Newsgroup: it.sport.americani
Titolo: Dietro le quinte della fine del lockout (dallo Houston Chronicle)

Olajuwon comes through yet again
By FRAN BLINEBURY
       THERE was the mighty reach to the sky in the last seconds and
the
fingertip block of John Starks' jumper that saved Game 6 against the
Knicks and the Rockets' first championship.  There was the dramatic
tip-in basket at the final tick of the clock in overtime that
concluded the
Game 1 comeback and started the back-to-back sweep of the 1995 NBA
Finals in Orlando.  So many years and so many incredible efforts.
Curling
through the lane for a jump hook. Spinning like a 7-foot top along the
baseline for another unstoppable fadeaway. Doing everything, anything,
whatever it takes. 
     Usually, he is out front, the lead horse pulling the wagon.  But
for
what might have been the biggest, strongest, boldest, most
far-reaching
play of his entire career, Hakeem Olajuwon worked behind the scenes.
Saving the NBA season.   Amid the jubilation and the back-slapping by
both sides of self-centered, headline-grabbing leadership in
recognition
of the end of the labor war, know this: Without Hakeem, basketball
this year might have been only a dream. 
        Call it Clutch City goes to the bargaining table.  Or at least
to the
New York offices of union negotiator Billy Hunter for a
polite-but-firm
pronouncement that it was time to stop posturing, put away hidden
agendas and reach an agreement with the owners before both sides
burned down the mansion.   It was a handful of players, tired of the
politics and the finger-pointing, who let Hunter know that a failure
to
strike a deal with NBA commissioner David Stern could produce severe
consequences, possibly even legal action. 
      Facing a vote by the union Wednesday and a possible shutdown
decision by the owners today, a group consisting of Shaquille O'Neal
and
his agent, Leonard Armato; Sam Mitchell and his agent, Mike Curry;
Jayson Williams; and Olajuwon cajoled, prodded and eventually got
Hunter to telephone Stern  to arrange the 11th-hour meeting that
lasted all
of Tuesday night and eventually resulted in the new contract. 
    "It is a wonderful feeling to have everything settled and be able
to get
back to basketball," Olajuwon said from a hotel suite in Manhattan.
"This
new agreement is for the betterment of the league, in the interest of
both
sides. 
     "If the season had been canceled, it would have done tremendous
damage to the game, and it may have taken a long time to recover, if
ever. I believe that it was important to have some kind of season, and
it
was getting late. 
       "I did not want to be here. I had to be pushed to get involved.
This is
not about me." 
      But it is about him and all that he has become over the course
of a
glorious 15-year career -- All-Star, Most Valuable Player, a two-time
champion and, most important at this critical juncture, a respected
figure,
a keeper of the flame. 
   Olajuwon had to be pushed by some of the union members who felt
their best interests were not being represented by Hunter and the
David
Falk-Patrick Ewing-Michael Jordan cabal that was spending so much time
flexing its muscles like oiled-up bodybuilders. There were members of
the union who wanted to have their voices heard and who needed
someone with the on- and off-court stature of Olajuwon to deliver the
message. 
   Hakeem and Shaq, giants both literally and in image, represented
the
present and future of the NBA. But while O'Neal carries financial
clout as
a  multimedia personality and unprecedented physical strength, even he
needed the thoughtful, statesmanlike aura of Olajuwon to carry the
banner of reason and compromise. Olajuwon is nothing like the majority
of NBA players in  terms of cultural and religious background, and yet
their respect for him is nearly universal.  Jordan's raw, uncanny
abilities
are held in awe by his peers. Olajuwon's all-around character is
regarded with admiration.  
     Thus, it was time for his tact, his sense of ethics, to cut
through the
bombast. He had sat back long enough, trusting others to be reasonable
men who could find common ground.   But now the clock was ticking
down, and it was his time. Time to make a play. So he came onto the
scene like a steel hammer inside a velvet sheath and pounded
away at the concept of compromise.   He had been offended at the
personal attacks in some of the previous talks, at  the profane
language,
the rancor and the bitterness. He was all business, no showy emotion.
There was a plan for him to address the full union  membership -- with
O'Neal and Williams at his side -- if that had been necessary. 
    Olajuwon is a man of few words. But when he speaks, people usually
listen.  Hunter understood. Today, we have a season. 
      Another slam dunk, Hakeem. 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dopo questo articolo sono tentato di chiedere la beatificazione di
Olajuwon seduta stante!
HOOP RULES
           Doc
De Marco Johnson De Marco Johnson De Marco Johnson
Niners sooner or later (I fear later)
Sixers someday somewhere

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