Immigrant of the Day: Hakeem Olajuwon

Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (born on January 21, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. Olajuwon played center for the Houston Rockets, whom he led to back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995, and the Toronto Raptors. After a standout career at the University of Houston, which included three trips to the Final Four, Olajuwon was drafted by the Rockets with the first overall selection of the 1984 NBA Draft. Olajuwon combined with the 7 ft 4 in 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. Olajuwon led the league in rebounding twice (1989, 1990) and shot–blocking three times (1990, 1991, 1993). He ended his career the league’s all-time leader in blocked shots. In the 1993-94 season Olajuwon 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.

In 1996, Olajuwon assisted in the gold medal-winning performance of the United States national team and was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. Listed at 7 ft 0 in, 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.  Olajuwon is also a devout Muslim who observed Ramadan throughout his NBA career. He was reverentially nicknamed “Hakeem the Dream” for his grace on and off the court.

Olajuwon was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He was the third of his parents’ six children. He credits his parents with instilling virtues of hard work and discipline into him and his siblings.  During his youth, Olajuwon was a soccer goalkeeper and handball player.

Olajuwon did not play basketball until the age of 15, when he entered a local tournament.

Olajuwon came to the United States from Nigeria to play basketball at the University of Houston. Olajuwon was not highly recruited and was merely offered a visit to the university to work out for the coaching staff.  While visiting Houston, his teammates (including Clyde Drexler) and he formed what was dubbed “Phi Slamma Jamma“, the first slam-dunking “fraternity”, so named because of its well-known above the rim prowess and tendency to frequently slam dunk the basketball.

KJ