HOUSTON – Hakeem Olajuwon, who led the Houston Rockets to a
pair of NBA titles over a 17-year career and became the league's
all-time shot blocker, is suffering from a blood condition that may
have ended his stellar career with the team.
The Rockets announced Tuesday Olajuwon has a blood problem in a
vein in the lower half of his left leg and will require medication
that will keep him off the court for three to six months.
The fear is that taking a drug called coumadin, a blood thinner,
could result in an more serious internal injury if he had hard
contact while on the court.
Olajuwon's contract, which pays him $16.5 million this year,
expires at the end of this season, but Rockets general manager
Carroll Dawson refused to say Olajuwon had played his last game as
a Rocket.
"The first thing is his health," he said. "As you know, we
don't ever close the door. If you look at the way he's played, I
don't know what this condition is going to bring.
"Our whole job is to put the best team out there to win games
and get back to where we want to be. If the guy can still play, we
just don't close doors. We'll just have to wait and see."
Rockets trainer Keith Jones said physicians could not identify
the ailment with a name other than to describe it as a blood
condition.
"They're not going to just go out and say it's a clot," he
said. "But they're going to treat it that way. The conditon he
has, if it was a strain or bruise, he would play. But being on
coumadin, our doctors feel it's not the best thing for him to be on
the floor.
"If he had another traumatic injury, if he fell to the floor or
got hit in the head or a good shot to abdomen, it could cause some
hemorraging."
Olajuwon, the top pick in the 1984 draft after a three-year
career at the University of Houston, was the NBA's Most Valuable
Player in 1994, when he became the only player to win honors as
MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and MVP of the NBA Finals.
He is the Rockets all-time leader in nearly all categories,
including games, points, free throws, rebounds, steals and minutes.
Olajuwon, who was not present at a news conference late Tuesday,
has played a key role in the Rockets' recent surge to playoff
contention and did not play on Sunday in a last-second Houston loss
at Phoenix.
He's averaged 11.3 points per game in 49 games this year, 7.3
rebounds and 1.55 blocks. But 10 days ago, he scored a season high
27 points at Dallas and in a game last month had 20 rebounds
against Washington. For his career, he has averaged 23 points and
nearly 12 rebounds per game. In the playoffs, his average is almost
27 points and more than 11 rebounds.
"I probably have two emotions," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich
said. "The first is disappointment not only in our hopes but for
Dream. He was really playing well and believed we could get the job
done and make it to the playoffs. I hadn't seen him as happy in a
long time.
"But the overriding emotion is one of gratitude that this was
caught. Something might have happened. This game is our business
and it means a lot but it doesn't go over someone's health and
someone's safety."
"It's obviously sad that he can't go on this year because of
the medical problem he has," Rockets owner Les Alexander told
Houston television station KRIV. "The team was just jelling.
"I spoke to Hakeem this morning and he told me he felt
horrible. He was really excited about the team. This is really
hurtful to him and obviously hurtful to me. Unfortunately, these
things happen in sports. He's obviously the greatest player in
Rockets history and one of the greatest players of all time."
Last week, the team announced he would miss two games because of
a strained right calf.
In a rocky first half of the year punctuated by demands that he
be traded or released, Olajuwon last month said he wanted to remain
in Houston to play out the last year of his contract.
Olajuwon earlier had indicated he wanted to play for the Miami
Heat and specifically for coach Pat Riley, saying he had been
frustrated with his lack of playing time and his role in the
Rockets this season.
 Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
|
ALSO SEE
Little Rocket fuels triple-OT win over Pacers
AUDIO VIDEO
 The Houston Rockets announce that Hakeem Olajuwon's season is over.
RealVideo: 28.8
 Hakeem Olajuwon will be missed, but coach Rudy Tomjanovich is glad to see that he will be okay.
wav: 234 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
