Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon was born on January 21,1963 in Lagos,Nigeria to Pa Salim and Madam Abike Olajuwon,working-class Yoruba owners of a cement business in Lagos,Nigeria.He was the third of eight children.He credits his parents with instilling virtues of hard work and discipline into him and his siblings: “They taught us to be honest,work hard,respect our elders,and believe in ourselves.”Olajuwon has expressed displeasure at his childhood in Nigeria being characterized as backward. “Lagos is a very cosmopolitan city.. There are many ethnic groups.I grew up in an environment at schools where there were all different types of people.”
During his youth,Olajuwon was a soccer goalkeeper,which helped give him the footwork and agility to balance his size and strength in basketball,and also contributed to his shot-blocking ability.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.It has been said that a coach in Nigeria once asked him to dunk and demonstrated while standing on a chair.Olajuwon then tried to stand on the chair himself.When redirected by staff not to use the chair,Hakeem could initially not dunk the basketball.Despite early struggles,Olajuwon 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.”
Olajuwon emigrated from Nigeria to play basketball at the University of Houston under Cougars coach Guy Lewis.Olajuwon was not highly recruited and was merely offered a visit to the university to work out for the coaching staff, based on a recommendation from a friend of Lewis who had seen Olajuwon play.He later recalled that when he originally arrived at the airport in 1980 for the visit,no representative of the school was there to greet him.When he called the staff, they told him to take a taxi out to the university.
In 1980,before arriving in the US,Olajuwon played for a Nigerian junior team in the All-Africa Games.This created some problems when he tried to play for the United States men’s national basketball team initially.FIBA rules prohibit players from representing more than one country in international competition, and players must go through a three-year waiting period for any nationality change.Olajuwon was ineligible for selection to the “Dream Team” as he hadn’t become a US citizen.
Olajuwon became a naturalized American citizen on April 2,1993.For the 1996 Olympics,he received a FIBA exemption and was eligible to play for Dream Team II.The team went on to win the gold medal in Atlanta.During the tournament, he shared his minutes with Shaquille O’Neal and David Robinson.He played 7 out of the 8 games and started 2.He averaged 5 points and 3.1 rebounds and had 8 assists and 6 steals in seven games.
List of career achievements by Hakeem Olajuwon
* 2Ć NBA champion (1994, 1995)
* 2Ć NBA Finals MVP (1994, 1995)
* 1Ć NBA MVP (1994)
* 2Ć NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1993, 1994)
* 6Ć All-NBA First Team (1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1997)
* 3Ć All-NBA Second Team (1986, 1990, 1996)
* 3Ć All-NBA Third Team (1991, 1995, 1999)
* 5Ć NBA All-Defensive First Team (1987, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994)
* 4Ć NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1985, 1991, 1996, 1997)
* 12Ć NBA All-Star
* Olympic gold medalist (1996)
* Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996).
Olajuwon married his current wife,Dalia Asafi,on August 8,1996,in Houston.The couple have four children together; two daughters,Rahmah and Aisha and two sons,Abdullah and Abdul.Olajuwon also has an older daughter,Abisola from a previous relationship with Lita Spencer,whom he met in college.Abisola represented the West Girls in the McDonald’s All-American Game and played in the WNBA.
In addition to English,Olajuwon is fluent in French,Arabic,and the Nigerian languages of Yoruba and Ekiti.He wrote his autobiography, Living the Dream,with co-author Peter Knobler in 1996. During his year NBA career,Olajuwon earned more than $110 million in salary.
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