Hakeem Olajuwon Speaks Out After Having The Defensive Player Of The Year Award Named After Him: “That Sealed My Career…”

Hakeem Olajuwon reacts to DPOY award being named after him.

3 Min Read

Credit: RVR Photos/USA Today Sports

As a 12x All-Star, 12x All-NBA player, 1x MVP, and 2x Champion, Hakeem Olajuwon is not short on NBA accolades. In fact, speaking for all of NBA history, Hakeem is one of the most accomplished players ever.

Surprisingly, though, it’s not the All-Star nods or the championships that are considered Hakeem’s greatest achievement. According to the Rockets legend himself, it was having the NBA name an award after him that really made his career.

“That’s the crown. That sealed my career. It can’t be anything higher than that.” And Hakeem is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

For any who might be unaware, the NBA has given names to all of the regular season awards this year. Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, George Mikan, and John Havlicek were all represented, and Hakeem was chosen for the DPOY category.


Hakeem Olajuwon Is One Of The NBA’s Most Versatile Players Ever

While Hakeem’s expertise was mostly on the defensive end, he had almost no flaws in his game. During his prime, he could really do it all, and he proved it by leading the Rockets to back-to-back titles.

[Hakeem] was so great that the NBA honored him by naming the DPOY award after him earlier this month, and Olajuwon earned a lot of admirers with his play over the years. Michael Jordan was just one of the many, and he once spoke about how impressed he was by the big man’s versatility.

“Olajuwon, he was in the top 10 in five categories, steals, rebounds, blocked shots, scoring, and shooting percentage,” said Michael Jordan. “To have a big guy of his size to be in the top 10 in steals, you would assume that he would be in blocks, which to me showed versatility and what type of guy he really was.”

Considering how accomplished Hakeem already was, having an award named in his honor certainly doesn’t stick out as especially extraordinary. But then again, how many others can say they have accomplished something similar?

In the end, it’s a great way for the league to pay homage to its history and a great way for the fans to keep their respect for some of the stars that have made the game what it is today. 

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Nico Martinez is a veteran staff writer for Fadeaway World from Brooklyn, New York. He joined Fadeaway World in 2016 and is currently residing in Columbia, South Carolina. Nico holds a degree in Sports Management from Columbia International University where he built a strong foundation in the inner workings of sports media and management. Nico's contributions have significantly enhanced the credibility and depth of Fadeaway World's content, earning him recognition across the sports journalism community. His work has been discussed in prestigious publications like Sports Illustrated. A dedicated follower of LeBron James, Nico often leads coverage on news related to the basketball star. With nearly a decade of experience in sports journalism, Nico consistently provides comprehensive and timely basketball news, engaging a wide audience of basketball enthusiasts.Nico's most desired player to interview, past or present, is Kevin Durant. He is particularly keen on asking Durant if he has any regrets about his career, especially concerning his departure from the Oklahoma City Thunder, and why he engages so much with fans on social media. 
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