The author of “Giannis” is now releasing a bio on the Houston Rockets great.
It was the honor of my lifetime to interview Mirin Fader, the NYT bestselling author and senior staff writer for The Ringer, who chose to tell the story of the man who’s signature move is the very namesake of this website. It is equally my honor to share some of the highlights of that interview with all of you faithful readers of TDS. I encourage you to watch the full interview on the Houston Sports State of the Union YouTube channel, which will premiere at 7:30 PM eastern this evening.
After writing “Giannis” what was it about Hakeem Olajuwon that let you know that was the next project you wanted to tackle?
I feel like with Giannis, so much of that book… tapped into the current world that we have now of international superstars taking over. Specifically African superstars, and I just thought to myself, “Who created that world? Who was the first? Who was the pioneer (of African superstars) that doesn’t receive credit, although his footprint is all over the NBA?… It’s Dream. Why has there been nothing on Dream?.” He’s criminally underrated…
I knew the broad strokes of Dream’s story, I knew about Islam, but nobody really had ever uncovered “What was it that he went through, that caused him to need to come back to his religious roots that so fundamentally changed him as a person?” It just seemed like the perfect human interest story.
That’s what I wanted to ask you. Before diving into this, what did you know about (Hakeem) and what part of his story surprised you the most?
Everyone knows ‘The Shake’ so I knew about The Shake, and it was really fun to go through YouTube clips for this and be like, “I’m working I promise!” I knew broad strokes… like the fairy tale of, “He somehow got on a plane to America, and it was cold in New York, and then somehow he came to Houston and became a superstar.
I knew his reputation as this regal, patient, humble, quiet person… I didn’t really know the extent that he had a temper early on in his career. I didn’t know anything about his upbringing in Lagos (Nigeria), I didn’t know anything about why he felt the need to return to Islam. People wrongly said he “converted”, he didn’t convert. He returned… One of the most surprising things that I learned was the myth to the origin story.”
That was the most disappointing thing. That’s my favorite story!
I know! Spoiler alert! It’s interesting because to me that is also why he’s so beloved, because it’s such a dream. It’s fantasy and people ate that up… As a journalist if somebody tells me, “He grew up in Lagos and all of a sudden met this coach who took him to America!” Okay.. how did point A go to point B, then B to C?
I had always heard (Hakeem) was a soccer player and that’s how he got his agility and footwork. But I wanna talk about his transition into basketball. How essential was Yommy Sangdodeyi (in that transition?)
In doing the book, wanting to celebrate Hakeems legacy and give him credit for being the first African superstar, I discovered how many others before him blazed the trail. Yommy’s legacy was unknown to me, and I really wanted him to be in these pages. He was a star in Lagos. He was a big man, but he could shoot. He was a much much more polished version of Hakeem, way advanced. Hakeem idolized him… According to Hakeem’s coaches and teammates from that era, Yommy was the one doing The Shake. While Hakeem’s “Dream Shake” was influenced by a variety of factors, handball and football (soccer), Yommy was shaking, and apparently Hakeem saw that, and that was the roots of (the Dream Shake).
Yommy unfortunately passed during covid… I was able to speak to with his survived wife. She said (Yommy) and Hakeem were like brothers.
Even though our favorite story isn’t true… Hakeem ends up in Houston and goes to the University of Houston. How did Guy Lewis become a really important figure in Hakeem’s journey?
Guy Lewis was such a tactician and he was never given credit for the skill work, fundamentals, and the defense he taught. The criticism was he just “rolled the ball out.” He really played a fundamental role in helping Hakeem even thinking about an offensive repertoire… I think what people don’t realize is (Hakeem) was a defensive player, pretty much only. He could dunk, but offense wasn’t something he really developed… until the pros.
I thought it was so important to talk about the history. There is so much history at the University of Houston… I didn’t know. I had no idea they were pretty much the first school to integrate their sports teams in the south. I had no idea Houston was one of the most segregated cities at the time of Jim Crow.
(I wanted to tell) the history of what Guy Lewis did to try to have a diverse team, but also not lean into these awful “white savior” tropes either. Make no mistake… he wanted to win. It wasn’t because of some moral clarity. We cannot divorce the racial politics of that era, from the environment that Hakeem was in.
How crucial of a role did Moses Malone play in Hakeem’s development on the court?
Really crucial. I don’t think people under 30 know that Moses Malone was an absolute beast… He takes Hakeem under his wing, and it wasn’t like he came over there and was like, “Here’s lesson number one… Here’s lesson number two.” He would just show him… he would kill him on the court… the mentorship was just day after day of getting pounded in the post.
The only thing I really knew about Malone was his dominance, but what I learned through this book was his selfless, giving spirit. He would give Hakeem hand-me-downs of his clothing. A lot of people still get emotional about his death, saying he would give anything. I thought he was the consummate mentor.
If you didn’t live through “Phi Slamma Jamma” you may not realize those guys were rockstars!
The satin warmup suits alone, they would just give so many people today a run for their money… It’s just fun and when I would ask the players about it, they would just light up! It was a cultural moment, it’s one of the most underrated moments. Although, it did end in heartbreak… Sorry Houston…
Hakeem comes to the Houston Rockets with the number one pick, over Michael Jordan and no one blinks an eye. He is immediately an impact player. You did a great job of highlighting that it was his work ethic that caused him to advance so quickly.
He was so dominant, but he was not a finished product. I think people don’t realize that it took him work to develop the offensive arsenal. He was not a natural. Caroll Dawson… he was the premiere big man coach. He spent everyday with Hakeem in the post teaching him moves. “The Shake”… a lot of that is “CD” as well.
It’s a community thing. There were so many people that made Hakeem great and yes it was his work ethic, yes it was his competitiveness. When you combine his personal drive… with the help of community, that’s when he really began to accelerate.
I wanna talk about Rudy Tomjanovich and the impact he had on Hakeem, and in return the impact Olajuwon had on Rudy.
Rudy understood Hakeem. He was the one (as an assistant coach) who throughout all the years of temper, he would have to walk Hakeem back to the locker room fuming when he got ejected and calm him down… There’s just a bond there that didn’t exist with anybody else… Rockets fans know (Rudy) wasn’t really sure about taking the (head coaching) job at first. He was the right man for the job… He was very ahead of his time… (with spacing) and the four-out. Rudy allowed Hakeem to finally play his game in full because he surrounded him with talent and he allowed the offense to flow through him.
You do a good job of highlighting how (Hakeem) returning to his faith and becoming more calm and cerebral… caused him to become a better teammate.
It’s true… There’s a whole section about passing out of the double team and how he hated that… Why would I pass when I can make it over two people?… He did learn to become willing passer out of the double team and in turn a better teammate.
Rudy was one of my favorite interviews… Hakeem (re)turning to religion inspired Rudy to become more religious… and make him think of how to become a better coach. This idea of bettering oneself. The coach is the teacher, but when the student is changing themselves and acting so mature and looking within, it just caused Rudy to do the same thing with himself. That hasn’t been talked about ever so, I just loved that.
Hakeem wins back-to back championships and of course everyone wants to put an asterisk on them because “Michael Jordan wasn’t there”… although he was there for one of them and I’ll die on that hill. But that doesn’t bother Hakeem. (Because of his faith) he’s comfortable with who he is and what he’s accomplished. The accolades don’t mean much to him, you mentioned in the book he doesn’t even wear his championship rings… also that his faith wouldn’t allow him to be directly involved with this book, but he did point you in the direction to the right people to help tell this story?
Yeah, I thought that was really generous. When I met him in the home of Henri De Yborrondo… he was so nice! He asked “What did you think of the mosque?”… because he coordinated with the director and I was able to go… I was so grateful for that. He is a private person, there’s a reason why nothing has ever been done on him, so I wanted to be really respectful and do this story justice.
You did a fantastic job… Thank you so much for taking the time to have this discussion.
Thank you for giving me such a fun interview, and for really reading the book and caring. I appreciate that so much. Congratulations on everything that you’re doing. Houston is lucky to read you!”
I appreciate that… I’m going to put that quote in the article! Thank you for joining me. It was a pleasure.
(“Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon” is available now wherever you buy books. Mirin Fader will be in Houston on Oct 17th at Brazos Bookstore at 6 PM for a book signing.)