"Nobody else would do that" - Robert Horry revealed why he was the only Rockets player who could scold Hakeem Olajuwon

Robert Horry takes great pride in winning seven NBA titles. Apart from that, Horry also said that he is the only Houston Rockets player who could call Hakeem Olajuwon out during their time together as teammates.

Many years have passed, but Horry still has a vivid recollection of how he earned the right to scold Olajuwon. According to “Big Shot Bob”, Dream talked to him in private during the team’s Christmas party in 1993 and asked how committed he was to winning.

“We go outside and he looks me dead in the eye and says, “Do you care if we win or lose?” I look back at him dead in the eye and say, “Dude, you probably don’t understand this, but I care more than anyone on this team. I hate losing,” Horry wrote in a piece for The Players’ Tribune in 2015.

Olajuwon liked how Horry responded. He admired his guts and realized that they were on the same page. From then on, Hakeem openly said whatever he wanted to Robert and vice versa.

“You do not show it in your emotions, Ro-bert.” This was one of the defining moments of my career. I’m getting called out by my idol. I could have tucked my tail between my legs. I decided against it. Well, I said. ‘You don’t show your emotions either!'”

“Two grown men standing on a porch talking about their emotions. I’ll never forget him cracking a smile and laughing. ‘Good point,'” he said. “Let’s go inside. From that day on, we became great friends. I would yell at him when I thought he was messing up. Nobody else would do that.”

Only a few knew about the real Hakeem

To better understand why it meant a lot for Horry to have that kind of relationship with Olajuwon, one has to know Dream’s character. Aside from the fact that the iconic center was the face and leader of the ’90s Rockets, he is also a very private and no-nonsense type of guy.

Because of that, Horry respected and admired him both on and off the court. At the same time, “Big Shot Bob” also felt that it was also the reason why most people don’t realize how great Dream truly was as a player, let alone as a person.

“He gets a lot of credit from players, but because he was a quiet guy, and the access to him was so low, he never had the shoe commercials that would have pushed him out into the public,” Horry once said. “Now there is so much social media and stuff that even players who could never have played when we played are thought of as great.”

Not everybody earned Hakeem’s respect

Having learned about Horry and Olajuwon’s close relationship, it wasn’t really about Big Shot Bob earning the right to call Dream out. More so, it was about earning his respect, which not all of his teammates could do.

With the two developing a strong bond off the court, their connection translated into success on the court. That season, the Rockets dominated the league and went on to win the first of their back-to-back NBA championships.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 6, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

“Nobody else would do that” – Robert Horry revealed why he was the only Rockets player who could scold Hakeem Olajuwon

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