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7’0 Hakeem Olajuwon won everything the season after Michael Jordan retired, revealing slight favoritism from the NBA

Arun Sharma
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Hakeem Olajuwon wins everything the season after Michael Jordan retires - did the NBA favour the Bulls legend a little more than necessary

Hakeem Olajuwon was a generational talent – it is a shame he played at the same time Michael Jordan played.

In the 2 years that Michael Jordan retired from the NBA during his first retirement stint, Hakeem Olajuwon won back-to-back championships. In the 1994 season, he was unstoppable, winning everything there is to win. MVP, FMVP, DPOY, and the championship in a single run are not many people achieve.

The stats in the post speak for themselves – This is one of the BEST finals run ever. Never dropping below the 25-point average, and always averaging a whopping 4 Blocks a game, the Dream was a nightmare on both ends. Hakeem is called the Dream but should have been called Freddy Kreuger instead. (It’s A Nightmare on Elm Street reference, for those who don’t know).

This kind of run means that people ought to think about what stopped him from winning the MVP or DPOY in the other seasons when MJ was active. Yes, Jordan was a god on offense, but did he get a slight preferential treatment when it came to other accolades? This is the kind of stuff that needs to be lauded, not forgotten.

Also Read: 7’0 Hakeem Olajuwon uniquely flexed his dominance against Shaquille O’Neal and Patrick Ewing 11/11 times in the Finals

Hakeem Olajuwon still influences a lot of big men even today – they still consult him for footwork tips

No 7-footer should move the way Hakeem Olajuwon did. Not many players have a move named after them, but Hakeem had. “The Dream Shake” is a coveted move even today, and is still so effective. Kids these days have centers like Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid to look up to, but they look up to the Dream.

LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and many others consulted him regularly when it came to improving their footwork. He was as dainty as a ballet dancer, with the strength of an elephant. A virtual immovable object under the post, Hakeem was and still is the most complete center to play in the league.

Not many people mention the big man’s name when talking about the best players. They should because he decimated his competition. Not many can make Patrick Ewing look meek, but the Rockets man could. He was the sole reason the Knicks did not have a ring in the 90s.

Also Read: Rockets 7-foot legend Hakeem Olajuwon is the only player with 5 seasons of 6-plus Blocks+Steals, the rest of the NBA has a combined TWO

About the author

Arun Sharma

Arun Sharma

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Arun Sharma is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. A double degree holder and a digital marketer by trade, Arun has always been a sports buff. He fell in love with the sport of basketball at a young age and has been a Lakers fan since 2006. What started as a Kobe Bryant obsession slowly turned into a lifelong connection with the purple and gold. Arun has been an ardent subscriber to the Mamba mentality and has shed tears for a celebrity death only once in his life. He believes January 26, 2020, was the turning point in the passage of time because Kobe was the glue holding things together. From just a Lakers bandwagoner to a basketball fanatic, Arun has spent 16 long years growing up along with the league. He thinks Stephen Curry has ruined basketball forever, and the mid-range game is a sight to behold. Sharma also has many opinions about football (not the American kind), F1, MotoGP, tennis, and cricket.

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