After Hakeem Olajuwon came in second to Charles Barkley in the 1993 NBA MVP voting, fans sensed the Houston Rockets superstar was on the cusp of a long-awaited breakthrough. It took a decade to get there, but the signs were preeminent. The 7-footer was a star from the get-go, making the All-Star team as a rookie and racking up six All-NBA selections before hitting age 30.
Despite all these personal achievements, Olajuwon was still chasing an elusive deep playoff run and an MVP award before the '93-94 season. Many wondered why it took so long for it to happen, to which he had a simple retort.
“Well, for one, that was a time when there weren't just great big men—there were great players all over,” the former MVP told 'Chron.' “Early [in my career], I had Larry [Bird] and Magic [Johnson], and then Michael [Jordan] kept winning. So I had, I think, good years, great years, but it wasn't my time yet.”
The making of a HOF career
Olajuwon almost got traded during a nasty contract dispute before the 1992-93 season. He didn't make the All-NBA or All-Defensive Team in the ‘91-92 campaign, which many believed had something to do with him being at a crossroads with the Rockets.
However, he remained in Houston. A couple of years later, No. 34 had one of the greatest postseason runs ever, capturing the Defensive Player of the Year, MVP, and Finals MVP, embellishing his name among the greatest to ever set foot on the court. In the 1993 season, he also won the championship as the lone All-Star on the team and averaged 27.3 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks over 80 games.
"My maturity. My game became more fully built,” Olajuwon added. “When I played in the summertime, I didn't really play my position... Each summer I added something, facing up, moving the defense. That year I controlled not just my game, but my teammates, too."
Hakeem and the Rockets got hot at just the right time, with the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics getting knocked out early in the West bracket by the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets. No. 34 and his Houston teammates faced lower-seeded opponents throughout their pursuit of an NBA Finals appearance. They ultimately reached the championship round, with the hard-nosed New York Knicks the only ones standing between them and a title.
In the Finals, Patrick Ewing and the Knicks clawed back from down 2-1 to lead the series 3-2. The Rockets were up 86-84 in the final seconds of Game 6 when star guard John Starks, who already had 27 points, attempted a game-winning 3-pointer. But Olajuwon came up clutch, blocking the shot as the clock hit zeros. In Game 7, The Dream dropped 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, sealing the victory and bringing Houston its first championship.
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Legendary Hakeem
Playing during the legendary era of the Chicago Bulls, every other star was overshadowed by Michael Jordan , who earned a three-peat before his first retirement, then unretired and captured his second. It was in the middle of MJ’s retirement that Olajuwon finally saw and ran with a title opportunity.
After his MVP season in 1993, Hakeem was at his peak, averaging a career-best 27.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. However, the MVP award went to David Robinson, who led the Spurs to the league’s best record. But Olajuwon didn’t walk away empty-handed that season. He became the Rockets’ all-time leading scorer, surpassing the legendary Calvin Murphy early on during the season.
He eventually led the franchise back to the postseason, averaging 33.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game en route to the final round, punctuated by winning back-to-back titles and Finals MVPs. In case there was still doubt about the superstar big man’s legacy, it was now crushed.
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