Hakeem Olajuwon
FameRank: 6

"Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon", formerly known as "Akeem Olajuwon", is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the Center (basketball)/center position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets and 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. Listed at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) (but closer to 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) by his own admission), Olajuwon is considered one of the greatest centers ever to play the game. He was nicknamed ""The Dream"" during his basketball career, for his grace on and off the court.

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I remember at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Shaq always wanted me to show him steps over and over.

My background playing soccer gave me a natural advantage over many of the American-born players.

I always keep a ball in the car. You never know.

All I know is I'm saying this, and somebody's going to read it and say I'm a male chauvinist. That's not the case. It is just different with men and boys with women. It's like raising your kids. Boys are more stubborn. As good, as strong as a mother is, sometimes it takes the father to step in. Oh boy, I can see it now: 'Hakeem is a male chauvinist.' That is not the case.

When I watch NBA games now on TV, what I see the most are opportunities for the big men that they are not taking advantage of. That's what I told Tim Duncan when I saw him this year at the Finals in San Antonio. When you go into the lane and they take away the jump hook, just reverse pivot. The baseline is there.