For all the drop steps and jump hooks that fill the summer weeks NBA stars spend with Hakeem Olajuwon, there are messages he reserves for the centers. In many ways, those lessons are his favorite part of the seminars.

Honed throughout his NBA career, they are his philosophy, his belief system about basketball. They were his explanation about his role and responsibilities so often repeated over the years that it would be difficult to do a worthwhile Olajuwon imitation without hitting on those familiar themes.

"That is not me," he would often say to complete his argument. "That is the position. That is basketball."

Olajuwon, 50, can be exuberant when discussing his favorite topics, with the work and art of center play ranking high on his list. When the Rockets signed Dwight Howard, 27, one of Olajuwon's most accomplished offseason pupils, the Rockets gathered their lineage of superstar centers to welcome Howard to their club. Olajuwon was ecstatic.

With Olajuwon's philosophies about center play in mind, a few of those club members - Yao Ming, 32, Ralph Sampson, 53, Olajuwon and Howard (briefly) - gathered for a roundtable discussion of their art.

Chronicle: Hakeem always said the center position demands different things of those that play it, that it truly is the center of everything in basketball. How do you feel about that?

Howard: It is different. We are the last people to see things on the court. We are the centerpiece. We hold everybody together. Everybody else looks at the point guards, the two guards, the flashy things. But being a center, you really are the focal point. Everything goes through the center. Defensively, offensively, you go through the center and it makes everybody's life easier. It seems like it is going away, but I think it is going to come back. And when it does, teams are going to be very unstoppable if they have those centers. To be a great center, you have to dominate both ends of the floor. You have to be that guy other teams look at and say, "You know what, we ain't going to be able to get it done tonight."

Chronicle: Is there something about being a center that goes beyond the physical skills?

Howard: It takes somebody that is able to sacrifice whatever they have to for the team. The center has to do that. They are not the guy to bring the ball up the floor or call their own shots like guards can. It takes a special person to be the center. It's a fun position to play, but it's a position to lead by example. You're the guy the team is watching, blocking shots, playing defense. Everybody looks to the center to do the right thing. That's what I'm going to try to provide for this team, the backbone, the foundation. It all starts with me being that guy.

Chronicle: Coaches don't seem to use centers the way they used to. The idea of dumping the ball in to the center and move around him does not seem to be done anymore. Is that what happened to the position?

Olajuwon: You cannot change the fundamentals. The center position is the permanent position for any team. A true big guy who is active can give you a defensive game, shot-blocking, rebounding, activity. Then on offense you have to establish an inside game.

Sampson: And that leads to an outside game.

Olajuwon: That's right. That's the fundamentals of basketball. You cannot change that. Now, you need a center to really play that position to show the importance of that position. I think that's what Dwight is bringing to this team.

Chronicle: (To Sampson) Do you still feel that way? You weren't only in the low blocks. You weren't only used in the traditional ways.

Sampson: I was in the low blocks enough. You look at the history of the NBA, you can't win a championship without somebody in the post. LeBron (James) and them did it, but they struggled with Indiana. Indiana will kill them next year if the big guy (Roy Hibbert) keeps developing. (Michael) Jordan won it, but they had a post presence (defensively) and Jordan went to the post (offensively).

Olajuwon: They always had 7-footers, two 7-footers.

Sampson: And how old is Tim Duncan, 37? They were one free throw away from winning the championship. You got to have somebody in the post. You have no choice.

Chronicle: Is some of being a great center about who you are, and not just the skills, not just what you do?

Sampson: It's like Dwight mentioned earlier. He got away from playing the way he wanted to play, the way he played in Orlando. He started to think more. Now, if he can just relax and be himself, he's got the skills. Once he gets back to being himself, he will be the most dominant center in this league today.

Chronicle: When you teach young centers, what do you want them to understand?

Olajuwon: First of all, they need to know the job description, the role of the center. Like coach (Kevin) McHale was saying, you're supposed to dominate on defense and offense. The center can change games, dictate the outcome of the games. No position is more important to the team than the center position.

Sampson: That's why you have a lot of hype with (Howard). If you brought somebody else in, you wouldn't have the same impact. The only guy who could have the same impact going somewhere would be LeBron.

Olajuwon: That's why when you put it together - Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Ralph Sampson, Yao Ming - Houston has a legacy, a tradition of big men that is unbelievable. Very few teams have a legacy like that. Just the Lakers.

Yao: But the NBA is not like it was 10, 20 years ago. There are not many real centers left in the league. We're very fortunate we can have this one come to town. I remember when I came to town 10 years ago, I very clearly knew how many great centers played here before me. I cannot say we are passing it from generation to generation. I'm not much older than Dwight. But I love to see this tradition continue.

Chronicle: (To Olajuwon) Of course, the first NBA game Yao saw was you playing against Patrick (Ewing).

Yao: I have told you that, but you don't remember it.

Olajuwon: I thought you were kidding when you said that.

Yao: I was 171/2 in China. That was the first time the NBA was (on television) live in China, the series in New York. Honestly, I didn't know anything.

Olajuwon: But you were playing basketball, already?

Yao: I was playing basketball, but I didn't know who is who. But all my team supported New York. I said, "OK, I'll go Houston."

Chronicle: By then, you had to be a center. You obviously were not going to play any other position.

Yao: I did. I played water polo before basketball.

Chronicle: Did you ever wish you could have been a small player, a quick player with the ball?

Olajuwon: (To Sampson) You take that.

Chronicle: I know you have been asked that for 30 years.

Sampson: All day long.

Yao: I haven't thought about that, but sometimes you did want to do something different. But it might be boring, but you like the feeling of being the biggest, most dominant guy on the court. You can command the game right there.

Sampson: I just wanted to play. I like that we (he and Olajuwon) could be interchangeable. We could both go in the post. We could run, jump, shoot outside, block shots. We were rare big guys that could do multiple things. I remember Hakeem getting steals, going down the court and dunking on people.

Olajuwon: But you do bring up something very important. You play organized ball, the coach designs the play to throw it in. You play a pickup game, you won't get the ball.

Sampson: No, you're not getting it.

Olajuwon: So you play in those games, you have to expand your game. That's fun. In those games, the center always says, "I want to play outside."

Yao: When I played as a junior player in China, I'd pretend to be a guard and push the ball, break the full-court press. I had seven turnovers in the first half. I said: "Better not. Forget it."

Chronicle: Is there pressure when you are young and you're the biggest guy on the court? You know people are watching you.

Olajuwon: But it's easy. Just go get the ball. Rebound. Block shots. Get opportunity baskets finishing for the guys. For the center, the game is easy.

Yao: I'll give you an example from my experience playing against Dwight. When you're guarding him, you feel you cannot leave him. People sometimes overlook that. They say, he didn't get a score. He didn't get a touch. But at that moment, he helped the team because of his size and his ability to attract the defense. And not just me, but maybe the perimeter (players) to him that open drives to the paint. That kind of thing never is in the stats.

Olajuwon: Exactly. Back in the days the center didn't go to the statistics. You don't care. There are intangibles. There is intimidation. There is a presence in the middle.

Sampson: You can't chart that. How are you going to chart that?

Olajuwon: It's different, totally different. You impact the game. When you walk on the game, you are the center. Everything goes through you to the basket. Every position depends on the center. They know they have the center with them, the shot-blocking. On the scouting report, locate the shot-blocker. Every position counts on you. That is the basic role of the center. In basketball, the coach wants you to keep your hands up. What does that mean? Just by doing this, you are affecting the game. Not jumping.

Chronicle: When were you not jumping? It took four years for you to know there was a rule against goaltending.

Sampson: You were never "not jumping." But it is better to goaltend than to have a center not goaltending, because you can adjust it. You can teach a kid to not goaltend, but you can't teach a kid who won't block shots because they might goaltend.

Olajuwon: Exactly. Right.

Sampson: Go ahead and goaltend first and then adjust it after that. You won't block shots if you are afraid to goaltend at first.

Olajuwon: It is a compliment to contest a shot. A center, a shot-blocker, cannot stand to see his shot not contested.

Yao: Obviously, Dream is the leading shot-blocker, has the records, for the NBA. I have that natural feeling when I started playing. I just felt that blocking shots was something I would naturally do just by putting my hands up. The blocked shot is not just the way to defend our rim. It's also a way to shock people, to destroy our opponents' confidence.

Chronicle: So if the Rockets have that again, will that make it enjoyable for you to see the Rockets succeed this way, to see them built around a center?

Yao: For me, if you talk about the tradition continuing, it's a family tradition. My parents are centers, too. That for me is important to have respect not only from you guys but also from my parents. I am proud to say I am a center."

Chronicle: So you can say you are in the top three of centers in your family.

Yao: Actually, and my wife is a center, too.

Sampson: Top four, then.

Olajuwon: To really see the importance and the role of the center, you look at the team in the last years, and you see the difference. The difference is instant contender. That's what you have now, legitimately, not just talking. They have a chance to win the championship. But today, I feel good to welcome him. He has membership and will write his own legacy.

Sampson: That's why it's nice to come back. I haven't seen (Olajuwon) in a while. We still have that respect. Now we have the history back. We welcome him to the 7-footer club. It is special.

Olajuwon: There is pride to know that they are continuing with the most important position in the game. That's what it is, right? The most important position in the game."