Before the world knew him as “The Dream,” Hakeem Olajuwon was a lanky teenager in Lagos, Nigeria, whose first love was not basketball but football played on dusty streets under the tropical sun. With no organized courts, no grand arenas, and no clear path to the NBA, his journey seemed improbable—almost impossible. Yet from those humble beginnings emerged one of the most skilled and intellectually gifted centers the game has ever known. Olajuwon’s rise from Nigeria to America is not merely a basketball story; it is a testament to discipline, adaptability, and the quiet power of dreaming beyond borders
Hakeem Olajuwon did not play basketball until the age of 15 in high school, when he entered a local tournament while at the Muslim Teachers College in Lagos, Nigeria in 1978.
He was written off and considered not good enough to make a career out of the game by a Nigerian coach.
Despite early struggles, Olajuwon said, “Basketball is something that is so unique. Immediately I picked up the game and I realised that this is the life for me, all the other sports just become obsolete.”
In a sharp twist of fate when he arrived the United States just 2 years after in 1980 to play for the University of Houston under head coach Guy Lewis, Hakeem again kicked off his college career very poorly but destiny later connected him with a local Houston resident and multiple NBA MVP winner, Moses Malone in the off-season of 1982-83.
A determined Hakeem’s game greatly improved during this off-season’s workouts under the watch of Malone so much that he returned from that summer a different player.
“The way Moses helped me is by being out there playing and allowing me to go against that level of competition. He was the best center in the NBA at the time, so I was trying to improve my game against the best,” Olajuwon said.
Olajuwon’s immense talent was spotted around this time by Houston Rockets’ scouts who drafted him with the first overall selection of the 1984 NBA draft.
The season before this, Houston Rockets finished last in the west with a 29-53 record.
In his rookie season, Hakeem started in all 82 games. Averaging 20.6 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 2.7 bpg and alongside twin tower Ralph Sampson, he pushed his team to the 3rd seed in the west with a 48-34 record. They ultimately fell to the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs.
Then in the second season of his NBA career, he averaged 23.5 ppg, 11.5 rpg & 3.4 bpg.
Hakeem and the Rockets finished 2nd in the west with a 51-31 record and made it all the way to the NBA finals where they faced off against the all-time great 86’ Celtics, eventually losing in 6 games.
Hakeem and the Rockets didn’t reach the finals again until 1994, when they attained their first title in franchise history. The Rockets made it a back-to-back championship’s win in 1995.
Hakeem Olajuwon was at the pinnacle of his career at this moment.
His college coach that witnessed his poor start in his freshman year in 1980-81 said it “looked like a dream” after later following his basketball career and seeing him dunk so effortlessly.
This is where he got the nickname “The Dream” from.
He became the first non-American to be an NBA All-Star and start in an NBA All-Star Game, the first non-American to win the NBA MVP, the first non-American to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and, in the 1993–94 season, became the first player in NBA history to win the NBA’s MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP awards in the same season.
Olajuwon was also a member of the Olympic gold medal-winning United States national basketball team in Atlanta 1996 summer games.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016 and was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
Hakeem Olajuwon later Returned as Co-Owner of Houston Rockets In a monumental announcement, Houston Rockets owner Tilman Joseph Fertitta family officially declared that the legendary linebacker and long-time face of the franchise would return to the organization in 2025 as a co-owner
Hakeem Olajuwon’s career stands as a bridge between continents, cultures, and generations of basketball excellence. From his early days learning balance and footwork on soccer fields in Nigeria to dominating the NBA with elegance, intelligence, and unmatched post moves, he redefined what greatness at the center position could look like. More than championships, MVPs, and records, Olajuwon left behind a global legacy—one that continues to inspire African athletes to believe that greatness can rise from anywhere. His story reminds us that dreams, when guided by discipline and faith, can travel far beyond where they begin.
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