Hakeem Olajuwon, the nigerian marvel

One of the five greatest centres in NBA’s history, he migrated in an exodus from his natal Africa to join the University of Houston, where he along with other teammates including member of the Basketball Hall of Fame Clyde Drexler, formed “Phi Slama Jama” the first slam-dunking fraternity.

The Rockets picked Olajuwon in the 1984 NBA draft over future stars like Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.

During his first season, he teamed with 1984’s Rookie of the year Ralph Sampson to form “the Twin Towers” a powerful duo that was vital for the Rockets to defeat the Lakers and advanced to the 1986 NBA finals, where they lost to a Celtics team that is often considered of the best in NBA’s history.Hakeem the dream was effective on both sides of the court, he was named NBA defensive player of the year twice.

Offensively, he is one of only 4 players to have recorded a quadruple-double and is also considered an above average offensive rebounder, he was recognized for his signature set of movements known as “The Dream Shake”

“The Dream Shake” was actually one of my soccer moves which I translated to basketball. It would accomplish one of three things: one, to misdirect the opponent and make him go the opposite way; two, to freeze the opponent and leave him devastated in his tracks; three, to shake off the opponent and giving him no chance to contest the shot." Olajuwon said.

Olajuwon is the only player in the NBA history to have won MVP, Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season (1994), he’s also the all-time leader in blocked shots , and an Olimpic gold medalist (1996) among others.

All in all “The Dream” is Houston’s pride and a man that is one of the greatest african sportsman, without any fears, he moved from one continent to the other and left a deep mark in the world’s most competitive Basketball League.