Who is Hakeem Olajuwon?
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (born January 21, 1963), nicknamed “The Dream“, is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets and, in his last season, the Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995.
Olajuwon was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest centers, as well as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
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Biography
Hakeem Olajuwon was born in Lagos, Nigeria, to working-class Yoruba parents. He was the third of eight children. His parents instilled in him and his siblings the virtues of hard work and discipline.
Olajuwon grew up playing soccer, which helped him develop the footwork and agility that would serve him well in basketball. He didn’t start playing basketball until he was 15 years old, but he quickly took to the sport.
Despite early struggles, Olajuwon knew that basketball was his calling. He said, “Basketball is something that is so unique. That immediately I pick up the game and, you know, realize that this is the life for me. All the other sports just become obsolete.”
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