Question: The 1990–91 NBA season was the Rockets' 24th season in the National Basketball Association, and 20th season in the city of Houston, the Rockets continued to play .500 basketball during the first half of the season as which Nigerian-American former professional basketball player, formerly known as Akeem Olajuwon?

Context articles: 1990–91 Houston Rockets season
1995–96 Houston Rockets season
Hakeem Olajuwon
2000–01 Houston Rockets season
Houston Rockets all-time roster
1994–95 Houston Rockets season
1989–90 Houston Rockets season
2001–02 Houston Rockets season
1995–96 Detroit Pistons season
1997–98 Houston Rockets season

The 1990–91 NBA season was the Rockets' 24th season in the National Basketball Association, and 20th season in the city of Houston.
 In the offseason, the Rockets acquired Kenny Smith from the Atlanta Hawks.
 The Rockets continued to play .500 basketball during the first half of the season as Hakeem Olajuwon missed 26 games due to injuries.
 However, the Rockets showed improvement by posting a 14–1 record in March, which included a 13-game winning streak.
 They finished third in the Midwest Division with a 52–30 record.
 Smith provided a spark averaging 17.7 points per game, while Vernon Maxwell averaged 17.0 points per game and led the league with 172 three-point field goals.
 Head coach Don Chaney was named Coach of The Year.
 However, in the first round of the playoffs, the Rockets were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers in three straight games.
The 1995–96 NBA season was the Rockets' 29th season in the National Basketball Association, and 25th season in Houston.
 After two straight NBA championships, the Rockets got new colors, new uniforms, and a new logo which was actually unveiled aboard the Space Shuttle.
 The Rockets got off to a fast start winning ten of their first eleven games.
 However, injuries would be an issue all year as Clyde Drexler, Sam Cassell and Mario Elie were all out for long stretches.
 Midway through the season, the team signed free agent Sam Mack, who previously played in the Continental Basketball Association.
 Despite the injuries and a 7-game losing streak in March, the Rockets finished third in the Midwest Division with a 48–34 record, with Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon both being selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game.
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon ( ; ] ; born January 21, 1963), formerly known as Akeem Olajuwon, is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player.
 From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets and the Toronto Raptors.
 He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995.
 In 2008, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 2016, he was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.
 Listed at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) (but standing closer to 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) by his own admission), Olajuwon is considered one of the greatest centers ever to play the game.
 He was nicknamed "The Dream" during his basketball career after he dunked so effortlessly that his college coach said it "looked like a dream."
The 2000–01 NBA season was the Rockets' 34th season in the National Basketball Association, and 30th season in the city of Houston.
 In an effort to shore up their front line, the Rockets signed free agent Maurice Taylor during the offseason.
 After the retirement of Charles Barkley, second-year star Steve Francis continued to emerge as the new star of the Rockets averaging 19.9 points per game.
 The Rockets got off to a 13–9 start to the season, but then went on a six-game losing streak afterwards.
 They would recover and play above .500 for the remainder of the season.
 However, the Rockets missed the playoffs despite finishing fifth in the Midwest Division with a winning record of 45–37, which was two games behind the 8th-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves.
 This season marked an end of an era as Hakeem Olajuwon was traded to the Toronto Raptors following the season.
 Also following the season, Shandon Anderson was traded to the New York Knicks.
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas.
 The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in National Basketball Association (NBA).
 The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years before being moved to Houston.
 In the Rockets debut season, they won only 15 games.
 However, after drafting Elvin Hayes first overall in the 1969 NBA Draft, they made their first appearance in the playoffs in 1969.
 After Hayes was traded, Moses Malone was acquired to replace him.
 Malone won two MVPs during his time in Houston, and he led the Rockets to the conference finals in his first year with the team.
 He also took the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981, but they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics.
 In 1984, the Rockets drafted Hakeem Olajuwon, who led them to the 1986 Finals in his second year, where they lost again to Boston.
 In the next seven seasons, they lost in the first round of the playoffs five times.
 They won their first NBA championship in 1994, led by Olajuwon, who won Finals MVP.
 They repeated as champions the next year, and Olajuwon won Finals MVP once again.
 To date, the Rockets have not advanced to the finals again.
 The Rockets missed the playoffs from 1999–2003, and did not make the playoffs again until after they drafted Yao Ming in 2002.
 Since then, the Rockets have had a winning season in all but two of the next 14 seasons and, led by James Harden, advanced to the conference finals in 2015.
The 1994–95 NBA season was the Rockets' 28th season in the National Basketball Association, and 24th season in Houston.
 After winning their first championship, the Rockets went on to win their first nine games of the season.
 However, with increased competition in the West, management felt a change was needed to win another title.
 On February 14, the Rockets traded Otis Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers for All-Star guard Clyde Drexler, a former teammate of Hakeem Olajuwon at the University of Houston.
 However, after the trade, the Rockets struggled in the second half of the season posting a record of 17–18 on their way to finishing third in the Midwest Division with a 47–35 record.
 Olajuwon was selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game.
The 1989–90 NBA season was the Rockets' 23rd season in the National Basketball Association, and 19th season in the city of Houston.
 After a 9–6 start to the season, the Rockets would struggle posting a 12–18 record as they entered the New Year.
 However, they would manage to win seven of their next nine games.
 At midseason, the Rockets acquired Vernon Maxwell from the San Antonio Spurs as they continued to play .500 basketball for the rest of the season.
 They finished fifth in the Midwest Division with a 41–41 record, winning a tie-breaker over the Seattle SuperSonics for the #8 seed in the Western Conference.
 Akeem Olajuwon led the Rockets with 24.3 points, 14.0 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game, while being selected for the 1990 NBA All-Star Game.
 However, in the first round of the playoffs, they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in four games.
The 2001–02 NBA season was the Rockets' 35th season in the National Basketball Association, 31st season in the city of Houston, and their 27th and penultimate season at Compaq Center.
 During the offseason, the Rockets acquired All-Star forward Glen Rice from the New York Knicks, and re-acquired Kevin Willis from the Milwaukee Bucks.
 However, Rice only played just 20 games due to a foot injury.
 In their first season without All-Star center Hakeem Olajuwon, the Rockets got off to a 7–5 start, but then suffered a dreadful 15-game losing streak.
 The season saw team captain Steve Francis make his first All-Star appearance, but he only played 57 games, and starting 56 of them due to recurring foot injuries and migraines.
 He also participated in the Dunk Contest.
 Due to injuries that hindered their roster for parts of the year, the Rockets played mediocre basketball all season, finishing fifth in the Midwest Division with a disappointing 28–54 record.
 Following the season, Walt Williams signed as a free agent with the Dallas Mavericks, and Willis signed with the San Antonio Spurs.
The 1995–96 NBA season was the Pistons' 48th season in the National Basketball Association, and 39th season in the city of Detroit.
 During the offseason, the Pistons hired Doug Collins as head coach while acquiring Otis Thorpe from the Portland Trail Blazers, who won a championship as a member of the Houston Rockets in the 1994 NBA Finals.
 Under Collins, the Pistons who were now led by second-year star Grant Hill and Allan Houston, played .500 basketball in the first half of the season, as the team signed free agent Michael Curry along the way.
 However, Joe Dumars' production would slip as he averaged just 11.8 points per game.
 The Pistons reemerged as a playoff contender finishing fifth in the Central Division with a 46–36 record, and returned to the playoffs after a three-year absence thanks to the stellar play of Hill, who was selected for the 1996 NBA All-Star Game.
The 1997–98 NBA season was the Rockets' 31st season in the National Basketball Association, and 27th season in Houston.
 The Rockets went on a nine-game winning streak early into the season winning 12 of their first 17 games.
 However, they began to show their age and the wear and tear of long playoff runs as they played mediocre basketball all season.
 Hakeem Olajuwon missed most of the first half of the season with a knee injury only playing just 47 games.
 The Rockets finished fourth in the Midwest Division with a 41–41 record, and qualified the playoffs as the #8 seed.
 In the first round of the playoffs, in a rematch of last season's Western Conference Finals, the Rockets took a 2–1 series lead over the top-seeded Utah Jazz.
 However, they would lose the series in five games.
 Charles Barkley sat out Game 5 with a torn triceps muscle as the Jazz defeated the Rockets 84–70.
 Following the season, Clyde Drexler retired to take over the head coaching job at the University of Houston, Kevin Willis was traded to the Toronto Raptors, and Mario Elie signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs.