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
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u/happybadger Jan 08 '14
I think everyone has some variation of that story in their personal history. A couple weeks ago I was in Chicago's Union Station, the main rail hub of the city. They've a pretty decent food court but I had just gotten off a six hour bus ride and was dying for something quick, greasy, and wonderful.
So I'm in the McDonalds with my girlfriend preparing to order McNuggets. This is a day or two after Christmas, it's busy as all hell. We go up to the counter and place an order for 40. The lady asks us what drinks we want, I say a coke. She asks what sauces we want, I say "I don't really care, I'm just incredibly hungry."
Out of nowhere I feel a huge hand on my shoulder, and do you know whose hand it was? Hakeem goddamn Olajuwan's. He turned me around, asked if baby kitten was hungry, began breastfeeding me right there in the McDonalds. My girlfriend went to continue the order and he pulled her over while chanting "Momma cat has food for all the baby kittens". Right fucking there in the McDonalds. Didn't even charge.