| | HOUSTON -- Doctors are recommending Houston Rockets center
Hakeem Olajuwon not play basketball for several weeks because of respiratory problems that have plagued him.
"He is still having problems so we asked him to take some time
off," Dr. James Muntz, the Rockets' team physician, said Wednesday
after Olajuwon visited him for a follow-up examination of breathing
difficulties that have hampered his play.
"We told him he would probably be out two to three weeks and
that's getting toward the end of the season."
Earlier this month, Olajuwon, 37, was diagnosed with a reactive
airway disease that restricts the flow of air through his bronchial
passages during heavy exercise. The condition leaves Olajuwon 's
lungs in spasms. Medications prescribed to Olajuwon have not yet
solved the problem.
The breathing problem has limited his playing time. Since it was
diagnosed March 1, the most he has played was one half of a game,
and that occurred only once.
For the season, however, he is averaging only 24 minutes a game.
He missed seven weeks earlier in the season to recover from hernia
surgery.
Muntz said the physical exertion required of an NBA player is at
the heart of the problem.
"If he was not playing basketball, he would not even know he
has this condition," Muntz said. "If he were working at the bank
or the news station, he would never know it. If he were jogging
with me, he would never know it."
The physician said Olajuwon was agreeable to the hiatus.
"He would never say he couldn't play," Muntz added. "We had
to tell him."
Olajuwon, the NBA's all-time leader in blocked shots and the
Rockets' leader in virtually every offensive category, has said
next season would be the last of his career. It also is the last of
his contract and worth $16.5 million.
Muntz would not speculate Wednesday on Olajuwon's prospects for next year. The Rockets have only about four weeks remaining in
their season.
"The best way to answer that is to say everyone in the
organization is concerned and just wants what is the best for
Hakeem," he said. "We want to make sure that he is healthy."
Houston is mired in an eight-game losing streak and is
guaranteed to finish with a losing record for the first time since
a 29-53 mark in 1983-84, the season before Olajuwon was the
Rockets' and the NBA's No. 1 draft pick out of the University of
Houston.
The Rockets also will miss the playoffs for the first time since
1992.
For his career, Olajuwon has averaged nearly 24 points and 12
rebounds a game, but this year is averaging 10 points and six
rebounds.
Olajuwon logged 16 minutes in the Rockets 98-85 loss to Cleveland on Monday, scoring two points.
His falloff in performance this year, along with the team's
struggles, have prompted some criticism that he has stayed too
long, can no longer compete and should retire.
"I know I can contribute to the team's success," he told the
Houston Chronicle earlier this month. "But when people bury you
alive, that's a different subject. I just disregard that. I play
not to prove anything to myself, but to play my role." | |
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Rockets physician Dr. Jim Muntz discusses Olajuwon's respiratory problems.
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