The Dream and
When Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing went toe-to-toe in the 1994 NBA Finals during the "Dark Ages" of the Chicago Bulls Empire of the Nineties, we all knew we were watching two sure-fire Hall-of-Famers battle each other for the crowning achievement that had eluded both of them for their entire illustrious careers. A rematch of the classic NCAA Championship match a decade earlier, in which Ewing's Georgetown Hoyas defeated Olajuwon's Houston Cougars, Hakeem looked to settle the score. The Dream would eventually “shake” his way to the NBA Promised-Land over the Knicks in a remarkable seven game series (including the year after, against a younger "Diesel"), leaving
Hakeem entertained and impressed us not with his sky-flying dunks or nightly inserts in ESPN's Top Plays, but with his remarkable and sheer efficiency, lighting up scoreboards with his 18-foot baseline turn-around fall-aways that seemed to soar endlessly towards the arena rafters before finally splashing into the net. Dominant on both the offensive end and a terribly imposing presence underneath on the defensive end, Olajuwon's game was a perfect blend of yin-yang basketball prowess, much like the soft-crunchy Double Decker tacos he hawked with Shaq during the mid-90s. His was a fun and unique brand of basketball to watch, and frankly, a brand that is sorely missed. Olajuwon enters the halls of Springfield with just under 27,000 points, over 13,000 boards, a astounding 3,830 rejections, two rings with matching Finals MVP trophies, 12 All-Star bids, and one quadruple-double.
As for the man w
ho was the face of the Georgetown Hoyas in the early eighties, the man who seemed to be born with wobbly knees wrapped in braces and icepacks, the man who is the reason that sweat-moppers have a job, the man who was blocked by Muggsy, the original urban caveman before Geico took it and ran, and the man who stole every scene in Space Jam, his Hall resume is just as remarkable. As the Big Apple's man in the middle for 15 years, Ewing led the perennial playoff-bound Knicks in numerous memorable rivalries, with Jordan's Bulls, Reggie's Pacers, and Alonzo's Heat, but was never able to capture that elusive championship in 2 tries. P-Ew holds the Knicks records in scoring, rebounds, blocks, and steals, finished with nearly 25,000 points, 11,000 boards, and just under 3,000 blocks. The 1986 Rookie of the Year was a member of 11 Eastern All Star teams, won Olympic gold twice including the Original Dream Team, and was named one of the NBA' 50 Greatest.
