Is Hakeem Olajuwon the most overlooked player in NBA History?

Looking back at Hakeem Olajuwon’s career and exploring why he’s possibly the most overlooked player in NBA history

Hakeem Olajuwon, born on January 21, 1963 in Lagos, Nigeria, dominated NCAA basketball with 13.5 rebounds per game, 5.6 blocks per game and a 67.5 field goal percentage before he was drafted by the Houston Rockets with the first pick in the 1984 NBA Draft.

Yes, he was picked before Michael Jordan. After going 1st in the draft, Hakeem did not disappoint in his rookie season where he averaged a double-double with 20.6 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. Hakeem would fall short of the Rookie of the Year award as Michael Jordan beat him out in the race.

This would only start the troubles Hakeem had with Jordan.

Coupled with Ralph Sampson, Hakeem and the Rockets became an NBA powerhouse, led by the Twin Towers.

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The “Twin Towers” would lead the Rockets to the 1986 NBA Finals where they’d lose to the Boston Celtics in a six-game series, but everyone knew the future was bright. It was only Hakeem’s second season and his team took arguably the greatest team of all-time to six games.

Houston Rockets fans and many others were happy to witness this amazing new team, but then injuries came. Sampson had a knee injury in the 1986-87 season, but instead of staying on the sidelines, he rushed his healing process from one year to eight weeks. Sampson would never be the same and kept struggling with injuries forcing the Rockets to trade him.

Hakeem had to step up now and was stuck position in arguably the toughest era in NBA History with no help.

The Houston Rockets would fall into an eight season drought without a Western Conference Finals Appearance until 1994. The Houston Rockets would also that year make it to the Finals that season and defeat the New York Knicks in seven games led by ‘The Dream’.

That year, Hakeem was the only All-Star on that team and led his team to a NBA championship. Hakeem finally won Houston a title for the first time in franchise history! Hakeem went to work and took complete advantage of a Michael Jordan-less NBA. He led his team the next year to their second straight final appearance where the Rockets won again. He averaged his career high in points and assists those two seasons while having the highest field goal percentage of his career.

Hakeem Olajuwon was having fun being a defending champion, but Michael Jordan was back and he was ready to take the throne back. That season Michael Jordan and the Bulls would break the NBA Record for most wins in a regular season going 72-10. Hakeem was aging and reality stuck as the Rockets were stripped of three-straight finals after losing to the Seattle SuperSonics in the Western Conference Semifinals in four games.

Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls would win the NBA Finals that season and Hakeem’s throne was stripped and given back to Michael Jordan. The Rockets knew that Hakeem Olajuwon was aging, so they had to react fast.

The Houston Rockets would sign former star big man Charles Barkley to go along with Clyde Drexler and Hakeem. The Rockets looked very well on paper, but Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and Charles Barkley were all declining because of age. The Rockets took their last shot at another title and it didn’t work as the Utah Jazz would beat them in six games in the Western Conference Finals.

This team would keep trying, but eventually all these players would either retire or move on to another team. It was disappointing how it ended, but nonetheless Hakeem had an amazing career. He is the most overlooked great in NBA History. At 6-foot-11, he revolutionized the big man position. He dominated the league in the post having the best post game ever. Jordan may have been the best player in the 90s, but Hakeem was certainly the second.

As soon as Jordan was gone, he single handedly carried Houston to two-straight championships without another star.

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He created the unstoppable move known as the “Dream Shake”. Hakeem is also still 1st in total blocks, and 3rd in blocks per game. When people make their lists there is always, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Shaquille O’Neal, Wilt Chamberlain, and it does not stop. It is shocking to never hear ‘The Dream’ and hopefully now his greatness can be seen.

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