A Champion's Journey

For basketball star Hakeem Olajuwon,true success meant rediscovering the lessons of childhood.

The crowd roared as Hakeem Olajuwon,the 211-centimetre star centre of the Houston Rockets,grabbed a pass.The score was tied late in the final game of the 1985 NBA playoffs between the Rockets and the Utah Jazz.

As Olajuwon spun towards the basket,he brushed against Jazz centre Billy Paultz who crashed theatrically to the court.Olajuwon expected Paultz to be called for a foul,but the referee pointed at him.An offensive foul.Angry,Olajuwon suspected that Paultz had been sent in to provoke him.Olajuwon,a muscular 113 kilos,was known to lose his temper.The next time Paultz came over to guard Olajuwon,the Rockets centre struck the man's face.None of the referees witnessed the blow but Paultz and his Jazz teammates were furious.They outplayed the Rockets the rest of the way and won the game,104-97,eliminating Houston from the playoffs.

Afterwards,in the silence of the locker room,Olajuwon slumped miserably in a chair.He had travelled so far to reach the NBA--literally a 16,000-kilometer odyssey--but it would take yet another crucial journey before he could become a true champion.And that journey would lead back to his youth.

Bitter Fights::Hakeem Olajuwon grew up in Lagos,Nigeria,a teeming West African port where blaring cars competed in the streets with cattle herds.His parents,Salam and Abike,operated a small cement business.Young Hakeem's passion for football sometimes caused him to neglect his homework.Abike would scold him."Studying your school-work is more important than playing," she would say."Education is the key to your future".

Even more than education,however,Abike and Salam revered Islam and were both staunch Muslims."God loveth not aggressors," Abike would say, quoting the Koran.Hakeem was taught that people should live in harmony with one another.Respect and compassion for others were at the heart of Islam.Hakeem looked forward to Fridays because he got out of school early to attend the mosque.On the way home he would hear the Azan,the song-like prayer used to summon people to worship.He loved its high-pitched sound and would stop in his tracks to listen.Lost in its lyrical beauty,he would remain rooted in place till the last haunting tones faded into silence.

By age ten Hakeem was nearly 183 centimetres tall and towered over the other children.He would often get into bitter fights after being taunted about his height.One day Hakeem was sent home from school after he knocked a boy down who had been teasing him.'I'm in for it,' Hakeem thought,looking at his father's stern visage."I have to fight,or the other boys will think I am weak," he explained.