Hakeem Olajuwon says Kobe, LeBron and Giannis asked him for guidance
In an interview with CNN's Larry Madowo, the Nigerian-born Hall of Famer said Kobe Bryant was the first to call.
Nigerian-born basketball Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon says some of the NBA's biggest names approached him for help with their game, including the late Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
He made the remarks in an interview with CNN's Larry Madowo, aired on November 9, 2026, in which he spoke about mentoring players after retirement. "I didn't plan that, they reached out to me," he said.
Olajuwon, a former Houston Rockets centre, said Bryant started it. "Kobe started it. Kobe called me up in the summer time," he said. He recalled being surprised that a player of Bryant's calibre wanted to learn from him, and said Bryant insisted he wanted to learn Olajuwon's moves.
Of his work with Wembanyama, the French San Antonio Spurs centre, he said the sessions focused on making the most of his height and skill. "You have the height advantage, you have the skill. How do you leverage it to the max?" he said.
He also spoke about working with Antetokounmpo, the Greek-Nigerian forward, mainly on finishing. "I enjoy working with this guy's skill, how to finish, how to create space and dunk," he said.
Born in Lagos on January 21, 1963, Olajuwon played college basketball at the University of Houston before the Houston Rockets picked him first overall in the 1984 NBA Draft, according to details on the NBA website cited by Punch. He spent most of an 18-season career with the Rockets, from 1984 to 2001, then played a final season with the Toronto Raptors in 2001-02.
He won two NBA championships, in 1994 and 1995, and was Finals MVP both times. He was also named league MVP in 1994, won Defensive Player of the Year twice, made 12 All-Star appearances, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and won an Olympic gold medal with the United States at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Olajuwon did not say when he worked with the players, and Punch notes that three of those he named are still active in the NBA. Wembanyama, 22, was the first overall pick in the 2023 draft and has won Rookie of the Year, two All-Star selections and Defensive Player of the Year. Antetokounmpo, a Greek international whose parents are Nigerian, is a two-time NBA MVP, a champion and Finals MVP, and won Defensive Player of the Year in 2020.
SOURCE: Punch
