NBA Hall of Famer, Hakeem Olajuwon was the truth during his NBA career.
Houston Rockets Hall Of Famer, Hakeem Olajuwon was heavily underrated during his career and is a top 5 NBA center.
Don’t @ Me! pic.twitter.com/yQHnGZobPH
— Brandon Robinson (@ScoopB) January 8, 2019
One of the 50 Greatest NBA players, Olajuwon was the star on the Houston Rockets’ back-to-back NBA championship titles in 1994 and 1995. and is a U.S. Olympic gold medalist.
In 17 seasons, Olajuwon averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds per game. The way he formulated it was poetry in motion.
I’m convinced that Olajuwon, a 7-footer, was a guard in disguise.
His footwork was just amazing.
Who could forget that deadly Dream Shake while wearing Spaulding sneakers?!
In an era where Michael Jordan was everything in the 90s and he was…he won six championships, in case you forgot.
In between the first three and the last three championships, MJ played baseball.
Michael Jordan and The Chicago Bulls were great but so were Reggie Miller and Hakeem Olajuwon. pic.twitter.com/uYs6Txtj13
— Brandon Robinson (@ScoopB) January 9, 2019
Some argue that had he not retired, the Bulls would have won eight championships, including Scottie Pippen.
“I truly believe the way that we were playing and that big dominant force, Hakeem Olajuwon; that we had down there was too much,” former Houston Rocket Horry told me on Scoop B Radio.
“Oh we would’ve beat them,” former Houston Rocket and TNT analyst, Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith told me on the Scoop B Radio podcast.
The facts remains that the Rockets won two championships and Hakeem Olajuwon is cemented as a great center during his legacy. In fact, I place Hakeem Olajuwon as the fourth greatest center all-time.
For those keeping score below, my list below of all-time great centers is based off the criteria of ability, stats, dominance, competition and the eye test.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Wilt Chamberlain
- Shaquille O’Neal
- Hakeem Olajuwon
- Bill Russell
Olajuwon had some standout games, too. Many have seen video of Olajuwon winning two championships and Rockets head coach, Rudy Tomjanovich declaring:
“Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion.”
You’ve probably also have seen Olajuwon taking David Robinson to school in the NBA Playoffs.
But there were a few other memorable Olajuwon games.
How about his March 29, 1990 game where he recorded a quadruple-double with 18 pts, 16 reb, 10 ast, 11 blk?
Olajuwon was equally impressive on Valentines Day in 1985 against the New York Knicks.
“The Dream” had no heart that day, too!
In that game against the Knicks, “The Dream” had a 30 points, 25 rebounds outing.
Hakeem Olajuwon has accomplished a ton during his career, his place amongst greats at the center position can’t be questioned. Since February 1985, no Rockets big man has come close to Dream’s record making numbers until Clint Capela did it last season when the Swiss big man became the youngest Rocket since Olajuwon to have at least 23 points and 25 rebounds in a game.
Where do you place Hakeem Olajuwon among NBA greats?
Send me a tweet: @ScoopB and let me know.
