Customer Reviews

Living the Dream: My Life and Basketball

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When I was reading this book it felt like I was sitting next to Hakeem and hearing him tell it. I have read it four times and it got better each time. I learned so much about Hakeem. When I was done it felt as if we were best friends. When I say that this is the best book that I have ever read, I am telling the truth.

Hakeem is indeed a "Dream Role Model", and takes that responsibility very seriously. This is really a page turner, that keeps you from putting the book down, which is unusual for an autobiography.

Hakeem details some rather amusing parts of his rise to NBA star-dom, and provides some rare insight into what goes on behind the closed doors of the NBA (often very negative, and cash is king mentatlity).

I must admit that I did read this book hoping to gain some insight into his devotion to Islam, and I was not dissapointed. I admire Hakeem for his devotion to Islam first, and as a basketball player second.

Contrary to a previous post, Hakeem is not Proselytizing (trying to convert others) he describes his re-discovery of Islam very matter-of-factly. And anybody that follows Hakeem in sports knows that Islam is the main driver in his life.

Great book, its too bad it is out-of-print, but at least pick up a used copy while you can.

Hakeem's book was extremely good. After reading it cover to cover, he is now my favorite player in the NBA. While it spent a lot of time talking about his religion and Allah, it also went into some interesting pieces of information like how many dixie cups of ice cream he would store in his fridge. After reading the book, I know what a caring guy Hakeem really is, and that he is a fine team leader. I definitely got my money's worth.

I have not yet finished the book, but I am on page 161 and find it extremely difficult to stop reading.

I am a girl who has never read a sports book before, but this one goes well beyond the sport of basketball. It reaches down and examines the character of a true Champion.

Hakeem's charm seems to illuminate from within. He has character, morals, and a heart bigger than even the size of his talent.

I wish everyone could read about this truly amazing man! He sets a wonderful example. I would love to meet Hakeem Olajuwon someday.

Sincerely,

Holly S. Aldrich

All the way from Africa a boy named "Hakeem Oladuwan" discovers his first true love. Basketball! Every day in the neighborhood park he watches his brothers and friends playing the game. One day Hakeem picks up the basketball and he starts playing with his older brothers and friends. "He's Incredible!" Every since that day, Hakeem was determined to do something big with life and the only way out was the game of basketball. As a little boy Hakeem had it rough there was only one basketball hoop and it was 2 miles away. So when they wanted to play basketball they either had to walk, or drive their bikes. When Hakeem was a little boy he really didn't know that much about the NBA. He didn't find out what it was until he was 16 years old. Later he found out that it was a group of professional teams that play basketball. Hakeem was super excited, but there was only 1 problem the NBA was all the way in the United States.
Hakeem didn't just come to the United States for nothing. He came to play into the NBA. At first, Hakeem started of playing for a neighborhood team. For basketball practice Hakeem had to sometimes take his own self to practice because he had no one else to take him there. Hakeem's basketball team was really good. Every body on the team was hard working and willing to do any thing to win games. When Hakeem had games his brothers were always there to support him no matter what.
"Living the Dream" is similar to other biographies because there both talking about peoples lives. In my biography was on an old school basketball player that played for the Houston Rockets. The Arthur talks about his career as a basketball player and child hood years.
"Living the Dream" is a book for all ages. This book is for all ages because the book teaches young people strategies to be a better basketball player. It also gives you helpful tips that can help you be a successful basketball player. When the author is on one topic he stays with the audience, but sometimes he gets a little off topic. The genre of the book is a biography. It tells the reader all important facts about the person. It usually talks about his career, accomplishments and early years. The book is similar to other biographies because they both give details about different people.
I really like the book "Living the Dream." I loved how the author describes how dedicated he was to be the best. I also liked how the author talks about his days playing for the Houston Rockets. The author talks about stats and how hard he worked to win games. I didn't like the begging of the story I felt like the author did not give good details at all in the first section of the story.
"Living the Dream" was a really good book. I highly recommend this book to all ages and any basketball fan out their. Hakeem wasn't just a good basketball player, but he was a good citizen. He did so much for his community that I was shocked. Check out "Living the Dream," it's an amazing story.

After reading the book, I feel as though I know this man. This book details the life, dreams and triumphs of a truly great man. I have such a great amount of respect for someone who sets out to accomplish a goal of such magnitude, not only accomplishes the goals but exceeds them in the face of so many obstacles. Hakeem has proven to be the perfect role model for the world. I love the game of basketball, but dislike many problems with the game. How Hakeem manages to remain humble despite it all is truly a blessing and it reveals his true character

As of yet I haven't read this book, (but soon will). I am a BIG Olajuwon fan(atic) who had the privledge of seeing him at his best many of times at MSG doing his thing and playing his heart out. Lets remember this is the man who brought the "DREAM SHAKE" to life in the NBA Finals against P.Ewing, NY KNICKS and Co. and took the glory from the NYK, as the "DREAM' continued, he shut down a young SHAQ single handedly as the ROCKETS swept the Orlando Magic in 4 outta 7 games. Look the man up in sports history, he's also the last man to accomplish a quadruple double, since there are only like 6 NBA players to do the feat, that should tell you something about his on court skills. He came to the states (Texas) with only soccer and handball as his only sports games played, landed in Houston (Cougars,NCAA/Rockets,NBA) and took off like a ROCKET never looking back. This is the one/only athlete I wish I had the privledge of ever meeting. The DREAM was a genius on the hardwood, and with the crazy schedule of the NBA, diff. cities, two countries and all the traveling this man still was true to his religion and adhered to Ramadan faithfully. To understand his greatness all you need to do is YOUTUBE Olajuwon "The Dream".....

Lots of country-boy-grows-up stories to warm the heart (the ice cube episode and the wrong shoe size stood out particularly). Yet the older he gets, the less we like him. Lots of Islamic proselytizing, yet he glosses over his illegitimate children and his childish contract renegotiation. Latter half of this book seems to have been vetted by his Svengali-like agent David Falk. The overwhelming theme of this book is "anything wrong in my life, not my fault". A great role model for his generation.