#MCN首发激励计划#抢走乔丹状元位置的人, what kind of existence is it? 40 years ago, the rocket chose their cornerstone.
Olajuwon, the third in the family. Unlike other Nigerian children, Olajuwon was raised by his parents to be honest, hardworking, respectful of their elders and self-esteem.
Olajuwon was a goalkeeper as a young man, and his balance and strength, his excellent pace and positional sense, and his ability to catch basketballs and blocks in the air all came from training as a goalkeeper. On the football field, he was spotted by a college basketball scout. The extremely tall Olajuwon was asked to complete a dunk, and the coach stood on the chair to make a dunk demonstration, but Olajuwon, who had never touched a basketball, just stood straight on the chair. At the age of 15, he only started his basketball career.
The head coach of the University of Houston spoke highly of him, believing that he would be Moses Malone on the offensive end and Bill Russell on the defensive end. But Olajuwon still needs several years to adjust to the intensity of college, and the NCAA interior is generally stronger than him, and Olajuwon sat on the cold bench for a year off the court in his first year because he was not eligible to play. The following year, he only started 6 games. But in the summer, Olajuwon was invited to train with then-NBA MVP and Houston Rockets center Moshe Malone, and that summer, Olajuwon made a leap forward, he said, and finally knew what the best center in the NBA was.
Returning as a junior, Olajuwon immediately reached the top level in the United States, earning him the nickname, "Big Dream." This is not to describe his fantastic steps, but the coach lamented that he does everything on the court, whether it is a dunk or a block, is very easy, and "it looks like a dream".
In his junior season, the 21-year-old Olajuwon averaged 16.8 points, 13.5 rebounds and a terrifying 5.6 blocks per game. He was also seen as the number one pick for the 1984 No. 1 pick, and yes, at the time, even though Jordan had shown great physicality and future prospects, center was still the hard currency in the draft that year. In 1984, the Rockets, who held the top pick, did not hesitate to choose Olajuwon when they had a starting center of 2.21 meters, Ralph Sampson, and formed the "Rocket Twin Towers".
Interestingly, the Trail Blazers, who held the pick, chose center Sam Bowe, resulting in Jordan being picked by the Bulls with the third pick, and this selection has also been called "the worst choice in history". And Olajuwon later claimed in his autobiography that the Rockets almost made a deal with the Trail Blazers at that time, trading Sampson for Drexler and the second pick, so that Olajuwon would have the opportunity to play with college alumni Drexler and Jordan. However, this argument is a bit untenable: the Trail Blazers later said that it was precisely because of the presence of Drexler on the team that they did not choose Jordan, and they were unlikely to send Drexler away easily, and at the same time, the Rockets did not have much chance of sending Sampson away without Olajuwon playing a game, which is more like a dream and imagination.
Of course, as we said before, the Rockets did not regret missing Jordan, Olajuwon gave them such confidence, he perfectly adapted to the intensity and rhythm of the NBA, in his rookie season, Olajuwon averaged 20.6 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, if it weren't for Jordan in his class, Olajuwon would have won the best rookie in any year. However, although he did not win the Rookie of the Year, Olajuwon reached the Finals earlier than Jordan.
In the 1985-86 season, Olajuwon shocked the sports world with a 4-1 victory over the defending champion Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, and after the series, Lakers head coach Pat Riley said, "We used four people, and countless defensive tactics couldn't contain Olajuwon. The Rockets reached the Finals, but lost 4-2 to the Celtics, one of the best teams in history.
Olajuwon experienced a long trough after that, the Rockets stopped in the first round for four consecutive years, and even missed the playoffs the next year, cutting countless luxury statistics, but at the age of 30, they couldn't even pass the first round, the angry Olajuwon and the Rockets broke out into a fierce conflict, however, the deal did not happen, and the Rockets hired Tomjanovic as the new head coach to rebuild the roster around Olajuwon. Olajuwon, on the other hand, has also focused entirely on the pitch, with his flawless attacking and terrifying defensive dominance making him still smiling in the era of centre-forwards.
In the 1993-94 season, the Rockets reached the Finals again, the opponent was the New York Knicks, facing Ewing, who was also one of the four centers, Olajuwon completely destroyed the opponent, limiting Ewing's shooting rate to 36.3%, and Olajuwon won the Finals MVP with an average of 26.9 points per game, leading the Rockets to win the championship. This year, Olajuwon became the only player in NBA history to win MVP, Championship, Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.
The following year, the Rockets traded from the Trail Blazers to Drexler. Olajuwon beat David Robinson head-on, leading the Rockets to the Finals again, facing the newly debuted Magic young shark O'Neal, Olajuwon scored more points in every game than O'Neal, he averaged 32.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game in the Finals, leading the Rockets to sweep the Magic and defend the championship.
Many people say that Olajuwon's two championships were won in the year of Jordan's retirement, and the gold content is not high, which is somewhat biased, Jordan returned in the playoffs in 1995, but was eliminated by the Magic, and the Rockets swept the Magic. In addition, the Rockets seized the window in the past two years, but other teams failed to win the championship, which can still show Olajuwon's dominance. It's just that in the next two years, Barkley and Pippen joined successively, but the Rockets missed the finals due to injuries and run-ins, and Barkley was reimbursed for his career due to injury, leaving eternal regrets.
In 2001, the Rockets decided to rebuild, and Olajuwon was unwilling to continue to stay with the team to accompany the young people to rebuild, and he rejected the three-year, 13 million contract offered by the Rockets, and instead signed a three-year, 18 million contract with the Raptors. It's just that Olajuwon, who was next to Carter, lost his courage because of a back injury and announced his retirement after one season. 3830, the number one block in history, is hard for anyone to break.
After retiring, Olajuwon returned to Houston, where he participated in real estate investment, and still held technical tutorial classes from time to time to teach his skills to young players in the league, and he still regarded the Rockets as the home team for life.
In any case, Big Dream is a monument in NBA history, he is the league's block king, he has a four-double-double in a single game, he grabbed two rings in Jordan's six championships before and after, in the history of the NBA, there are countless players who have improved by leaps and bounds because of his teachings, and for basketball, Olajuwon has done everything he can.