hakeem abdul olajuwon (born january 21, 1963 in lagos, nigeria; pronounced ah-keem ah-lah-zhoo-wahn), formerly akeem olajuwon, is a retired nigerian-american basketball player. he is considered by some to be the greatest defensive player in basketball history. hakeem olajuwon travelled all the way from his home country of nigeria to play basketball in the united states. he won two national basketball association (nba) championships with the houston rockets. during his career, he was nicknamed "the dream", often extended to "hakeem the dream", due to his grace both on and off the court. his best move was called the "dream shake". he also called himself "little moses" after one of his biggest idols, moses malone, who played for the houston rockets while olajuwon played for the university of houston cougars men's basketball team.