Hakeem Olajuwon: How a Nigerian Goalkeeper Became the Greatest Center in NBA History

Today's NBA stars typically follow a familiar path. They start playing basketball as children, join school teams or AAU programs, spend years developing their game, earn opportunities at the college or professional level, and eventually declare for the NBA Draft.

Now what if I told you that one of the greatest centers in NBA history skipped almost every step of that journey?

At 15 years old, Hakeem Olajuwon wasn't a basketball prodigy. He wasn't a highly recruited prospect. He wasn't even a basketball player.

He was a goalkeeper in Lagos, Nigeria.

Yet somehow, that same teenager would go on to become a two-time NBA champion, league MVP, Hall of Famer, and one of the most dominant big men the sport has ever seen.

The story of Hakeem Olajuwon is one of the most unlikely origin stories in professional sports. In many ways, his journey laid the foundation for the African pipeline to the NBA that has since produced hundreds of players and some of the league's biggest stars.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria on January 21, 1963, Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon was the third of eight children in a Yoruba family. His parents, Salim and Abike Olajuwon, owned a cement business and emphasized discipline, hard work, and respect—qualities that would later define Hakeem's basketball career.

But basketball wasn't part of the plan.

In Nigeria during the 1960s and 1970s, football wasn't just the country's most popular sport—it was a way of life. Like countless other children growing up in Lagos, Hakeem dreamed of becoming a footballer.

Before he mastered the Dream Shake, Olajuwon spent his teenage years developing as a goalkeeper and handball player. Unknowingly, those sports were preparing him for basketball. The footwork required to defend the goal, the hand-eye coordination, and the instinct to anticipate an opponent's move would all become trademarks of his game. Years later, those same skills would help transform him into one of the greatest defensive centers the NBA has ever seen.

It wasn't until 1978, at 15 years old, that Olajuwon discovered basketball. He joined the team at Muslim Teachers College, his high school in Lagos, and immediately found himself behind everyone else.

While his years as a goalkeeper and handball player had given him athleticism, footwork, and quick reactions, he had virtually no basketball skills. He couldn't dribble. He couldn't shoot. Despite his natural size, he was still a complete beginner in the sport.

Recognizing his size and potential, his first coach, Ganiyu Otenigbade, introduced him to the center position.

The basics came first.

To teach his players how to dunk, Otenigbade would stand on a chair and demonstrate the motion above the rim. Olajuwon followed along the same way, climbing onto a chair to practice the movement himself.

Within a few months, everything changed.

Richard Mills was an American coach who worked at the Nigerian National Sports Coaching Institute. Olajuwon caught his attention while playing in a pickup game. At the time, Olajuwon was being outclassed by many of the older and more experienced players on the court. But Mills saw the raw talent and potential that others didn't.

He invited Olajuwon to train with the Nigerian National Team setup, and within two years, Olajuwon had earned a call-up to Nigeria's junior national team.

Chris Pond, another American born coach saw Olajuwon play at an All-Africa tournament and instantly knew he had to bring him to the U.S. He was his eyes and ears in the U.S and was constantly calling schools to get Olajuwon to visit and try-out.

Olajuwon arrived in Houston in 1980. The University of Houston’s head coach, Guy Lewis, had received a casual recommendation from a friend to take a look at this Nigerian kid who could play basketball.

Olajuwon was told to take a taxi to the school as no one came to greet him at the airport. Within a year, Houston offered him a scholarship and he enrolled in 1981.

There was an immediate shift into what many consider as one of the most entertaining eras in American college basketball history. By 1982-83, Olajuwon was playing alongside Clyde Drexler and others creating the nickname ‘Phi Slama Jama’ - a team that was so explosive, fast-breaking and dunk hungry. In the center of it all was this Nigerian center that no scout had on their radar just two years earlier.

The reward came in 1984. Olajuwon was selected first overall by the Houston Rockets in the NBA Draft— in the same draft that featured Michael Jordan—allowing him to remain in the city that had first brought him to America.

In 1991, after 7 years in the league, Olajuwon changed the spelling of his first name from ‘Akeem’ - the anglicized version used to name him in the early NBA years - to ‘Hakeem,’ the correct Arabic Spelling. He grew tired of the slightly wrong spelling and this correction was a statement of identity.

Olajuwon was raised Muslim and his faith deepened further into adulthood. He told the press “I’m not changing the spelling of my name, I’m correcting it,” as the name Hakeem, in Arabic, means ‘wise one.’

That summer, he made the Hajj - the pilgrimage to Mecca - and returned transformed by his own account.

What followed in the 1994-95 season was one of the most efficient and impactful basketball ever seen. Ramadan fell in February 1995 and Olajuwon fasted during sunrise hours… and played almost 40 minutes per game that month averaging 29.5 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 3.4 blocks - winning NBA player of the month.

Olajuwon’s resume: Two-time NBA Champion, Two Finals MVP’s, One Regular Season MVP, and Two-time Defensive Player of the Year. He is still the only player to ever win the MVP, DPOY, FMVP and the Championship in the same year. On top of that, he holds the all-time record for career blocked shots.

He is widely known as one of the first African-born players to become a dominant superstar in the NBA when there was no systemic African scouting.

His impact on the following generation was immediate and direct. Dikembe Mutombo from Democratic Republic of Congo became the second all-time shot blocker in NBA history. Mutombo himself said that growing up, Olajuwon was the only big African player he knew of and was a large inspiration for him.

In 2017, the NBA appointed Olajuwon as an official ambassador to Africa, formalizing what had been known for decades.

Olajuwon continues to help players of all calibers as a mentor. Many travel to Houston to train with him in a quiet gym, learning the fundamentals behind one of the most iconic post moves in NBA history — the Dream Shake — including Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.

In 2021, the NBA launched the Basketball Africa League and expanded its presence in Africa, creating new pathways for players across the continent.

None of this was inevitable. It was earned through a 15-year-old Nigerian goalkeeper who decided to swap the football in his hands for a basketball.