Hakeem Olajuwon Biography: Net Worth, Salary, Family and Career Stats

Hakeem Olajuwon was the NBA legend whose techniques and skills are still not easy to replicate in the NBA league despite such advanced facilities. However, The Dream developed them himself, working on his game year by year during his developmental years in Nigeria and then Houston. His footwork was so perfect and done with finesse that even bigwigs of the league on defense could not capture his pattern. That’s why, even after his retirement, the NBA greats used to learn from him during the offseason.

Hakeem Olajuwon Early Life

Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon was born to Salim and Abike Olajuwon on January 21, 1963, in Lagos, Nigeria. Soccer was Hakeem’s first love during his early childhood in Nigeria. It blessed him with agility despite his big size. However, after 15, Hakeem adopted basketball. Once, he said regarding the sport, “Basketball is something that is so unique. That immediately I pick up the game and, you know, realize that this is the life for me. All the other sports just become obsolete.”

He honed his skills in Nigeria for the foundation of the game. But he had to move to the United States to advance to the pro stage of basketball. Olajuwon completed his graduation from the University of Houston. Officially, he made his entry into the NBA in 1984 as first overall pick.

Hakeem Olajuwon Biography

Based on the information presented above, along with some extra details, we have curated a biography chart of NBA great Hakeem Olajuwon, which can be depicted as follows:

Player Information	Details
Full Name	Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon
Position	Center
DOB (Age)	January 21, 1963 (Age 62)
Height	7 feet 0 inches (213 cm)
Weight	255 lbs (116 kg)
Hometown	Lagos, Nigeria
Teams Played For	Houston Rockets (1984-2001), Toronto Raptors (2001-2002)
Draft	1984, 1st overall pick (Houston Rockets)
Debut	October 27, 1984
Nickname	The Dream
Spouse	Dalia Asafi
Net Worth	Estimated $300 million

Hakeem Olajuwon Career

Hakeem Olajuwon’s career is like an elevational slope. His basketball skills developed from a stage where he did not even know how to dunk. However, he evolved and perfected his size and agility to such a level that even pro basketballers could not match his presence on the court.

High School Career

During his early days, Olajuwon was a soccer goalkeeper, which helped give him the footwork and agility to balance his size and strength in basketball. It also contributed to his shot-blocking ability. He didn’t play basketball until he reached the age of 15. Even at that age, Hakeem was around six feet nine inches tall. He attended Moslem Teacher College, where he first played basketball in his senior year.

When Hakeem was 17 years old, he was coached by Richard Mills. Ultimately, it pushed Olajuwon to become the leader of the Nigerian National Basketball Team. In 1979, his team won third place in the All-African tournament. Then Olajuwon immigrated from Nigeria to the United States, where he enrolled at the University of Houston. UOH offered him a place where he could practice his passion for basketball. He played basketball under coach Guy Lewis.

He was redshirted during his freshman since he did not get clearance from the NCAA to play. He was advised by the coaching staff to play under Moses Malone, the then multiple NBA MVP winner. Hakeem played many games with Malone throughout the summer and improved his game by going one-on-one against Malone. In 1983, he won the NCAA Tournament Player of the Year Award, although his team lost the game.

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Professional Career

Hakeem Olajuwon was selected as the number one overall pick by the Houston Rockets in the 1984 NBA Draft. That year, with his partner Ralph Sampson, he averaged 20.6 points and 11.9 rebounds per game and finished second to Michael Jordan in the Rookie of the Year voting. At that time, Ralph and Hakeem were the new twin towers of the league.

Olajuwon’s team lost the series four games to two, where he averaged 23.5 points and 11.4 rebounds against the Boston Celtics during the 1985-86 season. In his personal life, Hakeem started to pay attention to Islamic beliefs, for which he made his first trip to Mecca in 1992, after which he started praying daily. The years before that had not proved to be quite in his favor career-wise as he struggled with injuries. Soon, his team got two championships in the 1993-94 season and 1994-95 season.

However, after hitting a high in his career, Hakeem’s career took a natural slip in 1996. The NBA player later was diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg, which led to him taking blood thinners. By the end of that season, Olajuwon’s contract expired as well. Later on, he decided to retire in 2002. Before his championship run, Hakeem was on a roll in terms of rebounds per game, but that dropped significantly in the second half of his career. Here are Hakeem Olajuwon’s stats that he put up while playing in the league, as per ESPN archives:

Season	Team	GP	FG%	3P%	REB	AST	PTS
1985	Houston Rockets	82	53.8	0.0	11.9	1.4	20.6
1986	Houston Rockets	68	52.6	0.0	11.5	2.0	23.5
1987	Houston Rockets	75	50.8	20.0	11.4	2.9	23.4
1988	Houston Rockets	79	51.4	0.0	12.1	2.1	22.8
1989	Houston Rockets	82	50.8	0.0	13.5	1.8	24.8
1990	Houston Rockets	82	50.1	16.7	14.0	2.9	24.3
1991	Houston Rockets	56	50.8	0.0	13.8	2.3	21.2
1992	Houston Rockets	70	50.2	0.0	12.1	2.2	21.6
1993	Houston Rockets	82	52.9	0.0	13.0	3.5	26.1
1993-94	Houston Rockets	80	52.8	42.1	11.9	3.6	27.3
1994-95	Houston Rockets	72	51.7	18.8	10.8	3.5	27.8
1995-96	Houston Rockets	72	51.4	21.4	10.9	3.6	26.9
1996-97	Houston Rockets	78	51.0	31.3	9.2	3.0	23.2
1997-98	Houston Rockets	47	48.3	0.0	9.8	3.0	16.4
1998-99	Houston Rockets	50	51.4	30.8	9.6	1.8	18.9
1999-00	Houston Rockets	44	45.8	0.0	6.2	1.4	10.3
2000-01	Houston Rockets	58	49.8	0.0	7.4	1.2	11.9
2001-02	Toronto Raptors	61	46.4	0.0	6.0	1.1	7.1

Houston Rockets selected Olajuwon as first overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. During his time with the team, he saw the Rockets achieve two consecutive NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. He was known for his signature move, the “Dream Shake,” a series of fakes and spins that left defenders helpless. He finished his career with the Toronto Raptors in 2002.

Hakeem Olajuwon Awards and Achievements

Hakeem took sports as a science and used many fake moves using his exceptional anatomy to have the upper hand against the opponents. Even NBA greats like Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and Carmelo Anthony. Here are the records and achievements that Hakeem Olajuwon got while playing in the NBA:

Award	Year
NBA Champion	1994, 1995
NBA MVP	1994
NBA Finals MVP	1994, 1995
NBA Defensive Player of the Year	1993, 1994
NBA All-Star	12 times(1985-1990, 1992-1997)
Olympic Gold Medal	1996 (USA)

Hakeem Olajuwon Record

Hakeem has accumulated the following records in the league while playing for the Houston Rockets. Olajuwon introduced a new line of spins, fadeaway shots, and jumpers, and he became virtually unstoppable on offense. The man called “Hakeem the Dream” had now developed a set of patented moves involving great footwork with the ball and head fakes with either his back to the basket or facing opponents abusing defenders. All of which became known as the “Dream Shake.”

His ability to block the shots under the rim is still unmatchable, as his career blocks have not yet been surpassed by any other NBA athlete.

Category	Stats
Career Points	26,946
Career Rebounds	13,748
Career Blocks	3,830 (Most in NBA history)
Career Steals	2,162
Career Field Goal Percentage	51.2%

Hakeem Olajuwon Net Worth and Salary

Hakeem Olajuwon has a net worth of $300 million. However, most of his earnings and net worth are from his real estate investments. The NBA got him fame, but Olajuwon built up on his fame through smart investments. During their playing stint within the NBA, Hakeem earned $110 million in salary, with the largest chunk coming from the Houston Rockets($16.7 million) in the 2000-01 season. Four years after his retirement in Houston, Hakeem was already profiting with $100 million.

At first, he leased out a property in the World Trade Center in 1998. Then he sold it in 2000 for $8 million. Later, he bought the Houston Federal Reserve building and a parking lot close to the building. He got the property for $4.3 million but leased it out to the Fed and then sold the property to the Medistar Corp after four years. However, there is not much information available about his investments.

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Hakeem Olajuwon Wife

Hakeem married to Dalia Asafi in 1996. There is not much information available, but Olajuwon married Asafi under the traditional Islamic custom of prearranged marriage. Together, the couple has three children, whom we will discuss later in the league. However, there is not much information available about them.

Hakeem Olajuwon Parents

Salaam Olajuwon and Abike Olajuwon were the parents of Hakeem. Both of his parents were the owners of a concrete business. He was the third of six siblings that his parents conceived. The biggest contribution that Hakeem’s parents made to his life was his character traits. The main virtues that he got were hard work, discipline, and respect for life. The NBA great once said to the league, “They taught us to be honest, work hard, respect our elders, believe in ourselves.”

Hakeem Olajuwon Kids

Hakeem Olajuwon has four children. However, three of them are from his wife, while the older one is from his previous relationship. His eldest child is a daughter, Abisola Olajuwon, from his relationship with Lita Spencer.

Abisola even played in the WNBA after attending McDonald’s All-American game in her high school career. Later, he married Dalia Asafi on August 8, 1996. The names of the children from his wife are Rahmah Olajuwon, Abdullah Olajuwon, and Aisha Olajuwon.

How Many Rings Does Hakeem Olajuwon Have?

Hakeem has won two NBA Championships while playing in the league in 1994 and 1995. The first championship he got while going against the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals. Later on, Hakeem won another championship, competing against the Orlando Magic in the consecutive NBA Finals. Let’s discuss more on his milestones in his pro-basketball career:

1994 NBA Championship

As a center, Hakeem was on a roll that season while playing for the Houston Rockets. However, the New York Knicks did not want to give away the title so easily, so hassled with Olajuwon on the floor. Their big man, Patrick Ewing, was continuously hurling at Hakeem. The NBA legend even admitted to the NY Times later, “I was struggling a little bit to get into the flow of the game. I was tired. New York is a very physical team. They did a good job on me, and I didn’t have the energy to fight back.”

However, somehow, the Rockets won the first game, but the Knicks got the trick to trap Hakeem Olajuwon. Eventually, they took the series to the 3-2 matchup. However, ‘The Dream’ unleashed himself in the last two games, averaging 27.5 points, and led the Rockets to their first championship ever in the league. That’s why Hakeem won his first Finals MVP that year.

1995 NBA Championship

The 1995 NBA Championship was more special in the sense that Hakeem was on fire after David Robinson won the regular season MVP that year. So when he met the Orlando Magic under the leadership of young Shaquille O’Neal, he annihilated them. Olajuwon had averaged more than 30 points in each game of that Finals series and wrapped up the series in just six games. This year, again, Hakeem had won the NBA Finals MVP for his clutch performance.

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