Hakeem Olajuwon
(Born 1963)
Hall of Fame Induction: 2008
Card Shown:
2014-15 Panini Flawless
Hall of Fame
Position: C
Height: 7’0″
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Hakeem, “The Dream,” Olajuwon was born in Nigeria. He ended up making Houston, Texas his adopted home for basketball, playing for the Houston Cougars in college and then the Houston Rockets in the NBA. He played seventeen years of his eighteen-year NBA career playing for the Rockets and he led them to two NBA Championships.
A tremendous athlete at seven feet tall, Hakeem developed a series of post moves that included excellent footwork, spins, head fakes, fadeaways, and jumpers. His collection of offensive post moves became known as the “Dream Shake” and was virtually impossible to defend. After he retired Olajuwon mentored many younger players, teaching them stellar footwork and a variety of post moves to improve their games. Hakeem says the player that used his teaching most effectively was Kobe Bryant.
Awards and Honors
- At the conclusion of the 1993-94 season, Olajuwon was named the NBA Most Valuable Player and the Defensive Player of the Year.
- Hakeem led the Houston Rockets to two NBA Championships in 1994 and 1995. He was named the Finals MVP both years. Clyde Drexler, his former college teammate at Houston, reunited with Olajuwon to help the Rockets win the second of these titles in 1995.
- From 1985 through 1997 Olajuwon played in twelve NBA All-Star games in thirteen years. The only year, in that time span, that he was not an All-Star was in 1991.
- In 1984-85 Hakeem was named to the All-Rookie First Team. In the years that followed Hakeem would be named to the All-NBA First Team six times, the All-NBA Second Team three times, and the All-NBA Third Team three times. In addition, he was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team five times and the All-Defensive Second Team four times during his career.
- Olajuwon led the NBA in rebounds twice, in 1988-89 with 13.5 rpg and again in 1989-90 with 14.0 rpg.
- He also led the league in blocked shots per game three times with his 1989-90 total of 4.6 blocked shot per game being the top mark in his career. He currently stands as the NBA’s total career blocked shots leader with 3,830. This is 541 more than Dikembe Mutombo, who currently holds second place in career blocked shots.
Points of Interest
- In Nigeria, Hakeem’s athletic career began with him playing soccer and handball. Before a basketball tournament that his high school was playing in, a fellow student asked if Hakeem could play with the team. From there, his basketball career took off.
- Olajuwon played three seasons for the University of Houston Cougars and, with led them to the NCAA Final Four each year from 1982-1984. Fellow Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler played with the Cougars for two of those three years.
- As the result of winning a coin flip with the Portland Trail Blazers, the the Houston Rockets secured the first overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. They selected Hakeem Olajuwon, the consensus number one pick at the time.
- A year earlier, in the 1983 NBA Draft, the Rockets won a coin flip against the Indiana Pacers and selected Ralph Sampson with the number one overall pick. Olajuwon (7’0″) and Sampson (7’4″) formed the famed “Twin Towers” that were to lead the Rockets.
- Hakeem’s number 34 jersey was retired by the Houston Rockets on November 9, 2002.
Statistics
Hakeem Olajuwon Statistics
provided by Basketball-Reference.com