It's not a dream. Or is it?
Houston Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon reportedly will be back in action tonight against the Jazz, who visit Houston to open a two-game Texas road trip that also includes a showdown with San Antonio on Thursday.
According to the Associated Press, Olajuwon — a k a The Dream — will return two weeks after doctors believed both his season and perhaps his career were in jeopardy due to a blood clot in a vein his lower left leg.
Olajuwon practiced Monday for the first time since doctors announced on March 13 that he would be sidelined at least three to six months; tests, however, revealed the blood vessels in Olajuwon's leg have since opened, clearing the way for him to return.
"He was very sharp in practice, and I didn't see any rust," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said after Monday's practice. "We expect him to play (tonight), but we don't know how much."
The AP reported that doctors originally had Olajuwon taking the blood thinner Coumadin, which could cause serious internal injury in the event of hard physical contact; Olajuwon later switched to daily injections of heparin, a low-molecular-weight blood thinner, and is now taking aspirin daily. He will wear elastic support stockings while playing and will undergo medical monitoring for the remainder of the season.
"It is a good feeling how the rest of the guys made me feel so good about getting back," said Olajuwon, who has missed Houston's last nine games. "I think I am ahead (with conditioning) because I didn't stop working out, and I kept shooting the basketball."
SOME BIRTHDAY: One of the few things that seemed to please Jazz coach Jerry Sloan in Utah's loss to Dallas on Monday night was the 12-assist, 8-point play of guard John Stockton, who didn't get many favors on his 39th birthday.
"The way he got knocked down a few time in this ballgame," Sloan said of Stockton, who mostly was matched up with gritty Mavericks guard Steve Nash, "it appeared to me he had about the same respect as a guy coming out of the CBA for a 10-day contract."
RECRUITING MISSION: The Mavs on Monday were without assistant coach Donn Nelson, son of head coach Don Nelson.
He was in China working to facilitate the signing of 7-foot-1 center Wang Zhizhi, the Mavs' second-round draft choice in 1999. According to AP, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday that Nelson said Wang's first game with Dallas would be an April 5 meeting with Atlanta.
Wang, the wire service reported, will be the first Asian to play in the NBA. The 23-year-old star of the Chinese military-run Bayi Rockets received permission to play in the NBA following the Chinese league championships earlier in March, when he led the Rockets to a sixth consecutive title.
The Mavs hope to eventually sign Wang to a two-year contract.
MAILMAN CHAT: A live online chat with Jazz star Karl Malone is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday. The session is accessible through the Jazz's Web site, www.utahjazz.com.
MISC.: Malone made seven shots against Dallas on Monday night, leaving him 1 shy of 12,000 career field goals. . . . Jazz backup center Greg Ostertag scored 7, pushing him over the 2,000 career-point plateau. . . . Ex-Jazz guard Howard Eisley went scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting in 16 off-the-bench minutes for the Mavs.
E-MAIL: tbuckley@desnews.com