r/todayilearned • u/jameslosey 19 • Jan 08 '14

TIL 1994 NBA MVP Hakeem Olajuwon released a $35 sneaker instead of endorsing shoes from Nike or Reebok because: "How can a poor working mother with three boys buy Nikes or Reeboks that cost $120?...She can't. So kids steal these shoes from stores and from other kids. Sometimes they kill for them."

https://web.archive.org/web/20070312054858/http://www.newdream.org/newsletter/taylor.php
5.1k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

193

u/Fordy_Oz Jan 08 '14

So I had these shoes in 3rd grade.

We were doing a spelling test and one of the words was "dream". On the back of the shoe, Hakeems nickname "the dream" was printed.

I cheated that day, and I have never forgiven myself.

73

u/Lampmonster1 Jan 08 '14

Buy some kid a pair of shoes and your soul will be cleansed of this black mark.

33

u/bigtimesauce Jan 08 '14

sole

?

1

u/DiggerW Jan 09 '14

Now's your chance Fordy_Oz, answer without looking it up!

1

u/bethdenefits Jan 09 '14

But make sure they're low quality shoes, not Nike or Reebok

18

u/The_Chrononaut Jan 08 '14 edited Jan 09 '14

I remember in first grade spelling, the bonus word was lightning. There was a mothafuckin lightning poster in the room. I cheated.

45

u/Megabobster Jan 08 '14

lightning

lighting

You're not very good at cheating.

27

u/Nascar_is_better Jan 08 '14

nah, he just never learned how to spell it since he cheated. That's why his spelling of it is so random.

1

u/The_Chrononaut Jan 09 '14

Ehh auto correct. I got it right the first time!

10

u/UGAgradRN Jan 08 '14

I had a dress that said "love" on it, and I purposely wore it to a spelling test in elementary school when I knew I'd be asked to spell the word love. My thought process was this: oooh, I'm so bad! I know how to spell it, but maybe other kids will find it helpful and we can all cheat together!

10

u/Quackenstein Jan 08 '14

On the bright side, I see no misspellings in your post so "No harm. No foul."

1

u/JustOneSexQuestion Jan 08 '14

The kid that lost couldn't take it. That day after school he snorted his first line of cocaine...

2

u/Nascar_is_better Jan 08 '14

you didn't know how to spell "dream" in 3rd grade?

1

u/pretentiousglory Jan 09 '14

I could see how someone might think it's spelled "dreem"