Hakeem Olajuwon was one of the defensive legends of the game in the NBA. He was a two-time NBA champion and a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, which further complimented his prowess in basketball. Several players of the current generation were inspired by Olajuwon’s style of play, which includes current league greats such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, and LeBron James. James has even spent $50,000 for practice sessions with Olajuwon, to which Giannis also expressed his interest.
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Amidst the ‘Greek Freak’s’ excitement to train with the Houston Rockets legend, an old 2017 clip of Joel Embiid claiming Hakeem as his idol has re-emerged on the internet, posted by the NBA’s official YouTube channel.
The Greek Freak believes training with other players in the league would make him lose his edge against them, something he is not willing to afford. But practice sessions with former players are never out of the question. Learning of LeBron James’ $50,000 lessons from Hakeem Olajuwon, Giannis expressed his readiness and excitement to try out the same.
Joel Embiid named Hakeem Olajuwon as one of his greatest idols
Being the current MVP of the league, Joel Embiid knows to draw his inspiration from the best. That is why he regards Hakeem Olajuwon as his greatest idol. Both Embiid and Olajuwon are two of the most famous African athletes to mark their stalwarts in the NBA. Speaking highly of the former Houston Rockets player, Embiid said,
“He [Hakeem Olajuwon] is one of my idols. And all the big guys, Tim Duncan. But that’s my favorite though, favorite all-time…. Hakeem is one of the guys I have always wanted to follow. He started playing basketball late and we are both from Africa. So we kind of have the same back stories. He is definitely one of my idols.”
Indeed, there are some startling similarities that Embiid mentioned between him and Hakeem Olajuwon. Both the players are from Africa- Hakeem from Nigeria and Embiid from Cameroon. They both started playing basketball late at the age of 15 and eventually made their mark in the league.
Embiid further revealed how he based his style of play on Hakeem when his coach in Cameroon gave him one of the Rockets star’s tapes. Joel watched that clip for six days straight every week, which helped him analyze and adapt Olajuwon’s moves to his style of play.
Though Hakeem has recently been a bit too harsh on Joel, he still has high hopes for the Cameroonian star. In the clip back from 2017, Hakeem saw glimpses of himself in the emerging Philadelphia 76ers star. He believed that Joel Embiid had all of the tools and talents that were required of him to excel in his game and contribute to his team.
Very recently, when Embiid won the MVP award this year, Olajuwon sent his flowers to him through Ahmad Rashad. In an interview with Joel, Rashad revealed the DM that he received from Olajuwon on his phone, wishing the 2023 MVP luck for the playoffs last season.
Though Embiid and his team could not progress further in the post-season, he definitely has the potential to shine and win a championship soon in the future.
Hakeem Olajuwon received backlash from Gilbert Arenas for his $200,000 practice lessons
Gilbert Arenas was very much against Giannis Antetokounmpo’s idea of training with Hakeem Olajuwon. In an episode of the ‘No Chill with Gilbert Arenas’ podcast, Agent Zero was concerned that paying $200,000 for training with Olajuwon was definitely not worth the money.
This is because of the generational gap in the style of play. Basketball, as a game, has definitely evolved from Hakeem Olajuwon’s peak to the current style. Learning Olajuwon’s ways of not playing post-up would do no good for Giannis in the long run.
However, Stephen A. Smith came in vehement criticism of Gilbert Arenas’ opinion. SAS claimed that Hakeem Olajuwon is a top-five center in the league’s history. Further, Olajuwon has also received high regard after training top athletes such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony.
