Hakeem Olajuwon was born in Nigeria. He is an American basket player but has retired from the game now. Hakeem Olajuwon is of Nigerian-American descent and played basketball professionally for many years. The basketball player is an inspiration to many new and aspiring basketball players. He is one of the most popular players in the world and has earned incomparable success.
Net Worth
The basketball player has a net worth of $200 million and he has earned his net worth by playing basketball for many years. Hakeem Olajuwon has earned his net worth by being a pro basketball player for years. The pro basketball player has played for Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors and was also an entrepreneur. He is retired as a basketball player but he is still a successful businessman.
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Early Life and Biography
Hakeem played basketball professionally for a decade. His active years in the game are 18 years. He was born as Hakeem Abdul on January 21, 1963, in Lagos, Nigeria. He rose to international stardom when he played in the center position for NBA teams. He has majorly played for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors.
He was introduced to the sport at the age of 15. He is 6 ft 9 in. (206 cm) tall which was a perfect height for the center position on the baseball ground. He also played for the Nigerian national team. He started playing basketball during his college time and that was the major reason why he got noticed by the NBA league. Hakeem grew up in a poor neighborhood. He had an interest in playing basket since his young time and this is what led him to become one of the biggest NBA players in the world.
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Career
From 1981 to 1984, he studied at the University of Houston. He started playing basketball at an early age and led his team, in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Final Four. He was later drafted to the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association.
He led his team to the semi-finals that resulted in helping him creating an image for himself as a dominant big man who could be a part of the NBA. He later joined Warriors in 1988, and became a part of Rockets’ and established himself as the unbeatable leader.
He was from Nigeria and became an American citizen in 1993. Hakeem was the only player in NBA history who had won the NBA MVP. He was also awarded the Defensive Player of the Year. In 1996, the player was awarded a gold-medal-winning. He led the US national team at the Olympics and ended up entering the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
There are a lot of achievements to his name and with Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem is recognized as one of the NBA’s best centers. Hakeem was one of the most popular NBA players and he signed on with the Toronto Raptors in 2001 for that reason. A year later Olajuwon retired but he remained the league’s all-time leader for many years.
