Rockets' Hakeem Olajuwon Ranks as Top International Player in NBA History

The NBA has seen a global rise over the last decade. In fact, each of the last four MVP winners were born elsewhere.

All told, we haven't had an American-born MVP winner since 2017-18, when former Houston Rockets superstar guard James Harden nabbed the award for the first time in his illustrious career (although one can argue that he could have easily won at least one more well before that point).

Gone are the days of Team USA cruising through the competition, waltzing their way to a gold medal finish. In fact, Team USA faced immense difficulty in the 2024 Olympics, walking away with a hard-fought 95-91 victory over Serbia in the Semifinal round and a 98-87 victory over France in the final round (although the game was much closer than the score would indicate).

The top players in today's game hail from overseas, such as Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, and Los Angeles Lakers star floor general Luka Doncic.

Not to mention San Antonio Spurs Frenchman Victor Wembanyama.

The game has expanded.

There are many Hall of Famers who hail from other countries. And there will continue to be superstars born elsewhere.

With that being said, HoopsHype's Frank Urbina put together an interesting exercise, ranking the best international players of all-time and Houston Rockets legendary center Hakeem Olajuwon came in first place.

"Though he ended up playing for Team USA and winning an Olympic gold medal with the red, white and blue, Hakeem Olajuwon was born and raised in Nigeria and even played for a Nigerian junior team at the All-Africa Games. Even though Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic threaten his position down the road, Olajuwon remains for now a unanimous pick at No. 1 by HoopsHype voters, who have him just outside of the Top 10 in our own HoopsHype78 rankings.

The Dream was the complete package as a player, with arguably the most unstoppable post-game ever thanks to his quickness and athleticism, to go with his impossible-to-predict moves. He was also an elite defender, with unbelievable shot-blocking prowess.

The international GOAT."

This isn't a reach. Olajuwon was that good.

There will never be another Hakeem Olajuwon. Even if the narrative is that he only won titles because of Michael Jordan's abrupt retirement.

(Which is not true).

It's only surprising because it's rare to see someone give Dream his flowers. They're much deserved, though.