Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (born Akeem Abdul Olajuwon on January 21, 1963) is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Olajuwon played center for the Houston Rockets, whom he led to back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995, and the Toronto Raptors.
Olajuwon traveled from his home country of Nigeria to play collegiately for the University of Houston. Hakeem had a standout career for the Cougars alongside future NBA Hall of Fame player Clyde "The Glide" Drexler. which included three trips to the Final Four. The Houston Cougars notably played against Patrick Ewing's Georgetown Hoyas in the championship game of the 1983-1984 season resulting in a Hoya 84-75 win. Olajuwon was drafted by the Houston Rockets with the first overall selection of the 1984 NBA Draft. This draft is arguably the best draft in NBA History (alongside the 1996 draft) and included Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. Olajuwon joined the Houston Rockets and was affectionately known as the "Nigerian Nightmare". He combined with the 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) Ralph Sampson, to form what was dubbed the "Twin Towers" duo. The two led the Rockets to the 1986 NBA Finals, where they lost in six games to the Boston Celtics. After Sampson was traded to the Golden State Warriors in 1988, Olajuwon became the undisputed leader of the team. He led the league in rebounding twice (1989, 1990) and shot–blocking three times (1990, 1991, 1993). In the 1993-94 season he became the only player in NBA history to win the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP), Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP awards in the same season. His Rockets won back to back championships against The New York Knicks, avenging his college championship loss to Patrick Ewing, and Shaquille O'Neal's Orlando Magic. In 1996, Olajuwon assisted in the gold medal-winning performance of the United States national team, dubbed "The Dream Team" and was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He ended his career the league's all-time leader in blocked shots.
Listed at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m), Olajuwon is generally considered one of the five greatest centers to ever play the game, along with Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O'Neal. blank">Daily Dime: Special Edition The game's greatest giants ever, espn.com, March 6, 2007, accessed April 12, 2007. Heisler. Pg. 3 *Ruley, Clayton. Top Five Centers in NBA History, geoclan.com, accessed January 3, 2007. Olajuwon is also a devout Muslim who observed _Ramadan throughout his NBA career, despite the fact that he may well have been excused from absolutely strict observance because of the nature of his job. He was reverentially nicknamed "Hakeem the Dream" for his grace on and off the court.
