Associated Press
Saturday, September 6, 2008

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Sept. 5 -- Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and Pat Riley were enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night, but it was inductee Dick Vitale who, as expected, stole the show.

Others in the class, which also included Detroit Pistons and Shock owner Bill Davidson, and former Immaculata University coach Cathy Rush, gave speeches. But the ESPN commentator held court, preaching with passion for almost 30 minutes about everything from basketball to broadcasting to family.

He connected all three in a story about his dad, who pressed coats during the day and was a security guard at night.

"I've been stealing money talking about a game, getting paid," he said. "That's why it breaks my heart when I see some athletes, chips on their shoulder. Are you serious? Flying charter planes? I don't want to hear about 80 games a year. What other job do you get four months vacation? Are you serious? Making millions if you can't play."

Vitale, who coached high school, college and briefly in the NBA, was enshrined as a contributor to the game after spending the past 30 years becoming the voice of college basketball.

It was Vitale who gave Olajuwon the nickname "The Dream" during his freshman year at Houston, where the 7-footer led the Cougars to three Final Fours. In the NBA, Olajuwon had 27,000 points, 13,747 rebounds and 3,830 blocks.

Ewing also went to three Final Fours at Georgetown. He scored just under 25,000 points and had 11,607 rebounds in the NBA, becoming the New York Knicks' career leader in points, rebounds, blocked shots and steals, and earned two Olympic gold medals.

Olajuwon was asked about the friendly rivalry he and Ewing shared while becoming two of the greatest centers in basketball history.

"Who said it was friendly?" Olajuwon replied.

Ewing's Georgetown Hoyas beat Olajuwon and the Houston Cougars in the 1984 NCAA championship game. But Olajuwon earned two NBA rings in Houston, the first 10 years later, by beating Ewing's Knicks in a seven-game series in 1994.

"I could not picture my career without Patrick," Olajuwon said before the ceremony. "We are so intertwined from college. We play alike in so many ways. We are blocking shots, steals, intimidation. When Patrick is at the other end of the floor, you know you are playing against your toughest opponent."

Ewing, who was 12 when he came to the United States from Jamaica, said he felt a kinship with Olajuwon. Both, he said, found their identity while playing basketball in their new country.

"When I played against Hakeem, I definitely wanted to be at my best," Ewing said.

Riley, after winning championships as a player and assistant, won five more as a coach -- four with the "Showtime" Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s, and another with the Miami Heat in 2006. It took that final title, Riley said, to convince a lot of people that he really was a good coach.

"I truly believe that what happened in Miami validated what probably a lot of people felt that I might not be able to do, and that what I did in New York and what I did in L.A. maybe was because there was just a lot of good players," said Riley, now Heat president.

Dantley, a DeMatha graduate who made it in after being a finalist for the Hall of Fame six other times, also spoke of validation. He played for seven NBA teams during his 15-year career, scoring over 23,000 points. But he never felt that he got the respect he deserved.

"All those other guys, they were supposed to get in, they were talented," Dantley said. "But I got in through hard work."

Rush, a pioneer in women's sports, was 149-15 in her seven years at Immaculata, leading her team to three consecutive national championships between 1972-74.

Davidson, whose teams have won three NBA titles and two in the WNBA, played a key role in structuring the NBA's salary cap and free agency systems.