No. 11 - Hakeem Olajuwon

Hakeem Olajuwon is one of those rare players who was able to consistently elevate his play in the playoffs when the competition was toughest.

“The Dream” won the first of his two NBA titles in 1993-1994 when Michael Jordan was chasing a baseball dream – which cheapens the accomplishment in some people’s eyes. The second came after Jordan returned in 1994-1995, but the two best players of their generation didn’t square off because Shaquille O’Neal’s Orlando Magic knocked the Bulls out in six.

Even if you discount Olajuwon’s two titles and two NBA Finals MVPs, you can’t discount his big game bonafides. He averaged 21.8 points per game on 51.2 percent shooting during the regular season. He upped that to 25.9 points on 52.8 percent shooting in the playoffs. His advanced stats show how often he elevated his play in the playoffs.

Olajuwon regular season vs. playoffs
	PER		Box +/-
Year	Season	Playoffs	Season	Playoffs
1984-1985	21.1	19.7	3.4	3.8
1985-1986	24.2	25.6	5.3	7.4
1986-1987	23.8	28.5	6.6	9.2
1987-1988	23.4	39.0	5.0	12.0
1988-1989	25.2	24.1	5.4	6.5
1989-1990	24.1	20.5	5.9	4.7
1990-1991	24.3	23.2	6.3	6.1
1992-1993	27.3	26.7	8.4	10.2
1993-1994	25.3	27.7	7.0	9.1
1994-1995	26.0	26.7	5.3	5.3
1995-1996	25.5	20.0	4.6	3.6
1996-1997	22.7	27.6	3.2	9.6
1997-1998	20.8	18.8	3.6	1.6
1998-1999	23.1	13.8	2.2	-5.6
2001-2002	14.4	18.1	0.7	4.4

After Julius Erving retired, Hakeem became my favorite player. He had it all on the offensive end – great pump fakes, a fadeaway, the jump hook, a devastating spin move, the ability to clear out and take centers off the dribble, and, of course, the Dream Shake. The only player with his variety of moves down low was Kevin McHale, but Olajuwon also was a two-time rebounding champion and three-time leader in blocked shots.

Olajuwon was fortunate to land in Houston in 1984-1985 – that was the famous draft where Olajuwon went No. 1, Jordan No. 3 and Barkley No. 5 - where he was matched up with Ralph Sampson. In his second season, the “twin towers” carried Houston to the NBA Finals where they fell to the best Celtics team of the Larry Bird era. Olajuwon averaged 24.7 points and 11.8 rebounds against Boston’s Robert Parrish, McHale and Bill Walton. Unfortunately, Sampson’s career was derailed by injuries and despite Olajuwon’s playoff heroics, Houston went 8-20 in Hakeem’s next five trips to the playoffs.

Finally, in 1992-1993, the Rockets picked up steam. Rudy Tomjanovich took over the team. They added Robert Horry, Kenny Smith and Otis Thorpe. The Rockets got to round two that year and then finally broke through in 1993-1994, beating Clyde Drexler’s Trailblazers, Charles Barkley’s Suns and Karl Malone’s Jazz to make the finals. There, Olajuwon’s Rockets topped Patrick Ewing’s Knicks in seven games. Olajuwon clearly outplayed Ewing in a big man rematch of the 1984 NCAA Final.

Olajuwon vs. Ewing in 1994 Finals
Statistics	Olajuwon	Ewing
Points per game	26.9	18.9
Rebounds	9.1	12.4
Assists	3.6	1.7
Steals	1.6	1.3
Blocks	3.9	4.3
FG Pct.	50.0%	36.3%

In 1994-1995, the Rockets were struggling and at mid-season shook things up by trading Thorpe for Drexler. Drexler and Olajuwon played together in college and the thought was the two would click. Still, the Rockets won just 47 games and entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed. The Rockets then went on a tear, taking out Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz and Charles Barkley’s Phoenix Suns to face top-seeded San Antonio and NBA MVP David Robinson. Olajuwon simply dominated Robinson.

Olajuwon vs. Robinson in 1995 playoffs
Statistics	Olajuwon	Robinson
Points per game	35.3	23.8
Rebounds	12.5	11.3
Assists	5.0	2.7
Steals	1.3	1.5
Blocks	4.2	2.2
FG Pct.	56.0%	44.9%

Olajuwon finished off by sweeping O’Neal’s Magic – although Shaq did play Olajuwon somewhat to a draw.

Olajuwon vs. O’Neal in 1995 Finals
Statistics	Olajuwon	O’Neal
Points per game	32.8	28.0
Rebounds	11.5	12.5
Assists	5.5	6.3
Steals	2.0	0.3
Blocks	2.0	2.5
FG Pct.	48.3%	59.5%

Olajuwon’s playoff run of 1995 rivals any run of any other player in NBA history, and, according to advanced stats, it wasn’t even as good as his 1994 playoff showing. His PER, win shares, Box +/- and VORP all were higher in the 1994 playoffs versus the 1995 playoffs.

With all these accomplishments, what keeps Olajuwon out of the top 10 is the fact that his teams had a number of first round playoff exits and there were several years where his regular seasons were rather pedestrian when compared with contemporaries such as Jordan, Barkley and Karl Malone. He had 16 seasons of a PER above 20.0. Just five of those were over 25.0. He had just eight seasons with win shares above 10.0. He was always respected with 13 seasons in which he got MVP votes, but there were several seasons where he wasn’t in the conversation for best in the league. Still, No. 11 on my list is pretty good for a guy who didn’t start playing basketball in his native Nigeria until he was 15.

Hakeem Olajuwon bio info
Career	1984-2002
Games	1,238
Points	21.8
Rebounds	11.1
Assists	2.5
FG Pct.	51.2%
All-Star games	12
NBA MVPs	1
NBA titles	2
Playoff seasons	15
Playoff games	145
Points	25.9
Rebounds	11.2
Assists	3.2
FG Pct.	52.8%
Hall of Fame	2008

Top 100 rankings
	Points	Top 100 ranking
1-year	437.44	12th
5-year	1,789.98	13th
10-year	3,358.07	11th
Career	4,453.07	13th

               

Hakeem Olajuwon at his peak
1993-1994	Olajuwon	Top 5	Points
PER	25.3	26.11
Win Shares	14.3	15.57
Box +/-	7.0	7.88
VORP	7.4	7.85
Total Advanced Stats	54	57.41	94.07
Playoff PER	27.7	25.55
Win Shares	4.3	3.30
Box +/-	9.1	7.25
VORP	2.8	1.78
Total Advanced Stats	43.9	37.88	115.89
Reg. Season Win %	71.25		71.25
Playoff Win %	65.22		65.22
MVP Voting (75 points)	889/1,010		66.01
Playoff MVP (25 points)	25.0		25.00
Total Score			437.44

               

Olajuwon’s 10 greatest seasons
1993-1994	437.44
1992-1993	369.41
1994-1995	346.47
1985-1986	333.79
1996-1997	302.88
1986-1987	296.47
1987-1988	287.40
1988-1989	260.33
1995-1996	255.64
1984-1985	247.06

Career winning percentage
	W	L	Pct.
Regular Season	732	507	59.08%
Playoffs	76	69	52.41%