Michael Olowokandi (born April 3 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria), nicknamed The Kandi Man is a Nigerian professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He currently is a free agent. Born in Nigeria and raised in London, United Kingdom, Olowokandi began his collegiate career at Brunel University before enrolling at the University of the Pacific, in Stockton, California, USA, and joined their men's basketball team, despite the fact that he had only started to play basketball at age 17. His junior year, Olowokandi led his team to the NCAA Tournament, and after his senior year was drafted with the first overall pick of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. Because of the NBA lockout, Olowokandi signed for Italian team Kinder Bologna. When he eventually signed for the Clippers he played there for five seasons before signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves as an unrestricted free agent before the 2003-04 NBA season.
In 366 career regular season NBA games (335 games started), Olowokandi has averaged 9.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.63 blocked shots per game. In 15 playoff games (2 starts), he has averaged 2.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 0.73 blocks per game. In his five years with the Los Angeles Clippers, he struggled, never emerging as the dominant center that many expected him to be. After signing a free agent contract with the Timberwolves in 2003, he was supposed to blossom as a legitimate star center, but was something of a disappointment, playing only 43 games and being more of a liability than an asset to the Kevin Garnett-led Minnesota team.
On January 26, 2006, he was traded to the Boston Celtics in a multi-player trade. Upon returning to the Target Center a few days later for a game against the Wolves, he was greeted with a chorus of boos.
In September 2006, Olowokandi worked out with the Phoenix Suns, however, the Suns did not sign him. Afterwards, Olowokandi joined the Boston Celtics in their training camp and was signed after some impressive showings in preseason games.
As of July 1, 2007, he is once again a free agent.
Olowokandi is considered by many to be one of the biggest busts in NBA history due to the fact that he was taken 1st overall in the '98 draft and that he was taken ahead of star players such as Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce and Mike Bibby. In 2005 Sports Illustrated named him #3 on a list of NBA draft busts.
