Durant interviews Olajuwon! Learning the Dream Shake from the Dream, hoping to retire with the Rockets' jersey in the future

On February 10th Beijing time, Rockets star Durant invited legend Olajuwon for a 26-minute interview on the latest episode of Boardroom. The conversation focused more on basketball philosophy and skills rather than nostalgia, including Olajuwon personally teaching Durant the Dream Shake move.

Even 25 years after leaving the Rockets, Olajuwon remains a highly influential superstar in Houston. This greatest player in franchise history often appears courtside at Rockets home games and can even be spotted in local stores, but in-depth interviews with him are still quite rare.

During the interview, Durant asked the question everyone wanted to know: how exactly did you develop your Dream Shake?

Olajuwon admitted it all came down to those summers competing against pros like Moses Malone in Houston. He said that’s where his footwork was truly honed. Whether at the University of Houston or early in his Rockets career, coaches insisted he stay low-post only, forbidding flashy offensive moves.

“When playing streetball, you can’t get the ball inside the paint, so you have to move out to catch and dribble,” Olajuwon explained. “My summer games were totally different from official matches. Coaches wanted me to stay inside, not let big men dribble, just post up high... In summer streetball, I played forward — that’s how I developed. Once the season started, I was ‘locked back’ in the paint again.”

Olajuwon noted that it wasn’t until Tomjanovich became Rockets head coach in 1992 that he was allowed to play as freely as he did in those summer games.

He also addressed the long-rumored 1984 draft trade. The Rockets picked him first overall, but there were rumors they planned to send Sampson to Portland for Drexler and the No. 2 pick, which would have been used on Michael Jordan. Olajuwon said he was unaware of this at the time and only heard about it later.

“Oh my God,” Durant exclaimed, “that team would have won at least 10 to 12 championships — easily the greatest team ever.”

Three years ago, Durant surpassed Olajuwon on the NBA all-time scoring list, and now he is entering the career stage where Olajuwon once retired. Olajuwon played 18 seasons and retired at age 39 after one year with the Raptors. He said his passion for the game never faded, but physical wear and realizing he was much older than his teammates led to his decision to step away.

At 37, Durant is still performing at a high level in his 19th season, averaging 25.9 points per game, and says he wants to keep playing as long as possible. “With KD’s fundamentals, he can play as long as he wants,” Olajuwon said. “Just take it one year at a time.”

At the end of the interview, Durant said, “I went to college in Texas, not far from here. I really love the Rockets. Every time I go to the arena and see the retired jerseys, it motivates me even more. Even though I’m not young anymore, I still hope that if I work hard enough, one day I can hang up there with you guys.”