January 3, 1991 - Houston Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon celebrated the new year with an orbital fracture to his right after absorbing an elbow to the grill from habitual line stepper Bill Cartwright.
"We have a history of this guy hurting six different players over the last two years," Houston Rockets general manager Steve Patterson said. "He broke Fred Roberts' cheekbone. He bruised Robert Parish's cheekbone. Just this year, he coldcocked Horace Grant, his own teammate, (and) smacked Michael Jordan when he first came up. Isiah Thomas caught an elbow from him that started a big fight. They both got suspended for that. Charley Barkley, too. It's not like this is the first time this has happened with Bill Cartwright."
The injury, a 'blowout fracture of the floor and the medial wall of the right orbit which houses the eyeball', per Patterson, knocked Olajuwon out of action for two months of the 1990-91 season.
"As we all know, you can make something look unintentional and it may not be," Patterson continued. "It didn't look very unintentional to me. Anytime you have a player with this sort of history, you have to take a look at him."
Upon his return, Olajuwon sported goggles for the remainder of the 1990-91 season, a campaign that culminated in a three-game first round sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bill Cartwright knocks out Charles Barkley: [ Ссылка ]
Bill Cartwright bloodies Isiah Thomas: [ Ссылка ]
Bill Cartwright elbows Isiah Thomas again, initiating fist fight: [ Ссылка ]
More on Olajuwon's injury: [ Ссылка ]
