Motivation Quote by Hakeem Olajuwon

Thirteen years is a long time to still be asked where youre "really" from, and Olajuwons line quietly answers that question without begging permission. "Since I was seventeen" does more than supply biography; it locates belonging at the age when identity gets welded together. Hes not describing a layover. Hes describing formation. The sentence turns immigration into timeline, not paperwork.

Calling the U.S. his "second home" is strategic modesty. He could stake a louder claim after building an NBA legacy, but he chooses a phrase that sounds grateful, even deferential. That softens the edge while still insisting on permanence. The subtext: home is lived, not granted. Its also a preemptive rebuttal to the old sports trope where immigrant athletes are celebrated for what they deliver on the court yet kept symbolically separate off it.

Context matters: Olajuwon arrived from Nigeria to play college ball, then became a Houston icon, eventually naturalized, and spent his prime years during an era when American patriotism in sports was getting more performative. His quiet framing avoids flag-waving and resentment. It offers a model of assimilation that isnt self-erasure: "second" acknowledges origin without treating it as a disqualifier.

The intent is relational. Hes speaking as someone who has invested adolescence, labor, and loyalty into a place and is asking to be met there. In one clean, unshowy line, Olajuwon makes belonging sound like common sense.