Hakim Olajjuvon: career, photo, achievements

One of the most outstanding basketball players of the NBA is Hakim Olajjuvon. The number of his team wins and personal titles can be envied by any athlete. What is the secret of the success of this outstanding personality? The biography of Hakim Olajuwon will help us to understand this.

early years

Hakim Abdul Oladjuvon was born in January 1963 in the largest Nigerian city of Lagos.

Since childhood, the future basketball legend has been fond of football. In particular, the boy stood at the gate to the local team.

Hakim came to basketball only at the age of fifteen. Even then, his height reached 205 cm. But as soon as Hakim Oludzhiwon began to get involved in basketball, he realized that all other sports are secondary to him, and being a basketball player is his calling.

Success to young talent came quite quickly. Soon he was invited to play for the national team of Nigeria.

Moving to the USA

In 1981, Hakim moved from Nigeria to the American city of Houston to study there at the university. But his main goal was still not study, but the continuation of a basketball career. Oladzhiuwon was admitted to the local student team, which was considered the first step in the direction of getting into the elite basketball league of the NBA.

The young basketball player immediately showed himself on the best side. During the period from 1981 to 1984, his team played three times in the "Final Four" of the most prestigious student league in the US, not least thanks to the game that Hakim Olajuwon demonstrated. It trained at that time such a famous specialist as Guy Lewis.

Career in the NBA

Prospective center could not fail to notice the experts in the NBA. He was invited to play for the local Houston Rockets team.

True, it should be noted that Hakim Olajjvon by Bill Simmons, a well-known basketball analyst, gets into the most prestigious basketball league in the world not only for his talent, but also for luck and a lucky coincidence. The likelihood that a young man from Nigeria, up to 15 years of primary focus on football, at 21 will become an NBA player, is really very small.

Although Hakim Olajjuvon played for Houston Rockets in the first 10 years of his performance, he proved himself to be the highest-class player, but there was no precursor to the fact that he could grow to the level of a legend. These years he played in tandem with another great player, Ralph Sampson, and only after the departure of the latter from the team became the undisputed leader of the club. During this period, among the significant achievements of Hakim, one can single out only the output of "Houston Rockets" in the NBA Finals in 1986.

For example, Michael Jordan, who started his basketball career at the same time as Hakim, by 1993 not only became the greatest basketball player of our time, but even managed to announce the end of his career. Oladzhyuvon had yet to prove what he really is capable of and what ranks and rewards are worthy.

Starry hour

It was 1993 that marked the turning point in the career of the Nigerian basketball player. First of all, this year he received American citizenship, which he had been working on for so long. But this is not the most important thing. At the end of the 1992-1993 season, the legendary Michael Jordan announced his retirement, leaving the throne of the best NBA player vacant. He immediately claimed a lot of outstanding basketball players, including Patrick Ewing, Clifford Robinson, Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, Carl Malone, Scottie Pippen and rising star Shaquille O'Neill. But only Hakim Olajjuvon managed to occupy the vacant place.

Already in the 1992-1993 season, Oladziuwon received the title of the best defensive player. In the 1993-1994 season, mainly due to the fantastic Hakim game, Houston Rockets was the first time in its history to become an NBA champion, and Olajuwon himself was the best basketball player and the most valuable player in the finals. To receive all these titles in one season before it was not possible to any sportsman. In the next season of 1994-1995, "Houston" again celebrates the victory in the championship, and Hakim gets the next rank of the most valuable player in the finals.

The 1995-1996 season was less successful, as Houston in the NBA championship managed to reach only the semi-final of the conference. In the same season, a professional career resumed Michael Jordan, who led the "Chicago Bulls" after a two-year break to the NBA championship and eclipsed his game all the other stars of the championship.

In 1996, the US team won the gold medals of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. One of the best players in the team was Hakim Olajuwon. Photo of this star team of Olympic champions is located below.

In the same year, 1996, Oladzhiwon was on the list of the 50 greatest basketball players of the NBA of all time.

But at the same time it is necessary to state the fact that the best times for Hakim and his club have passed. In the 1996-1997 season, Houston Rockets still managed to reach the final of the conference, but in the next two seasons, it was eliminated in the first rounds of the playoffs. Seasons 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 were even worse, as the team could not even get into the playoffs.

Going to Toronto Raptors and completing a career

In 2001, Oladzhiwon moved to play for the NBA Toronto Raptors team. Prior to that, he had never played for another club in the NBA, except for the Houston Rockets team. However, the stay in the new team was short-lived and lasted only one season.

In the 2001-2002 season, Toronto struggled to make it to the playoffs, but lost there in the first round. The game of 38-year-old Hakim was far from the indicators of his best years.

In 2002, Olajuewon announced the end of his basketball career.

Career Outcomes

For seventeen seasons, which Hakim Oludzhyvon held in the NBA, he scored almost 27 thousand points and made more than 13.5 thousand rebounds. In addition, he has a record figure for the NBA for block shots - 3830.

This player twice became the NBA champion, once was recognized as the most valuable player of the season, and also twice became the best defensive player and the most valuable basketball player in the finals. As part of the US team, Oladzhiwon is an Olympic champion.

The importance of this player is evidenced by the fact that in 1996 he was included in the list of 50 best players of the NBA for all time, and in 2008 was introduced to the Hall of Fame. Thus, Hakim Olajjvon is indeed one of the best basketball players that world history knew.