Glazia is excited to join the celebration of Black History Month to spotlight, honor and celebrate people from the motherland who are making the nation proud by making global impact all around the globe. As CNN host; Fareed Zakaria described last year described during one of his shows – “Nigerians are the most educated and hardworking immigrants in the US and have added over $26 billion dollars to the US economy.” according to statistics provided by certain studies cited by him.
In honor of Black History Month, we are celebrating Nigerians putting their footprints in the sands of time all around the globe, and today we are celebrating NBA Superstar, Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon
Nigerian-American former professional basketball player.
“It is not up to anyone else to make me give my best…”
Hakeem was born on 21 January 1963 in Lagos, Nigeria. After his early education in Nigeria, he went on to study Physical Education in the University of Houston.
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. He is considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He was nicknamed “The Dream” during his basketball career after he dunked so effortlessly that his college coach said it “looked like a dream.” From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets and the Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 2016, he was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.
Olajuwon was highly skilled as both an offensive and defensive player. On defense, his rare combination of quickness and strength allowed him to guard a wide range of players effectively. He was noted for both his outstanding shot-blocking ability and his unique talent (for a frontcourt player) for stealing the ball. Olajuwon is the only player in NBA history to record more than 200 blocks and 200 steals in the same season. He averaged 3.09 blocks and 1.75 steals per game for his career. He is the only center to rank among the top ten all time in steals.
Olajuwon was also an outstanding rebounder, with a career average of 11.1 rebounds per game. He led the NBA in rebounding twice, during the 1989 and 1990 seasons. He was twice named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and was a five-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection and twelve-time NBA All Star. Amidst his many accomplishments and accolades, Hakeem was also named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
In the 2006 NBA offseason, Olajuwon opened his first Big Man Camp, where he teaches young frontcourt players the finer points of playing in the post. While Olajuwon never expressed an interest in coaching a team, he wishes to give back to the game by helping younger players.