“Billy Paultz, if you’re going to flop I might as well hit you for real”: When a rookie Hakeem Olajuwon slapped the Jazz big man mid-game during the 1985 playoffs

During the deciding game of the 1985 playoffs series, a 22-year-old Hakeem Olajuwon slapped Utah Jazz’s Billy Paultz mid-game.

Hakeem Olajuwon wasn’t a hothead on the court. The Houston Rockets legend barely got into any altercations throughout the course of his near-two-decade-long career. However, the few times that ‘The Dream’ did get into fights, it would be ugly, to say the least.

One of Hakeem’s incidents occurred during the playoffs of his rookie campaign. In the deciding game 5 of the first round of the 1985 playoffs, a 22-year-old Olajuwon slapped the 36-year-old Billy Paultz of the Utah Jazz… mid-game.

Here, have a look at the play.

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Now, Hakeem wasn’t the type of player who went around slapping players without any rhyme or reason. The HOFer center did have somewhat of a valid reason behind his actions.

“Billy Paultz wasn’t part of their offense, all he was out there to do was get in my way”: Hakeem Olajuwon

Years later, Hakeem shed light upon the incident from his perspective in his autobiography.

“He wasn’t part of their offense, all he was out there to do was get in my way,” Olajuwon wrote. “And he did. It was very irritating. He shadowed me, hung real close, and wouldn’t give me any room to move. When I tried to get some space he would flop, fall back like I’d hit him with a brick, and the referee would call a foul on me.

“I don’t like flopping; it is not real basketball,” he continued. “For some reason, that night the referees were letting him get away with it. He would flop, I’d get a foul. Flop, foul. They called me where he hit the ground and I hadn’t even touched him. He was a pest. I couldn’t even shrug him off because once I moved so much as an elbow Paultz would go crashing to the floor and the referee would whistle me again.

“I said, ‘Well, if you’re going to flop I might as well hit you for real.’ Ralph Sampson got a rebound and as soon as Paultz came over to cover me and flop, I hit him. I gave him a real good shot.”

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Surprisingly, Hakeem wasn’t tossed out of the game. However, Billy got the final laugh as the Jazz went on to win the contest and eventually knocked out Hakeem and co. from the playoffs.