Overview
Hakeem Olajuwon is a former basketball centre who won two NBA championships with the Houston Rockets and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. He is Yoruba, born in Lagos, in what is now Lagos State.
Biography
Olajuwon played football and handball as a boy and came to basketball in his teens, playing for Nigerian national youth teams before taking a scholarship to the University of Houston, where his side reached three consecutive Final Fours.
He was the first overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft and spent most of his professional career with the Houston Rockets. He was named NBA Most Valuable Player in 1994, won the championship and finals MVP award in 1994 and 1995, was twice Defensive Player of the Year, and retired as the league's all-time leader in blocked shots. He took United States citizenship and won an Olympic gold medal with the American team in 1996. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. In retirement he has run basketball camps that have trained players from Africa and elsewhere.
Notable achievements
- NBA champion with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995, and finals MVP in both years
- NBA Most Valuable Player in 1994
- Twice NBA Defensive Player of the Year and the league's all-time leader in blocked shots
- Elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008
Legacy
Olajuwon's footwork in the low post is still taught as a model, and his career is the usual starting point in accounts of how African players entered the top level of professional basketball.