When it comes to the great individual seasons in NBA history, not many can stand up to Hakeem Olajuwon’s 1993-94 campaign. Olajuwon was at the absolute peak of his powers at the time as he took home MVP, Finals MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year honors while winning his first championship.
He is one of three players in NBA history, along with Michael Jordan and Giannis Antetokounmpo, to win all 3 of those individual awards but is the only one to have won all of them in the same season. It was truly a season unlike any other in the history of the league, and a somewhat lesser known fact from then is that Hakeem also became the first player to lead his team in all 5 statistical categories in a single playoff run in 1994.
Houston Rockets Stat Leaders In The 1994 Playoffs
Points Per Game
1. Hakeem Olajuwon: 28.9 PPG
2. Vernon Maxwell: 13.8 PPG
Rebounds Per Game
1. Hakeem Olajuwon: 11.0 RPG
2. Otis Thorpe: 9.9 RPG
Assists Per Game
1. Hakeem Olajuwon: 4.3 APG
2. Vernon Maxwell, Sam Cassell: 4.2 APG
Steals Per Game
1. Hakeem Olajuwon: 1.7 SPG
2. Robert Horry: 1.5 SPG
Blocks Per Game
1. Hakeem Olajuwon: 4.0 BPG
2. Robert Horry: 0.9 BPG
For a big man to lead his team in assists and steals is crazy, but that just speaks to the greatness of Olajuwon. He is one of three players in league history to average over 2 steals and 2 blocks per game in a season and is the only one among them to have done it multiple times.
What makes this feat of having led his team in all categories even more special is when you consider the teams he ended up beating along the way. It was Clyde Drexler’s Blazers in the first round, then Charles Barkley’s Suns, followed by Karl Malone’s Jazz, and finally the Patrick Ewing-led Knicks.
Vernon Maxwell, who finished runner-up in a couple of those categories there, recently spoke about his teammate’s 1993-94 season, as he stated that Hakeem just went crazy and was in a different mode. It was truly one of the greatest, if not the greatest, season a player has ever put together in the history of the NBA, and since then, only LeBron James (2016) has managed to lead his team in all 5 categories in the playoffs while also winning the title. Olajuwon would put together another dominant postseason run in 1995 to win his second championship and cement his place among the greatest players of all time.
