Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 4: The Dream

When Michael Jordan retired for the first time in 1993, each and every team with any sort of chance at a championship saw it as serendipitous. They had been gifted an opportunity to win a championship now that the bad man was gone. There was lots of speculation about which team would take full advantage of the power vacuum. The Suns had just been to the finals, maybe they’d get back. The Knicks finally wouldn’t have to worry about the Bulls in the East. Maybe the Trail Blazers or Cavs could finally break through. None of these teams would come to define the mid 90s, instead, it was a team that had just 7 playoff wins in the previous 4 seasons. Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon had established himself among the very best players, even leading the Rockets to the 1986 Finals, but a combination of coke-addicted teammates and incompetent management had held the Rockets back. Hakeem nearly left over disputes with ownership. Thankfully for the city of Houston, they managed to patch it up and Hakeem proceeded to go on arguably the greatest 2-year run in NBA history. The Dream entered the 93-94 season with a team that had the same pre-season odds as the Charlotte Hornets to win the championship. Hakeem immediately staked his claim to the throne of best player in the league with a legendary season. He finished top 3 in points per game, defensive rebounds per game and blocks per game. He also finished top 5 in total rebounds. He became the 2nd player ever to win both MVP and defensive player of the year and he did it without a single all star beside him. The Dream would save his best for the playoffs. Did you think 27 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks were good averages? How about 29, 11 and 4, you think that’s good too? That is what Hakeem AVERAGED on his way to Houston’s first NBA championship. In the finals, against Patrick Ewing, he averaged 27, 9 and 4 while holding Ewing below 20 points per game throughout the series. He also got in an iconic block on John Starks to send the series to game 7, which Houston won thanks to Olajuwon’s efforts. Hakeem became the first and only player ever to win MVP, DPOY and Finals MVP in the same season. His 92 blocks in that postseason is by far the most in a single playoff run ever. For reference, he is the only player to ever put up more than 80 blocks in a playoff run. Only 2 other players have more than 75. Hakeem staked his claim as the best player in the NBA. It was easy to think Houston would do it again, they had the 2nd best preseason odds. But fast forward to the playoffs and it was easy to write them off. The Western conference was stacked with contenders. Hakeem was still incredible, but the team around him had declined and a trade for Hakeem’s former college teammate Clyde Drexler could only get Houston the 6th seed in the 1995 playoffs. At the time, no team below the 4th seed in their conference had ever won a championship. Only 1 team below the 3rd seed had won a championship and that happened all the way back in 1969. There’s no way Houston could pull this off. Well, everyone forgot one thing, the Rockets had Hakeem Olajuwon. Did you think 29, 11 and 4 blocks were impressive averages? How about 33, 10 and 3? WHAT. THE. FUCK. Hakeem put up those numbers against 4 57+ win teams. His run through the West included 2 60-win teams and a 59-win Suns team. In the conference finals against the Spurs and their MVP David Robinson, Olajuwon averaged 35, 13 and 4 in a performance so dominant, that it has been immortalized forever in a YouTube video simply called Olajuwon Dominates Robinson In the finals, Hakeem met Shaq and casually averaged 33, 12 and 2 in a 4-game sweep to clinch Houston’s 2nd consecutive championship. In the toughest playoff road in NBA history, Hakeem still OBLITERATED the competition on the way to his 2nd championship and Finals MVP. Hakeem’s 1995 playoff run is 4th all-time for most points in a single playoff run. Only MJ in 1992, LeBron in 2018 and Kawhi in 2019 have surpassed Hakeem’s 1995. 2019 Kawhi also needed 2 extra games. Throughout that 2-year stretch, Olajuwon was the only all-star and all-NBA player in Houston, with the only exception being Drexler who made all-NBA 3rd team in his half season with the Rockets. I will die on the hill that Hakeem is a top 10 player of all-time and this 2-year run is my evidence for that claim. It made him one of the greatest players ever and a true Larry O’Brien Legend.