NBA 75th Anniversary Team: Hakeem Olajuwon

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NBA 75th Anniversary Season LogoNBA 75TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM

HAKEEM OLAJUWON
HOUSTON ROCKETS
#34
CENTER
2X
NBA Champion
2X
NBA Finals MVP
1X
NBA MVP
12X
NBA All-Star
12X
All-NBA
THINGS TO KNOW
AN ICON DOMINATING BOTH ENDS OF THE COURT.
Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon established himself as one of the most dominant and accomplished players of his era. His long list of accolades include an MVP award, two Finals MVP trophies and two Defensive Player of the Year honors.

He was equally as dominant on defense as he was on the offensive end. Along with his 26,946 career points, he was named to the All-Defensive team nine times and is a three-time blocks leader (1990, ‘91 and ‘93).

Career

Olajuwon was selected first overall by the Houston Rockets in a stacked 1984 Draft class. He finished as the runner-up to Michael Jordan in the 1985 Rookie of the Year voting after averaging 20.6 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game in his rookie season.

He achieved early team success and helped lead the Rockets past the defending-champion Los Angeles Lakers in the 1986 Western Conference finals. Houston would go on to lose in six games in The Finals to a Boston Celtics squad widely considered one of the greatest teams in NBA history.

After several consecutive early playoff exits, the 1992-93 season marked a significant turnaround for Olajuwon and the Rockets. He had his best season to date under new coach Rudy Tomjanovich, setting career-highs in points per game (26.1) and assists per game (3.5) while leading Houston to a then franchise-record 55 wins and one game from the conference finals (an overtime Game 7 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics).

The success of the 1992-93 season catapulted the Rockets into their championship years. With Olajuwon leading the way, Houston won back-to-back titles in 1994 and ‘95. The Rockets were the only franchise besides the Chicago Bulls to win multiple titles in the 1990s.

In 1994 Olajuwon became the only player in NBA history to win a championship, MVP, Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year award in the same season. He averaged 26.9 points on 50% field goal shooting in the ‘94 Finals against Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks.

He outdid himself the following season by averaging 33.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg and 2.8 bpg in the ‘95 Finals against a young Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic. The '95 Rockets remain the lowest-seeded team to ever win an NBA title, as they entered the playoffs as a No. 6 seed and eliminated the Utah Jazz (60-22), Phoenix Suns (59-23), San Antonio Spurs (62-20) and Magic (57-25) -- in that order -- capping the run off with a sweep of Orlando.

Olajuwon led the Rockets to the playoffs in 14 of his 17 seasons in Houston and is the franchise's all-time playoff leader in every major statistic except 3-pointers made, attempted and percentage, free throw percentage and field goal percentage. He was traded to the Toronto Raptors following the 2000-01 season before retiring after the 2001-02 season. His No. 34 jersey was retired by the Rockets later that year. A statue of Olajuwon planned for outside the Toyota Center, but it was changed to a bronze monument honoring Olajuwon, out of respect for his Muslim beliefs.

A model of consistency, Olajuwon was a 12-time All-Star and 12-time All-NBA performer. He holds the Rockets' franchise record for virtually every regular-season category outside those tied to 3-point shooting. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016. Known as Mr. H-town and twoston

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