwon.
“Hey coach, it’s Eric Davis,” Davis told Lewis by phone.
“You got the kid?” Lewis asked.
“I got him,” Davis said. “You know he’s 7-feet tall.”
“Well, shit,” Lewis said.
Said Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle: “Basketball-wise, he was a kindergartner. He didn’t know much about the sport, he didn’t know how to play the game.”
Added Davis: “He is a competitor, he is a warrior. You couldn’t coach that. We had the greatest gift in the world. And you know what, wherever that baggage handler is, wherever he’s at, thank you. Thank you.”
Did St. John’s Miss Out on Hakeem Olajuwon?
Jan 28, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; NBA former player Hakeem Olajuwon waves to the crowd during the game between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The greatest revelation from the 30 for 30 on “Phi Slama Jama” is that St. John’s appears to have missed out on Naismith Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon.
In the documentary that aired Tuesday night on ESPN, former Houston captain Eric Davis told the story of how Olajuwon, a native of Lagos, Nigeria, came to be a part of the Houston program that reached three straight Final Fours from 1982-84.
“Hakeem lands at JFK in New York and St. John’s is supposed to meet him,” Davis recalled. “No one’s there. He has three other tickets. One for Louisville, the University of Houston and Providence. He walks outside at JFK and it’s cold.”
Said Olajuwon: “As soon as I walked through that door, the breeze hit me from outside. I couldn’t even go outside, so I just went straight back in. What am I gonna do?”
Davis: “He sees a baggage handler that happens to be Nigerian and he asks him, ‘Hey, which one of these have weather similar to Lagos, Nigeria?’ The baggage handler looks and he says, ‘Houston.'”
Olajuwon: “So I changed my ticket to Houston. So I went to Houston and nobody was there.”
Davis and Houston’s Mike Young then went to the Houston airport to meet Olajuwon on the orders of legendary coach Guy V. Lewis.
“Look for a kid from Africa, probably going to be about 6-foot-7,” Lewis told his captains.
Turns out, Olajuwon was a 7-footer, not 6-7.
“He’s a 7-footer alright, but he only weighs about 170 pounds,” Davis recalled of first seeing Olajuwon.
“Hey coach, it’s Eric Davis,” Davis told Lewis by phone.
“You got the kid?” Lewis asked.
“I got him,” Davis said. “You know he’s 7-feet tall.”
“Well, shit,” Lewis said.
Said Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle: “Basketball-wise, he was a kindergartner. He didn’t know much about the sport, he didn’t know how to play the game.”
Added Davis: “He is a competitor, he is a warrior. You couldn’t coach that. We had the greatest gift in the world. And you know what, wherever that baggage handler is, wherever he’s at, thank you. Thank you.”
IDK but whoever it was should be shot and if they are already dead should be dug up and shot. LOL
Can't help but think that Lavin had something to do with this
Back to the clinic tomorrow man! And you were doing so well!
Yeah, right up to the point that he stuck me with the check at Sparks!
we are sju
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Kelly would screw any team up.
And Louie didn't like Frosh so Jeff Allen would have started over the Dream anyway
we are sju
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2 TITLES
Dream, Russell, Mullin, Goodwin and Kelly / Williams
Dream, Berry, Glass, Mullin and Moses / Jackson
If Guy Lewis couldn't figure out a way to win a championship with his Hakeem led squads, what makes you guys so confident that Louie could(with all due respect to Louie) have if he Hakeem? Granted that 84-85 team would have been one of the greatest college teams of all time if you replaced Bill with Hakeem.
we are sju
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Houston lost because they couldn't shoot free throws particularly the guards. And even though they were fun to watch those Houston teams were pretty stupid.
Louie was stubborn and boring but his teams were never stupid.
Mullin, Moses and Jackson were good free throw shooters though Mullin was pretty shaky in the NCAA tourney so maybe you have a point with that one.
beast of the east
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I just remembering that one scout immediately declared post NBA that Olajuwon would be a total bust because he had zero lateral movement and would be stopped dead in his tracks by NBA defenders. I also remember Pitt's Jerome Lane being touted as the next Barkley, and Scott May of the undefeated Indiana team as a can't miss future NBA All-star. You just never know.