“He didn’t have any clue what he was doing” – Former Hakeem Olajuwon’s teammates said
“He didn’t have any clue what he was doing” – Former Hakeem Olajuwon’s teammates said he was very raw when he came into the league
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John Jefferson Tan
Although Hakeem Olajuwon was a No. 1 overall pick, his greatness did not happen overnight.
Like any other NBA rookie, Olajuwon also had to figure out how to play at a high level in the pros.
Based on how his former Houston Rockets teammates described him, Hakeem was not far from the skillful big man he would later become renowned for during his rookie season.
However, what stood out the most about Olajuwon during that time was his unwavering determination and deep passion for the game.
Early on, Hakeem’s relentless drive and eagerness to improve were already evident.
These traits set the stage for his remarkable evolution into one of the league’s most dominant players.
“He didn’t have any clue what he was doing,” former Rockets guard Allen Leavell said of young Hakeem in an interview with HoopsHype last year.
“But his athleticism was off the charts. We knew he could be a great player if he learned the game.
He was just this young sponge that had so much courage and so much desire,” added former Rockets forward James Bailey.
Olajuwon experienced the same thing in college
Unlike most of his fellow NBA legends, Olajuwon had a unique journey to basketball stardom.
Growing up, he was not immersed in the world of basketball at all. Instead, his first love was soccer.
It wasn’t until he reached the age of 15 that The Dream began to explore the sport that would eventually define his career.
Gifted with height and exceptional athleticism, Olajuwon caught the attention of college scouts and was recruited to play for the University of Houston.
His arrival marked the beginning of a transformative phase in his career and life.
However, as noted by another one of his Houston teammates, Clyde Drexler, there was still much work needed to refine Olajuwon’s skills back then.
“Hakeem has always been a really hard worker, but in the early days, he didn’t really play much basketball,” Drexler told Vice Sports in 2016.
“If you gave him the ball in the post, he would shuffle his feet and get travels called against him. Coach Lewis would look at the rest of us and say, ‘Hey. Don’t do that.’
(Laughs) So we had to find other ways to get Hakeem the ball offensively.”
“When it came to shot blocking and rebounding, though, Hakeem was there,” Drexler further revealed.
Olajuwon took off and never looked back
Through hard work and perseverance, Olajuwon quickly developed his skills.
He proved that he could be limitless as far as learning about the game and dominating his rivals.
Hakeem patiently spent his freshman year in Houston as a backup center.
However, Olajuwon tremendously improved both offensively and defensively in his sophomore year.
By the time he was a junior, The Dream was already one of the best college players in the country, having averaged 16.8 points, 13.5 rebounds and 5.6 blocks per game.
In the NBA, Olajuwon also had a similar journey, as described by his former Rockets teammates. He came in as an unassuming newcomer and swiftly worked his way to the top.
Olajuwon earned an All-Star selection in his rookie season and finished the year with an impressive tally of 20.6 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. Since then, he took off and the rest, as they say, is history.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
