No, I did not hit my head after a night of drinking. No, I have not completed my slow decent into madness. Yes, quarantine may have gotten to me, but this could have happened! Let me take you back to the far off year of 1992. Slick Willy played his sax all the way to the White House, the Bulls just went back to back, and Save the Best for Last by Vanessa Williams topped the charts. Well, that last one was in March, not for the whole year, but that is when our story takes place. Let’s take a look then, about the time Hakeem Olajuwon asked the Rockets for a trade.
Why It Almost Happened
I am not calling Hakeem out for wanting money. Olajuwon was one of, if not the, best centers in the league. With Patrick Ewing signing a six year, $36 million contract in New York, Hakeem wanted the Rockets to pay him. When they refused, Hakeem Olajuwon allegedly faked an injury and sat out. There’s a lot to this, and if you have time I’d check out this video.
Why It Didn’t Happen
Ok, before we get into it, we need to look at why the Rockets didn’t trade Olajuwon. Frankly, it’s because he was the Dream. One fourteen hour flight to Japan sitting next to team owner Charlie Thomas, and that settled things for a while. Again, watch the video above, it’s really interesting. Now, let’s get into it.
Who Would He Have Been Traded To?
There were three teams who seriously discussed a trade. Both the Miami Heat and the Portland Trail Blazers offered players, but the Rockets said it wasn’t enough. Another team, the Los Angeles Lakers offered James Worthy, Vlade Divac, Elden Campbell, and a future first rounder. From this Hakeem Olajuwon interview in 1990, it seems like he would not have hated the move.
lmao, chick hearn openly tampering in this 1990 interview with hakeem pic.twitter.com/ypiAsFwe55
— J. Kyle Mann (@jkylemann) May 26, 2020
Why didn’t this happen? Did the Rockets get cold feet? Did Hakeem Olajuwon re-fall in love with Houston? Nope, at the time, the Lakers had a payroll of $18,851,000 and the salary cap was $14,000,000 for the upcoming year. They couldn’t get the salaries to workout, so it ended. But what if the Lakers didn’t have salary cap issues?
Hakeem to the Lakers
1992-1993 Season
The Los Angeles Lakers With the Dream
I don’t like just saying “yeah, but what if they didn’t,” but I’m just doing it once so cut me some slack. Let’s say salaries work out, and Vlade, Worthy, Campbell, and a 1993 first get it done. I don’t think it changes much for the Lakers in 1992-93. The Lakers aren’t ready to win a ring with just Hakeem. They make the playoffs as the four seed, and survive to the semis, but are bounced by Phoenix in six.
Do the Rockets Fall Off?
A little. They aren’t second in the West, but they make the playoffs still. While they got a decent return, they’d be lucky to make it out of the first round. They don’t and would lose to the Sonics in five as the seventh seed.
1993-1994 Season
With Michael Jordan retiring to pursue his first love (gambling), the NBA was wide open. With his Airness gone, how would each team react?
The Lakers Go All In
The Lakers felt good going into the 1993-94 season. They brought in the second overall pick from the 1984 draft, Sam Bowie, to pair with Olajuwon. They had some good young players like Nick Van Exel and Doug Christie, but came out flat. After just treading water around the All-Star break, the Lakers fired coach Randy Pfund and brought in Magic Johnson to help re-energize the team and bring some Showtime Lakers nostalgia.
With rumors the Hawks were looking to trade Dominique Wilkins, the Lakers offered a struggling Sam Bowie and a first for the twelve year vet, giving Olajuwon a star to play with. The high flying duo bring the Lakers back from the brink, leading them to the three seed heading into the playoffs. After cruising to the Conference Finals, the Lakers face off against Stockton, Malone, and the Utah Jazz. After splitting the first four games, the Lakers manage to win game five after a beautiful performance on the defensive end, holding Karl Malone to 10 points on 3-12 shooting. On the other end, Dominique Wilkins shows why the Lakers gave up a first for him with a huge dunk in the final minutes to seal it. However, it wasn’t enough, as Stockton and Malone woke up, winning the next two games and went on to win the NBA finals.
The Rockets Continue to Struggle
The Rockets still made the playoff in 1994, but as a sixth seed. Vlade Divac received an All-Star appearance for his efforts, and got the chance to matchup against the Lakers in round one. Even though Divac played well in the first three games, the Rockets found themselves down 3-0 to Hakeem and Wilkins. In the first Hakeem Olajuwon-Rockets rematch, Hakeem dominated in game four, posting a statline of 30 points, 17 rebounds, and four blocks, sweeping the Rockets.
1994-1995 Season
New Year, New Coach For the Lakers
After a heartbreaking conference finals loss, Magic Johnson announced his retirement from coaching, elaborating it was never his dream to coach. After purchasing a 5% share in the team, the Buss family had Magic help them find his replacement. This search came down to Chuck Daly and Del Harris. While Daly was apprehensive, and wanted to spend time with his family, Magic ended up convincing him to join the Lakers. With their coach in place, the Lakers ran through the Western Conference, going 66-14 and securing the number one seed.
Once again, the Lakers had a cakewalk to the Conference Finals, this time matching up the Seattle SuperSonics. The series looked tight at first, splitting the first four games. However, a Ricky Pierce injury towards the end of game five hurt Seattle’s bench scoring, and the Lakers won five and six. That led to a Finals Matchup against Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic. While Shaq’s physical ability is something to behold, Hakeem’s experience and the Lakers supporting cast is too much to handle, and the Lakers sweep the Magic.
Houston Tries to Bounce Back
With early exits the past two seasons, Houston ownership told coach Rudy Tomjanovich it was now or never. After the 1994 playoffs, James Worthy announced it would be his last season, and he wanted out of Houston. NBA insiders argued James Worthy should have retired earlier, but only stayed to win that elusive fourth ring. After almost pulling off a trade for Scottie Pippen early in the season, Michael Jordan’s return ended that, and instead packaged Worthy, Kenny Smith, and a 1996 first rounder for Clyde Drexler. The Glide performed admirably, and Vlade Divac showed to be a solid number two. After securing the four seed, the Rockets beat the reigning NBA Champion Jazz in five, but were once again swept by the Lakers the following series. Sick of losing to the Lakers so often, ownership cleaned out the front office and fired Tomjanovich.
Some Loose Ends
This is getting a bit long, so we are going to speed run the last bit.
The Future of the Lakers
After the playing the 1995 season with the Celtics, Dominique Wilkins was playing in Greece. It is possible he may have stayed in the league after going back to back, but he was almost done in the league. Hakeem would have continued playing for the time being, although it is unlikely the Lakers would have kept him around as long as the Rockets did (he was traded to Toronto in 2001).
This Lakers team also would not impact the Bulls second threepeat, much like the Rockets didn’t. They had their nice little run, now the GOAT is back so calm down.
No Threepeat in LA?
No title needed… Kobe Bryant! #KobeBryant #KobeForever #NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/wK5dnk6Xqd
— Belly Up Sports (@BellyUpSports) August 23, 2020
I don’t mean this Lakers team, although as I mentioned they didn’t get the threepeat. I mean in the early 2000s. If Hakeem went to the Lakers, no Shaq and Kobe threepeat, no Mamba out, none of it.
How would Hakeem Olajuwon getting traded from the Rockets impact Kobe? Well, that wouldn’t, but Vlade Divac, who was traded for Hakeem in this timeline, was traded for Kobe in ours. What would the Lakers give up to bring the 17 year old from Lower Merion to Hollywood? And if the Lakers had a Hall of Fame center, would they want to spend a huge sum on Shaq? Maybe, maybe not. But that’s a story for another day.
There you have it, what if Hakeem Olajuwon was traded from the Rockets. If you liked that, read What if Bob Kraft never bought Foxboro Stadium. Also check me out on Twitter to hear some other weird things I think of (@BellyUpKev).
1 Comment
Interesting