http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/1653091 Maybe it's not Pulitzer material, but I'm impressed that he wrote an article at all. When was the last time any houston professional player wrote an article for the Chronicle? Anyway, one of such an occasion. Classy, and I'm impressed.
But maybe my favorite Dream story has to do with clothes. It was my second year in the NBA, and I think we were in New York. What I remember is that it was really cold. Now, you know Hakeem is always dressed to perfection. You won't find a guy who dresses better than him. So, I walk in and I have a brand-new jean outfit on, jacket and pants. I think I even was wearing a jean cap. I thought I was looking real stylish. We get to the bus, Hakeem looks me up and down and asks, "Are you going to drive the bus to the arena?" I didn't know what he was talking about, so I asked him. And Hakeem says, "Because you look like a bus driver." Hahahahaha...Hakeem was so straight-forward...awesome...
Steve and the NBA got off on the wrong foot with the whole Vancouver thing, but to me, this article is just another example that Steve really is one of the good guys in the league - someone who deserves to be marketed and, yes, deserves to be on an Olympics team (although one might say that he's too good for the team now).
There have been a lot of positive influences in my life, and Hakeem has definitely been one of them. From how I play to how I carry myself away from the game, I owe Hakeem a lot. And it started way before he and I became teammates in 1999. C'mon, Steve! Don't you know that you're not supposed to begin a sentence with a preposition? Not only is he a selfish ballhog, but he has poor grammar, also!
and also...San Jac College is in Pasadena, not Houston. Geeze.. Seriously..pretty decent article as it goes..maybe they should give him the sports beat job..he could easily do better than the guys we have doin it now..
Actually, you can begin a sentence with a conjunction, as long as you don't use it too often. It's quite alright to break the rules of basic writing. Nice try though. Steve rocks!!
Interesting that Francis is kind of admitting to some of the things "Sir Charles" said about him: versus Now, there is a significant amount of POV on both sides, but Francis is saying he didn't always appreciate Barkley's *way*. It wasn't the message itself, but the manner it was delivered.
Conjunction junction, What's your function? Conjunction junction, What's your function? C'mon people...I'm not the only one old enough to remember ABC's Schoolhouse Rock. Thanks to it, I can deliver the entire preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Yes? Anyone? A-Train, if poor grammar bothers you, this is NOT the place to hang out, youknowwhatI'msayin?
I always liked the one about how a bill becomes law... teaching government thru catchy cartoons..I actually wish they had more of them on these days.. they were funny.
I say we stop ripping Steve for the grammatical mistakes and a general lack of writing skills and focus on the intent of the letter. It was an awesome show of respect to Hakeem by having his thoughts published in the paper. It was a very classy and honorable (ala Hakeem) thing to do. I am very impressed Steve. Well done.
It is a nice remembrance, but it wasn't like Franchise just went to the Chron and offered to write a piece!
After reading this article & the one by Feigen, I may have to change my stance on whether or not Olajuwon would make a good assistant coach to tutor Yao & maybe even Cato. These 2 articles bring out some of the behind the scenes stuff that we as Rocket fans weren't privy to. This certainly is an exciting tome to be a Rockets fan!!
Yeah, Feigen's article had me wondering: I suppose it was probably just the way the question was worded that the answer came out like that. Or does Yao know something about coaching additions?
This article PERFECTLY illustrates what a great coach Hakeem would be. He demands so much respect, because he's a champion, an MVP, he's won almost EVERYTHING. He played with them, and he was, even then, their leader. The way he carries himself, the way he teaches, the way he puts an imperssion on you with his words. Griffin and Yao would GREATLY benefit from Hakeem.
I agree. I remember when people said that Barkley was a real leader and Hakeem was just a good player but not a real leader. I think the truth is that they just had different styles of leadership. I think this illustrates that Hakeem was a leader.
