Hakeem Olajuwon, at his prime, was a beast. One of the most dominant centers of all time, he carried himself with grace and not brute force. However, there was a “wild” side to the Hall of Famer, one his former teammate Vernon Maxwell opened up about recently. To put it bluntly, Olajuwon slapped the 6-foot-4 point guard.
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Maxwell was a guest on the recent episode of Byron Scott’s Fast Break podcast, where he spoke on an array of topics, including his time at the Rockets. One of the things Scott asked him was whether the rumors of Olajuwon getting physical with others were true, and Maxwell humorously acknowledged that he himself was a “client”.
Olajuwon famously converted to Islam sometime in the early 1990s, and Vernon stated that before he did, he wasn’t as composed or disciplined. He learned that the hard way during his early days on the Rockets after being traded from the Spurs in ’90.
“I got goddamn slapped and s*** so I know,” Maxwell said. “So yeah, Dream, you know, that damn, pre-Muslim was a little wild, you know. Rough around the edges, put his goddamn hands on you.” After conversion, however, Olajuwon became a much calmer character. Maxwell revealed that he was a great teammate in addition to being one of the best in his generation.
“Post [Muslim], he chilled. He was just chill, and he was a great teammate. Like, I said. But yeah, Dream put his goddamn hands on me man. We seen that, he didn’t just do me. He slapping the s*** out of a bunch of mother******* all over the NBA s***. He was slapping everybody,” he added.
That said, Olajuwon wasn’t just a man of action. He could run his mouth just as well as some of the greatest trash talkers of all time. Kevin Garnett, infamous for his verbal jabs as well, once went on record to reveal an underrated and lesser-known side of the Nigerian basketball legend.
When Olajuwon made Garnett speechless
Garnett is one of the finest trash talkers in the NBA’s long history. More often than not, he had a response for anyone who tried to get under his skin—if he didn’t get to them first. But as he recalled an incident involving “The Dream,” he revealed a rare moment when he was left dumbfounded, unsure of how to respond.
“[Hakeem] Olajuwon, another mother******* that talk s*** to you,” the Boston legend said. “Olajuwon would do s*** like take his mouthpiece off and say, ‘I’ma hit him with a lateral movement, he can’t do anything.’ You’re like, ‘How do I even respond to that? … I don’t have nothing for that.’”
Truly, it’s a unique approach to getting under your opponent’s skin—and it seems like Olajuwon mastered it. He wasn’t rude or vulgar, just so composed and precise with his words that even the best were left speechless. It worked for him. That’s why he’s a two-time NBA champion, the first-ever non-American MVP, and a Hall of Famer.
