For eight consecutive seasons, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player has been born outside the United States.

Since 2018–19, the award has gone to Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece, Nikola Jokić of Serbia, Joel Embiid of Cameroon and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Canada. In the 2025–26 season, internationally born players finished first, second and third in MVP voting for the fifth consecutive year.

That would have been difficult to imagine several decades ago.

The NBA has transformed from a primarily American league into a truly global sport, reaching fans in more than 200 countries and territories. Today, some of the league’s biggest stars come from Europe, Africa, Canada, Australia and other parts of the world.

But for Houston, there is one name that deserves special recognition when discussing that transformation: Hakeem Olajuwon.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Olajuwon did not even begin playing basketball until he was 15. He had previously played soccer as a goalkeeper, developing the footwork and agility that would eventually become trademarks of his basketball career.

In 1980, University of Houston coach Guy Lewis recruited Olajuwon to Houston. Four years later, the Rockets selected him No. 1 overall in the 1984 NBA Draft.

The rest became basketball history.

Olajuwon became the first internationally born player to win the NBA MVP award in 1994. That same season, he won Defensive Player of the Year and led the Rockets to their first NBA championship, earning Finals MVP honors. He won another championship and Finals MVP in 1995.

He finished his career as the NBA’s all-time leader in blocked shots and remains the only player in league history to record six 5×5 games.

But statistics only tell part of the story.

Hakeem showed that an internationally born player could come to the United States, become the No. 1 pick, become the face of a franchise and ultimately become one of the greatest players in basketball history.

And then others followed.

Dirk Nowitzki. Steve Nash. Manu Ginóbili. Pau Gasol. Tony Parker. Giannis Antetokounmpo. Nikola Jokić. Joel Embiid. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The NBA’s international evolution has obviously been the result of many players, coaches, executives and decades of global expansion. It would be unfair to attribute that transformation to one person.

But Hakeem Olajuwon was one of the players who helped make the possibility visible.

In 1994, an internationally born player winning the NBA’s highest individual award was historic.

Today, it has happened eight years in a row.

That progression says something about how much the NBA has changed—and Hakeem’s place in that history is particularly meaningful for Houston.

To me, Hakeem was never just “The Dream.”

He was the reality. A player who helped show the basketball world that the future of the NBA could come from anywhere.

Author: Rajan “Raj” Sheth has had a passion for the NBA and basketball for more than 40 years, dating back to 1983. A longtime fan of the Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, Raj has developed an extensive knowledge of the game and its statistics over decades of following the league and its greatest players.