By RENALDO DORSETT
Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
Well known for his exploits in the area of competition, Frank Rutherford has made a second career serving as a mentor to many young Bahamian athletes and now has teamed up with an NBA icon to tutor some of the league’s top talent.
Rutherford’s role as a mentor was brought to public light when Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard was formerly introduced in Houston on July 13 after spurning the Lakers to sign with the Rockets.
Several icons of the Rockets franchise were on hand to greet Howard, including Hall of Fame center Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon, Yao Ming, Clyde Drexler, Ralph Sampson, Elvin Hayes and Calvin Murphy. However, Howard took time to mention Rutherford’s presence in the crowd.
“It’s very humbling to have these guys come to be a part of your press conference, it just shows how much this organisation is like a big family. These guys have so much things they can be doing today but they chose to be here to celebrate with me, so it’s very humbling, it means a lot,” Howard said.
“Me and Dream have been working out together for years so he’s very excited, I know Frank is somewhere around here, he’s excited too. So this is great. To have Yao come here from China, we got Clyde and everybody here so it means a lot to me, it’s humbling.”
Rutherford and Olajuwon have continued the trend of working with NBA players during the offseason, which has gained notoriety as some of the league’s top players have made the trek to Houston to engage in offseason workouts with Olajuwon.
“Everyone is looking for that competitive edge. So they look to take things from other great players to make them great, and that’s why the programme has become what it has become. We turned down dozens of players who wanted to come down to Houston and work with the Dream but he has such a limited schedule that we are only able to take a few players and of course the best want a chance to work with him because he is the best at what he does,” Rutherford said.
“This started three years ago with Kobe Bryant, it went to LeBron James and that gained so much notoriety that every summer we have dozens of players wanting to come down and we try to accommodate who we can. Dwight has been a part of it, Brook Lopez, Marcin Gortat, Emeka Okafor and others so we will see how the trend continues. I think the Dwight Howard you will see now will be so skilled, that his full potential will be unlocked. Hakeem Olajuwon loves Dwight Howard and I’m so happy for Dwight because the one player the Dream always felt was similar to his athletic prowess, and he was always anxious for him. For him to be here full time now, I think you are looking at a future MVP.”
Olajuwon and Rutherford have worked together since the mid-1980s when both were foreign student athletes at the University of Houston.
Both Olympians and Olympic medallists, Rutherford served as Olajuwon’s trainer during his nearly 20-year Hall of Fame career.
Now he facilitates as “The Dream” passes on his unique, self-creative, signature footwork and post moves to the elite NBA superstars.
“For me to be a part of Dream’s career through college, through his pro career and now to see him manifesting his brilliance in the other great players that have come up through this league is a blessing,” Rutherford said. “For me to also witness how these great players like LeBron, Kobe, Dwight, and Carmelo Anthony, how they get excited about being able to learn from Dream, for them to elevate themselves to reach their full potential really puts into perspective the impact he continues to have on the game.”
This year the team of Olajuwon and Rutherford have added a few more students to the list, most notably, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, Amar’e Stoudemire, JaVale McGee, Kenneth Faried, Greg Munroe, Andre Drummond, Joakim Noah.
Rutherford heads the co-ordination and planning of the “by invitation only” workouts with Olajuwon who now spends most of the year in Jordan. “My role in the programme, I am more of the player co-ordinator. All the players coming in to work with Dream, me and his brother Keith, we co-ordinate the programme. We take care of all of the player requests and work with the agents, so we are the first line of coming into the programme.
Bahamians first became familiar with the workouts when Dwight Miller, a member of Rutherford’s Elite Development Foundation, rose to international prominence as his one-on-one work with Olajuwon was featured on television stations across America.
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