His undefendable fade-away jump shot, combined with his powerful dunks and tenacious defense under the basket proved a nearly unstoppable combination. Posting a season average of The following season the Rockets, who were plagued by injuries throughout the regular season, surprised many by returning to the NBA finals, this time facing center Shaquille O'Neal and the Orlando Magic. Olajuwon dominated at both ends of the floor, and the Rockets took the seven-game series in four games.
As Olajuwon aged, his minutes on the court and statistics took a natural decline, and Houston management began planning a future beyond his presence on the court. During the season Olajuwon was diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg and benched while he took a series of blood thinners. At the end of the season Olajuwon's contract expired, and Houston management decided to free themselves of Olajuwon's hefty salary and traded their premiere center to the Toronto Raptors.
There he played only one season before retiring in At the time of his retirement, Olajuwon ranked 7th in career points scored in the NBA 26, and 11th in career rebounds 13, ; he was also the league's all-time leader in blocked shots 3, After retirement, in the NBA offseason, Olajuwon opened his first Big Man Camp, where he teaches young frontcourt players the finer points of playing in the post.
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He led the Cougars to three consecutive Final Four appearances from to , and was named the Most Outstanding Player in Selected to twelve NBA All Star games, Olajuwon holds the NBA record for blocked shots 3, and is the only player to record more than 3, blocked shots and 2, steals in a career.
Some time after graduation from college, Olajuwon became a devout Muslim. On March 9, , he altered his name from Akeem to the more conventional spelling of Hakeem. Hakeem is a strict observer of Ramadan he abstains from food and drink during daylight hours for about a month.
Quotations: "I don't think Michael had to retire for us to get the spotlight, because when you win, it commands attention. So this is my second home.
I cannot see it any other way. All of my fundamental principles that were instilled in me in my home, from my childhood, are still with me. But you don't have to look at boundaries when you are looking at a man - at the character of a man. The question is: What do you stand for? Olajuwon was born in Lagos , Nigeria , in January , and lived there until he moved to Texas in to attend the University of Houston. Olajuwon grew up in Lagos playing mostly soccer but changed his focus to basketball at the age of 15 because of his height, then six feet, nine inches.
However the years he spent playing goalkeeper on the soccer field paid off later in his basketball career, helping him develop good footwork and agility. Although Olajuwon did not attract a lot of attention from college basketball programs, he did catch the eye of the coach from the University of Houston and moved to the United States to attend school and play basketball for the Cougars under coach Guy Lewis.
Lewis had never actually seen Hakeem play, but offered him a try out based on the recommendation of a friend who saw Olajuwon play in a tournament. Olajuwon was a very raw player when he first arrived at the University of Houston, and due to his inexperience he red-shirted his first year, and did not see a lot of playing time the next year. On December 1, , Olajuwon recorded a triple-double 37 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists in a — win over the Golden State Warriors.
But despite a slow start by the team, and Olajuwon missing eight games toward the end of the season with anemia, the Rockets repeated as champions in Olajuwon displayed perhaps the most impressive moments of his career during the playoffs.
In the series-clinching game, Olajuwon recorded 39 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks. You don't solve Hakeem. Olajuwon outscored O'Neal in every game, scoring more than 30 points in each and raising his regular-season rate by five while O'Neal's production dropped by one.
Olajuwon was again named Finals MVP. As in , Olajuwon was the only Rockets All-Star. Michael Jordan had returned from an month hiatus in March , and his Chicago Bulls dominated the league once again for the next three years — The Rockets posted a 57—win season in —97 season when they added Charles Barkley to their roster.
After averaging After the Rockets lost in the first round in five games to the Utah Jazz in , Drexler retired. In —99 , the Rockets acquired veteran All-Star Scottie Pippen and finished 31—19 in the lockout-shortened regular season. Olajuwon's scoring production rose to However, they lost in the first round again, this time to the Los Angeles Lakers.
After the season, amidst beef between him and Barkley, a disgruntled Pippen was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. Hakeem Olajuwon played the final season of his career with the Toronto Raptors. In his first game with the Raptors, he scored 11 points in just 22 minutes of playing time against the Magic. Olajuwon averaged career lows of 7. Olajuwon retired as the all—time league leader in total blocked shots with 3,, although shot-blocking did not become an official statistic until the —74 NBA season.
For his NBA career, Olajuwon averaged Basketball Wiki Explore. Main Page All Pages Community. Top Content. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Hakeem Olajuwon. View source. History Talk 0. Universal Conquest Wiki. O lajuwon at the 29th Annual Great Sports Legend dinner in His maturation as a player and in his faith carried onto the floor as a team leader, offensive powerhouse and defensive stalwart.
The transformation was apparent when the Rockets advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals. The year veteran was simply brilliant in the Finals, contributing Take a look back at Hakeem Olajuwon's best plays from the season.
In , Olajuwon had a career-best But Drexler was terrific in the playoffs and Olajuwon averaged The two big men had similar numbers as Olajuwon averaged Olajuwon believes that his religious faith supported his drive to a great career. He would awaken before dawn to eat precisely seven dates — the traditional Muslim fast-breaking food — and to drink a gallon of water.
He would follow with a prayer for strength and have no food or liquid until sunset. When he played an afternoon game, he would pant for water — but did not drink a drop. And when I break the fast at sunset, the taste of water is so precious. This transcendent dedication and performance earned him mention among the greatest winners in recent history, including Jordan, Bird, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas.
After winning the championships, Olajuwon maintained his productive play over the next two seasons. However, the team was swept by the Sonics in the conference semifinals. And even with the addition of Barkley before the season, which reinvigorated the Rockets, the team lost in six games to the Jazz in the Western Conference Finals.
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