Hakeem Olajuwon is amongst the players whose birthdays’ fall on Jan. 21.
With over 5,000 players in NBA history, at least one player was born on every day of the calendar year – including three leap day ballers. Our day-by-day breakdown of the players born on each day of the year continues.
Below are the most notable NBA players born on Jan 21.
Hakeem Olajuwon (1963)
Calling someone the best big man ever always sounds like hyperbole, but Olajuwon is definitely in consideration. “The Dream” was the top pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, and he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in what turned out to be an All-Star rookie season. That was the first of 12 All-Star appearances for the big man, taking down MVP in 1993. He also led the league in rebounds twice and led the NBA in blocks three times.
Most importantly, Olajuwon won two championships with the Houston Rockets, winning the Finals MVP in both of those runs. The big man played 17 of his 18 seasons with the Rockets before retiring with the Toronto Raptors in 2002. The Dream averaged 21.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.7 steals, and 3.1 blocks in his Hall-of-Fame career.
Detlef Schrempf (1963)
Not many players came from Germany before Schrempf, but many believe he helped create a basketball culture in Deutschland. He had a stellar collegiate career at Washington University before being selected eighth overall in the 1985 NBA Draft. Schrempf struggled in his first four seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, but a move to Indiana in 1988 kick-started an impressive career. He won back-to-back Sixth Man of the Year awards in 1990 and 1991, making his first of three All-Star appearances in 1992. Schrempf continued his fantastic form in 1993 when he joined the Seattle SuperSonics, averaging 16.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 0.9 steals in that decade with Indiana and Seattle. He closed his career with two years in Portland, retiring in 2001.
Want to see every NBA player born on January 21? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:
- Jack Eskridge (January 21, 1924)
- Tom Stith (January 21, 1939)
- Chuck Osborne (January 21, 1939)
- Kenny McIntosh (January 21, 1949)
- Clifford Ray (January 21, 1949)
- Sidney Lowe (January 21, 1960)
- Doug Edwards (January 21, 1971)
- Howard Nathan (January 21, 1972)
- Michael Ruffin (January 21, 1977)
- Alex Acker (January 21, 1983)
- Mike Taylor (January 21, 1986)
- Mamadi Diakite (January 21, 1997)
- Jules Bernard (January 21, 2000)
- Moussa Diabate (January 21, 2002)
