What If Richard Mills Had Given Up On "The Dream?"

He was 16 years old. It was December of 1979, and he was playing a pickup game in front of his house in Lagos, Nigeria. Not a basketball game, but a soccer game. Not as a center, but as a goalie. Suddenly, a car pulled up near the game.

"I saw this car pull up and a guy got out to watch our game. I guess it was because he saw this big, tall goaltender playing. That was me. Somebody in our game kicked the ball near him and I went to get it. He said he was the basketball coach of the Nigerian National Team."

"He asked me if I'd ever played basketball before. I told him no, but he asked me to go out and eat with him. I didn't want to go. I was mad that he stopped our game."

If Olajuwon never went with Mills, the former Nigerian National Team coach, then what impact would it have had on the NBA and basketball today?

Mills was persistent. He got Olajuwon to join him at a local gym, where he asked him to take a basketball and shoot.

"I'd never seen anybody shoot a basketball," Olajuwon said. "I didn't know how to do it. When I shot my first free throw, I just pushed it and it didn't even hit the rim. But he showed me how to flick my wrist and I tried a few more. Then he had me stand under the basket and told me to dunk the ball. I didn't know how. So he found a chair and got on it. He jumped off the chair and dunked the ball. Then he told me to do it."

"So I got on the chair and dunked it. But he wanted me to stand on the ground. I couldn't do it."

Imagine if Mills had given up on "Akeem the Dream" right then. Imagine if Olajuwon never played basketball. NBA History would be extremely different.

Olajuwon went to the United States in search of an education. He had begun to play basketball, and made the University of Houston College team. But unlike all other American athletes in the country, Akeem only started playing the sport at 16. Extremely talented, but extremely raw as well, he still had much to learn.

He blossomed into a star.

Then, after being frustrated at Houston's failure to win a title, he left college as a junior and applied for the NBA Draft. Houston selected him with the first overall pick, and Akeem turned into a superstar, and now, a hall of fame inductee. We know him as the most talented center in league history, a spectacular power dunk artist, and an outstanding defender.

If Hakeem Had Not Taken Up Basketball

The 1984 Draft would be quite different. Houston, who had the first overall pick, was desperate for a center at the time, and most likely would have selected Sam Bowie, Sam Perkins, or Melvin Turpin. For all we know, these three could have been hall of fame inductees as well, Bowie was a great defender, not a bad post player and without injuries, he could have been one of the best in the league. Perkins was spectacular with the Mavericks, why not the Rockets? Turpin never made an impact on the league, but for all we know he could have.

At the time, the Rockets most likely would not take Michael Jordan, it was actually between Bowie and Olajuwon. If Olajuwon did not take up basketball, it would probably be between Bowie and Jordan, Barkley, or Perkins, depending on Houston's needs at the time.

Meanwhile, considering Houston would most likely have taken Bowie, imagine Jordan, Barkley, or Perkins in a Blazers uniform.

Wouldn't that shake up history?

We could go on and on about what teams could have won championships, what teams could have selected who, which players could have still been hall of fame inductees, etc.

That's just the impact Olajuwon had on this league. For all we know, if the draft had been completely different without Olajuwon, the "Jordan Era" might not have ever even existed.

But Olajuwon did play basketball.

Richard Mills never gave up on him. Olajuwon eventually cooperated, and he turned into a star and made the hall of fame. Today, we see Olajuwon as one of the top 10 players in history and as the most talented center in history. We see his automatic blocks on the highlights.

And of course, we see his amazing slam dunks—without the use of a chair.