Ewing, Olajuwon Nominated for Hall of Fame
by Russ Bengtson
Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon faced off for the first time in the 1984 NCAA Championship game. Ewing’s Georgetown Hoyas defeated Olajuwon’s Houston Cougars, 84-75, at Seattle’s Kingdome. Ten years later they would meet again in the NBA Finals, where Olajuwon’s Rockets would get the best of Ewing’s Knicks in a slog-it-out seven-game series.
Now, 24 years after that initial meeting, they have a chance to enter the Basketball Hall of Fame together. Assuming the committee doesn’t just pick more international coaches.
24 Responses to “Ewing, Olajuwon Nominated for Hall of Fame”
Feb.15 at 5:57 pm
Slick Nick Da Ruler says:
Congratulations to these Elite HOF’ers
Feb.15 at 6:23 pm
Krayzie Bone says:
Good one Russ.
Feb.15 at 6:43 pm
Captain America says:
Two of the best. Make it so.
Feb.15 at 6:53 pm
G Diesel says:
I’d like to see Kwame Brown and Darko Milicic enter the Hall of Fame together. That would be a dream come true.
Feb.15 at 6:54 pm
maio says:
A lock both of them. Two more words: Adrian Dantley.
Feb.15 at 7:20 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
BERNARD KING!
Feb.15 at 7:35 pm
Jim Mora says:
darko will probably murder any committee member’s family if he’s not voted in
Feb.15 at 7:57 pm
Kevin says:
thats awesome.. nothing more fitting than Ewing and Olajuwon going in together
Feb.15 at 8:30 pm
Jake Appleman says:
two worthy warriors who got there through sweat, not any of the BS consuming sports these days.
Feb.15 at 8:49 pm
tealish says:
Yes to the Dream, but the Pippen facials alone makes for a weak case in favour of the ringless Ewing.
Feb.15 at 11:46 pm
Bubba Chuck says:
adrian dantley!
Feb.15 at 11:48 pm
Ben Osborne says:
Thanks Russ. Any class would be better than last year’s.
Feb.16 at 12:29 am
nick says:
When there’s an induction day pick-up game, i want to be there.
Feb.16 at 3:14 am
Russ Bengtson says:
If the world was fair, ALL of the NBA guys nominated would get in–AD, Mullin, DJ, Nellie and Riles, along with Pat and Dream–but I’m not gonna hold my breath.
Feb.16 at 3:57 am
Tariq says:
I doubt anyone can write a tribute to Hakeem that is as moving, eloquent, elegant, poignant, articulate, touching, wise, wistful, meaningful, mesmerising or all-encompassing as the one I wrote for the SLAM Hall of Fame. Truly fitting prose by a genuine master. Oh, and Hakeem was good at basketball.
Feb.16 at 12:47 pm
jeremy says:
Its time for Hakeem to get in.I love watching old highlight reels of him.He was not a hybrid big man,not a do it all big man,he was a big man who played inside.You dont see many true big men anymore.They shoot threes,handle the ball,etc.But the old school big men didnt.They played down low and got pretty much all their buckets in the paint.That is how it should be.
Feb.16 at 7:54 pm
Rob Paxon says:
Hakeem and Ewing making it together would be great, same with Riley and Ewing. Also, Dicky V was nominated. I’m not the biggest college hoops fan and I sometimes find him to be a bit too much during broadcasts (though I mostly enjoy them). However, I have true reverence for the man. His pure love for the game is exhilarating and he deserves to be in the basketball Hall of Fame more than John Madden deserves to be in Canton (though Madden does for the same kind of culture-pervading reasons).
Feb.16 at 8:06 pm
baller says:
Hakeem is pretty much the reason why I got into basketball. Sure Michael Jordan was an influence but Hakeem pretty much did it for me. As a Nigerian, soccer was and still is king. But basketball was starting to gain popularity in the 80’s and really blew up in the 90’s and Hakeem is one of the reasons why.In my opinion, the only centers I put ahead of him are Kareem,Wilt and Russell. All the other centers get behind him, including Shaq! Hakeem made us proud on and off the court and deserves to be inducted into the hall of fame!
Feb.16 at 10:36 pm
the hawk will never die says:
they have to be a shoe in. I HATE VILLANOVA!
Feb.17 at 12:35 pm
jeremy says:
we get the point. you hate villanova.now,SHUT THE HECK UP!
Feb.17 at 2:21 pm
KJ says:
To the cat that said Dream only got his points in the paint…you must have never had the privelege of seeing the Dream Shake in person. He would take other centers out from the comfort zone under the basket and make them gaurd that nasty 12-15 ft turn-around J. He was actually the first true center that had a damn good mid-range game…but of course he would smash on your ass if you let him get the step on you.
Feb.17 at 5:58 pm
Chukaz says:
Why all the hate on international coaches that need translaters for their speeches and that nobody’s ever heard of? They do a great thing for the NBA, even greater than what guys like Dream and Pat do, we just have to figure out what it is. Anybody know?
Feb.17 at 7:37 pm
BETCATS says:
im glad Adrian Dantley and DJ have a shot, agian, but i gurantee you they wont get it. Darn you Monty Burns!
Jul.7 at 6:11 am
LouisianaMike says:
Bernard (Nard) King was unreal. He was unstoppable. Ditto, Adrian Dantly.
Marques Johnaon and Mark Aguirre also deserves a look. As for as guards, two of the finest to ever lace them up was, Phil Chenier, explosive; and my homeboy James Silas, awesome.