The Dream Shake is the name for the post moves associated with Hakeem Olajuwon: head and shoulder fakes with the ball, then a quick pivot or spin back the other way into a layup, jump shot or fadeaway. It isn't one fixed move. It's a chain of fakes and counters you choose by reading the defender, and it only works with legal, balanced footwork. Learn the Drop Step, Up-and-Under and Turnaround Jumper first. The fakes, pivots, and balance are what the analyzer reads.
Set up
Post up about a step above the low block with your back to the basket. Feet wide, butt out, back straight, and seal the defender with your body.
Wide, low, sealed.
Meet the pass with a jump stop so both feet land together. Now either foot can be your pivot. If you finish a dribble first, end it on both feet too.
Two feet down, two options open.
Hold the ball at forehead level with your elbows out to protect it. Don't swing the elbows.
Ball high, elbows wide.
Stay low and keep contact with the defender's body so you can feel which side they're playing.
Feel them before you fake.
Move
Fake one way with your head and shoulders, ball moving with them. Keep both feet planted until you're ready to go.
Upper body sells, feet stay quiet.
Make the fake big enough that the defender leans. If they don't, fake again: once, twice or a third time.
Wait for the lean.
The moment the defender leans, pivot or spin quickly back the other way. The move is two fast direction changes in a short time.
Shake, then go.
Let the defense pick the direction. If they take away the middle, go baseline. If they take away the baseline, go middle. Don't fake the same way every time.
Take what they give.
Through every pivot, stay on the ball of your pivot foot with your knees bent and head up. Don't let the pivot foot slide or sink back onto your heels.
Pivot foot pinned, hips low.
If the defender recovers, don't give up your pivot foot. Add a pump fake or another pivot instead.
Keep the pivot, keep the options.
Stay legal
NBA: after a standing catch you may pivot on either foot. Once you lift the pivot foot, pass or shoot before it touches down. To dribble, the ball must leave your hand before the pivot foot lifts.
Lift the pivot, ball's gone.
FIBA: the moment one foot lifts, the other is your pivot. You may jump off the pivot to shoot, but neither foot may come back down before you release. In both rule books, if you land on one foot first, only that foot can pivot. Other leagues may word this differently.
Same pivot all the way through.
Finish
Close to the rim, step to the hoop and finish off the backboard.
Shake, step, glass.
Further out, rise into a jump shot or fadeaway only when you have space. No space yet? Add another shoulder fake. A fadeaway often falls short and takes you out of rebounding position, so take the step to the rim when it's there.
Space first, then shoot.
Land softly on both feet with your knees and hips bent and your knees over your toes.
Soft, two-foot landing.
Feel it
Your upper body does the selling while your feet stay quiet and legal. You feel the defender through contact, wait for the lean, then change direction fast. Olajuwon described it as a mental picture first, "then it is all footwork". It's patience and pivoting, not running past anyone.
Fix-its
- You stand up tall on the catch Sit into a wide stance, butt out, before the ball arrives. A tall fake isn't believable and costs you balance.
- You travel on the pivot Catch with a two-foot jump stop so either foot can pivot, then keep that one foot pinned until the ball is gone.
- The defender doesn't bite Get body contact first so you can feel their weight, then sell with the head and shoulders, not just the ball. Fake again before you move.
- You fake the same way every time Mix it up. Go baseline when they take the middle and middle when they take the baseline.
- You give up the pivot foot too early If they recover, stay put and add a pump fake or a second pivot before you lift the foot.
Drill
- Pivot base: on your left pivot foot do 15 forward pivots, then 15 reverse pivots. Switch to the right foot and repeat. Stay on the ball of the foot, knees bent.
- Post moves drill: start a step above the low block and take a pass from a coach. First with no defense, then with a defender who bumps you. Run fake-one-way, pivot-the-other in both directions on both blocks.
- Block to block: jump stop on the block, head-and-shoulder fake, then counter with a drop step, up-and-under or turn-and-shoot. Work 1–2 minutes, sprint to the other block and repeat, then rotate.
- Read drill: the defender takes away the middle or the baseline. You fake, feel which side they shut, and counter the other way. Add a second and third fake only once the first is clean.
- Go live only after lots of reps. This is an advanced move that combines several others.
Sources
- Coach's Clipboard — Basketball Post Moves (dream shake, fakes, catch, stance)
- Basketball For Coaches — How to Do the Dream Shake in Basketball (5-Step Guide)
- The Ringer — Mirin Fader, The Origins of Hakeem Olajuwon's "Dream Shake" (excerpt from Dream, 2024)
- NBA.com — Legends profile: Hakeem Olajuwon (2021)
- Sports Illustrated — Paul Forrester, Olajuwon's influence a growing presence for elite group of stars (2011)
- Coach's Clipboard — Footwork Fundamentals (pivots)
- Coach's Clipboard — Low Post Offensive Drills
- NBA — Official Rule No. 10: Violations and Penalties (Sec. XIII Traveling)
- FIBA — Official Basketball Rules 2026, Art. 25 Travelling
- Padua et al. — NATA Position Statement: Prevention of ACL Injury, J Athl Train (2018)
Last checked 2026-10-30.