Wemby’s Dream Tutorial: Can Olajuwon’s Footwork Make Him Texas’ Greatest Center?

Houston just became Victor Wembanyama’s last summer stop. More specifically, at Houston Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon’s Ranch, for a private workout in the Rockets legend’s gym. Before we dive into what this means for Wemby’s career arc, let’s recap what he did before landing in Houston:

He spent ~10 days at China’s Shaolin Temple: shaved his head, lived monk-style, and did daily kung-fu/meditation. In L’Équipe he described “more than 1,000 kicks per day,” balance drills, stretching, and “some of the biggest aches” of his life—work he says helped body positioning and mobility.

He linked up with Kevin Garnett for on-court work, centering on mid-post footwork, tempo and counters, as well as getting some of that epic KG intensity.

Add to the list last summer's workout with Jamal Crawford, focused on on-ball creativity, and his stay at Hakeem's Ranch is his final "Infinity Stone" in a Thanos-like run of collecting basketball's royalty knowledge.

So what could The Dream's teachings mean for the future heights Wemby might reach? Could this be the final piece that cements the Spurs rising star on a path to All-Time greatness - even better than Olajuwon himself?

Texas Big-Men Mentorship Runs through Houston

To project what learning from Hakeem could mean to Victor’s development, we need to track Houston’s OG big-men mentor and the impact his teachings had on his pupils. Moses Malone has entered the chat.

As Paul Knepper, author of the first biographical book on the great Rockets’ Center, “Moses Malone: The Life of a Basketball Prophet”, shared in the Rocket Fuel podcast, Hakeem was the first young prodigy to have his career impacted by a Houston legend.

Coming off his freshman year at the University of Houston, Olajuwon was still a raw prospect new to basketball and still learning the game. The Fondi Rec Center in Houston was a hub for competitive off-season runs that featured NBA players, including league MVP, Moses Malone. That’s where and when the two Rockets’ hall-of-famers developed their relationship.

Moses, per Knepper’s research “treated every run like an NBA Finals Game 7”, which sets an incredibly high standard, given Malone was right in the middle of back-to-back MVP awards in his NBA stardom. Needless to say Moses dominated the matchup against Hakeem. How he did it, though, is where the mentorship begins.

In between runs, Moses talked to the young Nigerian center and encouraged him to get better - through advice and tips on how Hakeem could improve for the next game. Malone was much stronger than Olajuwon, forcing the youngster to adapt, develop deceptive moves, fakes, spins and rely more on quickness than power. That competitive mentorship had a lasting impact in shaping The Dream’s foundation and style as a post player.

You don’t need to take my word for how much Malone's teachings meant in his career, as Hakeem nicknamed himself “Little Moses” in reverence of his mentor.

Houston’s connection with Spurs greats also started with Moses, as a veteran backup to David Robinson in the 94-95 season. While Malone’s on-court minutes were limited, his presence and mentoring reputation traveled. It’s reasonable to think he nudged habits around The Admiral, that behind the scenes helped him capture that year's MVP award.

Albeit no longer at the peak of his powers when he became a Rocket, another Houston star big was deeply impacted by the Malone mentorship program. Sir Charles Barkley is on-record stating how Moses was instrumental in making him a real pro in the NBA, during their Sixers tenure as teammates.

From helping develop the early iterations of the Dream Shake to being a veteran presence in the league-best 62-win Spurs during The Admiral’s MVP campaign, and shaping the career of arguably the greatest PF ever, Moses fingerprints are all over Texas great big-men history.

Two meteors, different orbits

A good starting point to identifying what Wemby might’ve learned from the Dream is to understand how his early career compares to the beginning of Olajuwon’s pro journey.

Through their first 2 seasons in the NBA, their stats are very similar:

How they got to those numbers, though, is not particularly alike.

Wembanyama is different from Rockets legend

SHOT PROFILE

• Hakeem’s last All-Star season is the first in which this tracking data is available. In that year, he shot over 58% of his shots from the painted area - jump hooks, post-up turnarounds, short jumpers and dunks. His “shot diet” was heavy on paint touches and mid-post face-up moves, never attempting more than 0.1 shots per game beyond the 3pt arc.
• Unlike Olajuwon, Wemby hasn’t lived on the low block as a primary option. His post-up usage has been more limited, partly due to his still-developing strength and to the Spurs’ scheme utilizing more his perimeter skills. For his NBA career, Wemby attempts about 43% of his shots from the paint and a staggering 39% from beyond the 3pt line. He’s effectively a 7’4” stretch big with a mix of trailing threes, face-up jumpers, and drives.

FREE-THROWS

• In Dream’s first couple of seasons, he averaged 2.5 more FTAs per game than Wemby did in his, with a FTr of 44%, a direct correlation of his banger, closer to the basket offensive game, though converting at a lower accuracy of only 63% from the charity stripe.
• The Spurs All-Star is much sharper from the line, connecting at an 81% clip, but at a FTr of only 27%, roughly half of Hakeem’s rate.

OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS

• Olajuwon was a superior offensive rebounder early on. He averaged over 5.2 offensive boards per game in his first 2 seasons, reflecting the 1980s emphasis on post play.
• Wembanyama, playing a more perimeter-oriented style, averages under 2.1 offensive rebounds for his career.

Olajuwon’s potential imprint on Wembanyama has Spurs fans salivating. The idea of Wemby adding Hakeem’s post moves to his game – notably the legendary “Dream Shake” – is tantalizing. 

The Dream was a master of footwork and fakes on the low block, able to pivot and up-and-under his way to high-percentage looks from the paint. If Victor can even partly emulate those moves, his shot profile could become more balanced (and more deadly). For his career, Wemby gets a staggering 1.48 points per shot (PPS) attempt in the restricted area. Even if we expand that to all his shots up to 10 ft, he still averages a whopping 1.26 PPS. In contrast, his respectable 3pt shooting gets him only a 1.02 points per shot attempt. Translation: every extra paint touch is compound interest.

Currently, Wemby’s offense is more face-up oriented, but training with Olajuwon might encourage him to increase his post-up frequency and diversify his scoring inside. Imagine him catching on the block, using a Dream inspired shoulder fake and spin – he could shoot over any single defender and, with his gigantic length, it would be Kareem’s skyhook level of unguardable.

It’s important to note that Wemby won’t suddenly abandon his outside game – nor should he. His ability to hit 3s while being a huge rim threat is part of what makes him a generational prospect. In effect, learning from Olajuwon could make Wembanyama a hybrid offensive force: retaining his shooting range, but adding a Hakeem-like interior presence.

In practical terms, defenders who might have been comfortable keeping the skinny French out of the paint will have nightmares if he develops elite footwork in the post. For Wembanyama, a more shot-diet closer to Olajuwon’s (more low-post touches, mid-post turnarounds, and paint points) would round out his offensive game and make San Antonio’s offense far less predictable.

Remembering Knepper’s inference, Hakeem started to develop his trademarked style as a skinny college sophomore who couldn’t overpower the much stronger Moses. Imagine if Wemby can do the same with the skills he added from the Dream mentorship? 

We might also see an uptick in his playmaking from the post. At an early age, he’s arguably a better playmaker than his latest mentor, with a 3.8 career average in assists per game. That is already higher than Hakeem’s career high at 3.6. If he forces defenses to collapse much more in the post, we could see assist numbers closer to KG, his other offseason guru, who in his peak averaged around 5 dimes per game.

Rockets legend was a different defender

BLOCKS

• Olajuwon was a physically stronger post defender early on and could battle and match the era’s great centers (Ewing, Kareem, Robinson) on the block. 
• Wembanyama, while much taller, is leaner and can be moved by strong post players at ease. However, his length allows him to play a sort of “free safety” shot blocker, often coming from help side to swat shots even if he’s beaten.

STEALS

• Young Olajuwon averaged nearly 2.0 steals per game in his first few seasons, using his quick hands to poke the ball away from bigs and guards alike. 
• Wembanyama so far averages for his career about 1.2 steals – still excellent for a big man, but not at Hakeem’s elite level, the all-time leader amongst Centers in that category.

On the defensive end, Olajuwon is arguably the GOAT. If you need any further proof, just check who the Defensive Player of the Year Award is named after. In his prime, Hakeem anchored the league’s top defense, guarding the paint with ferocity and instincts that made him a nightmare for opponents. His 2.6 steals per game in 1988-89 is still the an NBA record for a center. Adding insult to injury, on top of that he averaged 3+ blocks per game for a decade straight. 

Remarkably, Victor is on a trajectory that invites comparison to Hakeem’s defensive greatness. In fact, the pupil has already surpassed the master, accomplishing something no other player in the NBA history did: All-Defensive 1st Team selection in his rookie season. To give further context, only 6 other players ever reached that level by their sophomore year - Amen Thompson being one of them.

Wemby has led the NBA in blocked shots in both of his pro seasons, swatting away opponents attempts at a rate of 3.7 blocks per game! Even Olajuwon seldom sustained such a level over full seasons. Not to mention that, at 7’4” with an 8-foot wingspan, Wembanyama alters countless shots beyond the ones he officially blocks.

This is astonishing for a youngster who just became drinking-age legal, and is reminiscent of how Olajuwon in the ’80s quickly became a perennial DPOY candidate. 

Wembanyama’s defensive stats in context are eye-popping: in his first 100 games, he not only dwarfed Olajuwon’s block total (366 vs 268) but also grabbed more boards in that span (1,053 vs 895) than Charles Barkley - The Round Mound of Rebound - did in at his century mark of games played.

The one area Victor falls short of the Dream, and where he has the most to learn from the all-time great, is in steals. Albeit already a good number for a Center, his 1.2 career average is little over half of what Hakeem did early in his career.

That said, Wemby’s perimeter agility means he can switch onto guards decently, and his humongous wingspan allows him to deflect passes at a high rate. Learning from Hakeem, the French star has the tools to be even more disruptive and become a bigger steals threat, especially as he gains experience reading offenses.

He’ll need longevity and consistency to match Olajuwon’s all-time marks, but the early returns suggest Wembanyama could indeed be a worthy heir to The Dream on defense.

Rockets' history of big men remains unrivalled

Other than Russell, Wilt and Kareem, there’s no better Center in the history of the game than Hakeem.

Side-note for Lakers fans and other Shaq advocates: give him Kobe, and Hakeem surely wins a couple more chips to tie the only thing Diesel has over Dream. Don’t believe me? Bill Simmons - author of "The Book of Basketball" and one of the main historians of the game - ranks Olajuwon ahead of O’Neal, and even Shaq’s own list places the Nigerian as the 4th best among centers. In any credible ranking, the Rockets’ great will be in the Top 15 best players overall.

For Wemby to become Texas’ GOAT Center, he’d end up neck-and-neck with Duncan, Kobe and Curry, as one of the Top 10 greatest players of all-time. That’s not a far-fetched projection, if he makes the most out of his Olajuwon counseling program.

Think that’s a reach? Let’s go back to the original Houston mentorship tree. 

Nobody would have thought a raw reserve Center at the University of Houston would have started to develop one of the greatest ever NBA careers in those summer runs with Moses. Before Malone took him under his wing, to say Barkley would become the best PF of all-times was just as big of a reach - though a Top 5 pick in the NBA Draft - he wasn’t even the top prospect at his own position, being selected after Sam Perkins. Even Robinson, who was already an established star, got his lone MVP trophy after teaming up with Moses.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth (for everyone outside 713): the bar Wembanyama is chasing wasn’t set in San Antonio, it lives in Houston. Passing Hakeem means multiple years of two-way sheer dominance over the league, rings with you as the proof of that, and a defensive legacy opponents still feel in June. That’s the Olajuwon standard. That’s the Texas big-man throne.

But here’s the other truth: mentorship isn’t a shortcut, it’s a map. Moses didn’t make Hakeem into The Dream, he showed him where to go and how to suffer well on the way. Hakeem can do the same for Victor. Can Wemby get there? Only time will tell. Until then, the Texas Center throne stays where it’s always been: in Houston!

Passing Olajuwon isn’t about posters; it’s about ownership — of the paint, of May, of June. It’s multiple years where the league has to solve you and can’t. Wembanyama has the tools. But thrones in Texas are earned the old way: by ending other people’s seasons. Until then, the Texas Center throne stays where it’s lived since ’Moses — area code 713.