A Bad Dream

When Raptors fans opened the Toronto Star on the morning of August 3, 2001, they were greeted by a massive photo of Houston Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon and the headline: A Dream come true.

Tom Brady signing with the Buccaneers had me thinking of when the Raptors brought in 39-year-old Hakeem Olajuwon. Doug Smith wrote one heck of a lede that day. pic.twitter.com/s9UDFERLYY
— 𝐀𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 (@AaronBenRose) March 20, 2020

The Raptors were still in their infancy, just six years old, when general manager Glen Grunwald pulled off a sign-and-trade for the disgruntled, 38-year-old first ballot Hall of Famer.

"Hakeem Olajuwon had to have heard the whispers last season, the under-the-breath comments that his stellar NBA career was coming to a close, that the franchise to which he had brought so much glory was turning over the reins to a flashy young point guard," Doug Smith wrote in the Toronto Star that morning.

"He must have read the stories or seen the broadcasts or heard teammates and opponents wonder if his 38-year-old body could withstand the rigours of the NBA any more, if the injuries and illnesses that had so limited him in the past three season weren't, in fact, career-ending.

"But if anyone expected the man called simply "Dream" to lash out at those critics and doubters they would have been so terribly wrong. Above all else, the newest Raptor is a man of quiet dignity.

"Be it in the manner in which he carries himself on the court or in the manner in which he practises his faith, the one constant of his life has been that pride and dignity.

"And now he wants to do the one thing that will show those critics how he truly feels: Play the game with the excellence he has shown in an honour-filled 18 NBA seasons."

It's OK if you have no memory of Olajuwon's days in Toronto. His final, age 39 season was as unspectacular as his career was spectacular. He started 37 of the 61 games he played, averaged 7.1 points and six rebounds for a Raptors team that went 42-40 and was bounced in the first round of the playoffs. If you have a minute, you can find his Raptors mixtape on YouTube — it's 48 seconds.

Sometimes bringing in the old legend works out. Though the Broncos didn't win a Super Bowl with Payton Manning playing at his peak, the Hall of Fame quarterback played three stellar seasons in Denver before age and injuries set in during his final year, of course the year the Broncos won the Super Bowl.

That's probably what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are hoping they get in Tom Brady, the former New England Patriots legendary quarterback who reportedly inked a two-year deal with Tampa Bay on Friday.

Other times, the story ends like Olajuwon's. His tenure in Toronto ended unceremoniously. He was a shell of the player he used to be, crippled by injuries and the Raptors were ready to see him go.

"It was a gamble and I think we lost on it,'' Grunwald told reporter on September 30, 2002. "It didn't turn out the way we had hoped.

"We had hoped he would be here for a couple of more years, but it doesn't look like that's going to be the case. ... It could have worked great, but it didn't. We have to move on now."

When Olajuwon retired at the end of the 2001-02 season he was still due over $12 million by the Raptors. Ultimately it was a sour end to an incredible career that's probably better left forgotten because when the Dream was at his peak, few centres in the history of the game can say they were better.