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In nine rather ordinary seasons, Olowokandi went on to average about eight points and seven rebounds per game.
Imagine walking into an Economics 101 class at a local university, evaluating students and their academic records, and then attempting to predict success as a young business executive five, 10 years into the future. It takes research and good fortune, which is precisely what happened with the Houston Rockets and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Former general manager Carroll Dawson, who spent 27 years in a variety of jobs with the Rockets, said there was little discussion going into the 1984 draft. The Rockets would take Olajuwon No. 1 overall, ahead of Sam Bowie and Michael Jordan.
“We were certain, no doubt about it,” Dawson said. “But the thing is, we got a lot more than we bargained for. We had seen him a lot and he dunked, blocked shots, rebounded and ran the floor like a madman. We didn’t know about his shooting touch until we got him. The only touch you saw in college was when he shot free throws and he couldn’t make them (55 percent). But every year in the NBA he added something. He had shooting touch and could shoot phenomenally.”
Most important, however, in Olajuwon’s development into a leader, a champion, and Hall-of-Famer was his maturity. Early in his NBA career, Olajuwon’s talents were undermined by personal fouls, technical fouls, fights and visible displays of negative emotion. Opponents easily frustrated him. But concurrent with a greater focus on his spirituality early in the 1990s, Olajuwon’s play and on-court demeanor matured. The result was two championships and some of the finest play in basketball history.
Just how difficult is it to predict character and work ethic? On one hand, consider Tim Thomas, who went to the Nets in 1997 with the seventh pick, two spots ahead of Tracy McGrady. Thomas has the physical skills of an all-star, but has considerably underachieved his entire career. On the other hand, Paul Pierce slid all the way to No. 10 in 1998 because of concerns regarding his disposition. Pierce has been the Celtics’ rock for 10 seasons, improving his play each year, and recently was named MVP of the NBA Finals.
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“You want to be absolutely as thorough as you can be,” Williams said. “You are going to examine these two young men like no human beings have ever been examined. You want as much face time with them as you can get. Ideally you want to go and meet their families, spend as much time as possible with siblings and parents, and you want to go to their hometowns and their high schools, visit their youth coaches. You can’t do enough.”
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