In the NBA, a league where centers are as valued a commodity as world-wide uranium, one of the top three centers in the league is ...

Are you ready?

You're not going to believe it.

	Michael Olowokandi ranks among the top 10 in rebounding (10.3) and blocks (2.42).

Catch your breath.

He's from Los Angeles.

No, not that center, the other one.

Michael Olowokandi.

Yes, the same Olowokandi who dropped off the radar screen for so many years, who was considered a bust and whom many thought never would develop into the player worthy of the top pick in the draft.

They thought, in essence, he was going to be Joe Smith. Instead, he has turned into, well, who knows?

"I think he will continue to work at it and get better," Clippers coach Alvin Gentry said. "If you are asking me is he going to get better than Wilt Chamberlain, I don't know. But I think he is going to be a very effective player in this league for a lot of years."

So, somewhere between Joe Smith and Wilt Chamberlain. A lot of players will take that.

The argument could be made that Olowokandi is the second-best center in the league, behind, of course, Shaquille O'Neal. Ridiculolus? Hear me out.

First, you have to eliminate the centers of about 21 teams straight away because those teams have power forwards playing the center position. But among the true centers, who is better besides Shaq?

OK, probably Vlade Divac, based on experience, skill level and team achievement. But numbers-wise, Divac is averaging only 11 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists a game. Olowokandi, in his breakout year, is averaging 15.5 points on 48.8 percent shooting, 10.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks a game.

There is no other center with better numbers. Dikembe Mutombo is averaging 7.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks; David Robinson is at 8.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks; the resurgent Shawn Bradley is at 10.1, 8.6 and 2.82. Zydrunas Ilgauskus is at 18.9, 9.4 and 1.5, but he also has only a dozen or so games left before his foot caves in again.

You know who has the best argument that he is better than Olowokandi? Of all people, Indiana's Brad Miller, who has bounced back from his fight with Shaq and is averaging 14.5 points and 8.6 rebounds for a team that started the season 9-1.

Still, those numbers are not as impressive as Olowokandi's. And in terms of value to the team, take two games this past week as an example:

When the Clippers played Seattle last Sunday afternoon, Olowokandi's teammates somehow forgot about him. He ran down the court, got into post position and L.A's guards, specifically Corey Maggette and Keyon Dooling, decided to shoot the ball rather than look inside. The result was that Olowokandi got only five shots, and the Clippers blew a 15-point lead and lost in the fourth quarter.

After the game, Gentry tracked down an unhappy Olowokandi in the hallways of Staples Center and tried to assuage and assure him that it was an aberration.

Indeed, in the next game, against the Golden State Warriors, the Clippers got Olowokandi 19 shots and he converted them into 24 points, as well as 12 rebounds and a victory.

It has been a long, arduous trip to this point for Olowokandi, in part because the expectations that were placed on him when the Clippers took him instead of Mike Bibby with the first pick in the 1998 draft.

"I know people were going to have those expectations, and when it happened it was difficult to deal with," Olowokandi said. "But you just have to be patient."

	“	I have more experience, repetitions and understanding of what I am supposed to do each night. Experience comes with knowledge of the game. And obviously I am more confident now. ”
		— Michael Olowokandi

What you have to remember is that Olowokandi, born in Nigeria and raised in England, did not play organized basketball until his sophomore year in college.

The story goes that he was attending Brunel University in Middlesex, England, when he went to the library, picked up a guide to American universities and arbitrarily turned the page to "Pacific University." When he called the coach to ask if his credits would transfer, he mentioned that he was 7 feet tall and the coach told him, "We'll take you."

So, really, Olowokandi has been playing the game only seven seasons, including three at Pacific, which is not exactly a hotbed of college hoopdom. Experience, he says, is the difference in him now.

"I have more experience, repetitions and understanding of what I am supposed to do each night," Olowokandi said. "Experience comes with knowledge of the game. And obviously I am more confident now."

Of course, as with many things Clipper, this is not an entirely feel-good story.

Olowokandi was the player who complained last season that his teammates were thinking about their numbers first in order to get better contracts. When none of the Clippers' players got contracts this past summer, it has only seemed to exacerbate the problem. That, and injuries, are part of the reason that L.A. started only 4-8 at a time when many feel they should be competing for a playoff spot.

In any case, while Clippers brass say they want the big fellow back, it seems that Olowokandi is resigned to going elsewhere. Sources say he asked for only $85 million this past summer, a tad more than Bibby got from Sacramento, and the Clips declined.

On a recent trip to Florida, reporters asked Olowokandi about his impending free agency, to which he replied: "It would be nice if management did (take care of its players), but I very much doubt it ... I want to experience what it takes to win to be in the front line where I'm exposed to what I have to do to win. So when I get on a team that does take care of its players, you know what it takes to be a good team player. I'm sure Miami is a great city to live in."

It seems inconceiveable that the Clippers would allow Olowokandi to escape, given his reccent production and what could be his future production. But stranger things have happened. And, in a world where it seems Jason Kidd is likely to remain in New Jersey and Tim Duncan is likely to stay in San Antonio, the next-best free agent is the next-best center.

Frank Hughes, who covers the NBA for the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.