Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon is a headline name in basketball. Bursting on the scene as a college player for the Houston Cougars, Olajuwon went on to have a solid pro career with the Houston Rockets. 1994 was a dream season for him. Here’s why and what led to Olajuwon being such a formidable player.
Courtesy Fadeaway Sports
Nobody in NBA history has ever done what Hakeem Olajuwon did in 1994. Olajuwon was named NBA MVP (the first foreign-born player to be named), won an NBA Championship (and was named the Finals MVP), and was picked as NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
What an incredible set of achievements for somebody who grew up in Africa and came to the U.S. as a young man. Olajuwon loved playing football (soccer) and handball in Lagos, Nigeria. Then, at 15, he picked up a basketball and began playing the game, and finding success at his newly found sport.
Olajuwon got to the U.S. through a reference from his high school coach. The contact person was Guy V. Lewis, head coach of the University of Houston Cougars. And truth be told, Olajawon’s coach did a bit of fibbing to grab Lewis’s attention. When Lewis asked about Olajuwon’s size, his coach told Lewis that he was much taller than what Olajuwon was at the time (actually around 6′ 1″).
The good news is that the fib didn’t cost Olajuwon, and he hadn’t reached his adult height to boot. By the time he evolved into his nickname, “The Dream,” Olajuwon stretched out to be 7-feet tall.
Olajuwon would go on to have a successful career with the Cougars, leading them to play in the National Championship title game twice, despite losing both times. In 1984, Olajuwon entered the NBA Draft and was the #1 overall pick, selected by his adopted hometown team, the Houston Rockets. That year, another to-be NBA superstar went in the Draft. Michael Jordan, the #3 overall pick, went to the Chicago Bulls.
Olajuwon wasn’t a one-person show with the Rockets. He teamed up with Ralph Sampson to form the NBA’s “Twin Towers,” and they led the Rockets to the 1986 NBA Finals. But that was only the beginning for “The Dream.” Over an incredible 17-year career with Houston, Olajuwon won two NBA championships, was named to the NBA All-Star team twelve times, earning first-team status six times. His legacy achievements involved being named to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary team and 75th Anniversary team.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, “The Greek Freak,” is probably the only (and closest) player to what the world saw in Olajuwon. The difference? One is longevity–not only the length of Olajawon’s NBA career–but also that he played nearly two decades in the same city, Houston, both in college and in the pros.
That makes Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon Houston’s adopted son, a legend, whose achievements are etched into our city’s memory bank.
