Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

• Born: April 16, 1947
• Place of Birth: Harlem, New York

SPORT: Basketball

Early Life

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. in Harlem, New York, on April 16, 1947. His family was middle class, Roman Catholic, and lived in northern Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood. His father was a graduate of the famed Juilliard School of Music in virtuoso trombone and worked as a police officer, while his mother worked in a department store. Abdul-Jabbar learned to love jazz from hearing it played at the Elks Club by his father and other musicians. He inherited his height from his 6-foot 8-inch grandfather, who had come to the United States from Nigeria via Trinidad, in the West Indies. By the time he was nine years old he stood five-foot-eight.

At St. Jude’s, the Inwood neighborhood elementary school, Abdul-Jabbar was one of only two Black students. His height, 6 feet 5 inches in seventh grade, drew the attention of Farrell Hopkins, his first basketball coach. Hopkins urged him to lift weights, skip rope, and spend time alone on the court to perfect his basketball shots. He soon demonstrated great skill at the game.

The Road to Excellence

At Power Memorial High School, Abdul-Jabbar came under the protective care of coach Jack Donohue. Donohue took charge of Abdul-Jabbar's life even during summer vacation, which the young player spent, lonesome and unhappy, at Donohue’s Friendship Farm basketball camp. Abdul-Jabbar led Power to seventy-one consecutive victories and an overall 79–2 record, winning three city championships and a national title. He was a prep all-American for three years, setting several New York City school records, and the team would later be ranked as the best high-school basketball team of the century by the National Sports Writers organization. However, Abdul-Jabbar ultimately came to resent the coach, who tried to take advantage of his players' skills for his own benefit. Later, he decided not to attend Holy Cross College, where Donohue had taken a coaching position.

One summer, while working for a Harlem newspaper, Abdul-Jabbar learned from his journalism instructor, Al Calloway, about the great historical African kingdoms and about the suffering of Black people during the slavery period. He became proud of his Black heritage. Later on, during his college years, Abdul-Jabbar read The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), about the African American civil rights leader, and became attracted to Malcolm X’s teachings of universal brotherhood and empowerment. He would later attribute The Autobiography of Malcolm X as one of the primary factors behind his decision to convert to Islam in 1971.

The Emerging Champion

More than two hundred colleges made offers to Abdul-Jabbar, one of the most publicized high school stars of all time. After graduating high school in 1965, he chose the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Coach John Wooden had led UCLA to a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) title in 1964–65, and the school had built a new facility, Pauley Pavilion. In the first game ever played in the new arena, the UCLA freshman team—which was differentiated from the varsity squad under the NCAA rules of the time—defeated the NCAA-champion varsity team 75-60. Abdul-Jabbar, at 7 feet 2 inches, scored 31 points and had 15 rebounds. The freshman team was 21–0 in 1965–66.

The next year, in his first varsity game, Abdul-Jabbar scored 56 points. UCLA’s varsity team was undefeated in thirty games and again won the NCAA Championship. He was named United Press International and Associated Press Player of the Year and a unanimous all-American. His ability to score baskets from above the rim resulted in the "Alcindor Rule," which outlawed the slam-dunk shot in 1967. However, the NCAA rescinded the rule in 1977. Prevented from dunking the basketball, Abdul-Jabbar perfected a swooping hook shot that allowed him to elevate the ball above the rim from several feet away, utilizing his height yet abiding by the new rule. Because he delivered the shot so high in the air, his patented maneuver became known as the "skyhook."

In 1967–68, UCLA’s unbeaten streak had reached forty-seven games before the University of Houston defeated the Bruins 71–69. Houston star Elvin Hayes boasted of his team’s victory and belittled Abdul-Jabbar's ability. However, the UCLA star had played with a scratched eyeball that had kept him out of two games. When the teams met later in the NCAA tournament, Abdul-Jabbar's 19 points and 18 rebounds led UCLA to a thorough 101–69 victory and another NCAA title. Hayes had 10 points. In 1968–69, Wooden won a fourth- and Abdul-Jabbar a third-consecutive NCAA Championship. In all three seasons, Abdul-Jabbar was selected the most outstanding player of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. In his three seasons at UCLA, the Bruins’ record was 88–2.

In 1969, Abdul-Jabbar accepted the $1.4 million offer of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), who had existed for just one season and finished in last place, over that of the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association, although he had long dreamed of playing in New York. He also turned down an offer to play with the Harlem Globetrotters.

Abdul-Jabbar quickly established himself with Milwaukee, continuing his graceful and quick style, but professional basketball was a rougher game than he had known in college. He often had to control his temper against veterans, especially Willis Reed of the New York Knicks, who were trying to test him. Even despite these challenges, Abdul-Jabbar was rookie of the year and second in scoring in 1969–70. The following year, Milwaukee coach Larry Costello acquired Oscar Robertson and Lucius Allen, Abdul-Jabbar's former UCLA teammate. Robertson, a ten-year veteran, was regarded as the best playmaker in the league. The combination of Abdul-Jabbar and Robertson produced a 66–16 record and a championship season. Abdul-Jabbar won his first scoring title with 31.7 points per game and received the NBA’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

After converting to Islam in 1971, Abdul-Jabbar began officially using his Muslim name, which he later explained means "the noble one, servant of the Almighty." In May 1971, he married Janice Brown, who took the name Habiba. In 1974, Abdul-Jabbar began wearing protective goggles, which became an identifying trademark. Just as in his days at UCLA, he had suffered a scratched eyeball during a preseason contest, and he missed the first sixteen games of the season. When he returned, he used a set of goggles to protect his eyes, and he wore them for the rest of his career. Milwaukee reached the NBA finals again in 1974 but lost to the Boston Celtics.

Continuing the Story

When his five-year contract with the Bucks expired in 1975, Abdul-Jabbar asked to be traded. He had led Milwaukee to the playoffs four times, but he had problems with Costello’s coaching philosophy and admitted he never felt comfortable in Milwaukee itself. In 1975, he joined the Los Angeles Lakers, a mediocre team at the time. In his second season, the Lakers had the best record in basketball but lost in the playoff semifinals. The team's addition of Earvin "Magic" Johnson in 1979 created a powerhouse that won five NBA Championships over a nine-year span. The Lakers of the 1980s played a type of basketball known as "Showtime," a fast-paced and high-scoring offense with Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson as the main assets.

The move to Los Angeles also brought Abdul-Jabbar chances to perform in the spotlight off the court. He dabbled in acting, most notably in Game of Death (1979), a martial arts movie, and as a copilot in the comedy Airplane (1980). He also released his first memoir, Giant Steps, in 1983, discussing his childhood in New York. However, he maintained a difficult relationship with the press, which typically characterized him as cold and joyless, especially in contrast to the affable Magic Johnson. His views on racial and social injustice we often poorly accepted by sportswriters and fans.

Meanwhile, Abdul-Jabbar continued to prove himself on the court as one of the best players of all time. He helped lead the Lakers to more titles in the 1980s than any other team, frequently facing off against other superstars of the time such as Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons, Larry Bird of the Celtics, and Julius "Dr. J" Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers. Though some basketball analysts predicted Abdul-Jabbar's huge frame would wear down relatively quickly, he proved remarkably durable and consistent. Even in his mid-thirties, when many players decline noticeably, he steadily averaged over 20 points per game and played significant minutes. He won another MVP award at age thirty-eight in 1985 when the Lakers beat the Celtics. When he retired in 1989, after twenty seasons in the NBA, Abdul-Jabbar had scored 38,387 points—more than anyone in NBA history—and been named MVP an unprecedented six times. He also finished as the all-time league leader in field goals, blocks, defensive rebounds, games and minutes played, career wins, and several other statistics.

During the 1990s, Abdul-Jabbar worked in the entertainment business, appearing in many television shows. In 1995, he was honored for his accomplishments in basketball when he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. During the 1996–97 season, he was named one of the fifty greatest NBA players of all time. In 1999, he was named one of the twenty best NBA players of all time. He would continue to feature in such rankings from various publications and organizations, for example, being named the second-best player all time by ESPN in 2016, behind only Michael Jordan. ESPN also called him the best ever at the center position and the best college player ever.

After retiring, Abdul-Jabbar served as a self-appointed "basketball ambassador," trying to promote the values of the game wherever he went. In 1998, he signed a contract to coach the boys’ basketball team at Arizona’s Alchesay High School on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. His goals were to teach young men how to play basketball and help develop a better relationship between Native Americans and African Americans. He also worked with or coached for the Los Angeles Clippers, Seattle SuperSonics, New York Knicks, and the Lakers. Furthermore, in 2002, he coached the Oklahoma Storm of the United States Basketball League for one year.

Abdul-Jabbar continued to write and publish books, including further volumes of autobiography or memoir. Other works included Brothers In Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII’s Forgotten Heroes (2004), a history of an all-black armored unit in World War II, and On the Shoulders of Giants (2007), about the Harlem Renaissance. His first novel, Mycroft Holmes, with coauthor Anna Waterhouse, appeared in 2015. He also became a regular contributor to national magazines, including Time, and other outlets, typically writing about race relations, religion, and other social themes. Additionally, he took public speaking roles and occasionally appeared as a product spokesperson.

In 2009 Abdul-Jabbar revealed that he had been diagnosed with a particularly rare type of leukemia. According to his doctors, the prognosis was good, and in 2011 he was indeed said to be free of the cancer. He became a noted supporter of cancer research. In 2015, he was diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, making a full recovery. In 2016 Abdul-Jabbar received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, from President Barack Obama. From 2017 to 2018, he served on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee; he was appointed to the position due to his interest in coin collecting.

Abdul-Jabbar also continued to be a presence in the media. In 2018, he competed in the twenty-sixth season of the reality show Dancing with the Stars. After making one-episode guest appearances in such comedy series as Fresh off the Boat (2018) and The Big Bang Theory (2019), he was recognized as a writer for one episode of the 2019 reboot of the crime drama series Veronica Mars, starring Kristen Bell. In 2020, Abdul-Jabbar served as the executive producer and narrator of the television documentary Black Patriots: Heroes of the Revolution, about the role of African Americans in the American Revolutionary War. His work on the film earned him an Emmy nod.

In 2023, basketball superstar LeBron James surpassed Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA's leading all-time scorer, a record held by Abdul-Jabbar for more than thirty-eight years. Abdul-Jabbar, who was in attendance for the feat, gave the game ball to James in a postgame ceremony that honored James's accomplishment.

Summary

In 1972, the former Boston Celtics superstar Bill Russell was asked whether he or Wilt Chamberlain was the better player. He responded, "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest player to play this game." At each increasing level of play—high school, college, and professional—Abdul-Jabbar succeeded in making his team the best. After retirement, he devoted himself to a career in movie production, acting, and coaching, while also becoming a noted social commentator and a writer on a diverse set of subjects. As an indication of his impact on American sports, he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated more than twenty times. In the twenty-first century, his reputation was firmly established as one of the top basketball players of all time, and he remained the NBA's all-time scoring leader until 2023.

Bibliography

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem. A Champion Strategy. New York: William Morrow, 2000.

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem. "Why I Converted to Islam." Al Jazeera America, 29 Mar. 2015, america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/3/why-i-converted-to-islam.html. Accessed 9 Feb. 2023.

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem, and Raymond Obstfeld. On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007.

Borrello, Helen A. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Basketball Legends. Broomall, Pa.: Chelsea House, 1995.

Howard-Cooper, Scott, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Bruin One Hundred: The Greatest Games in the History of UCLA Basketball. Lenexa, Kans.: Addax, 1999.

Kang, Jay Caspian. "What the World Got Wrong About Kareem Abdul-Jabbar." The New York Times, 17 Sept. 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/magazine/what-the-world-got-wrong-about-kareem-abdul-jabbar.html. Accessed 31 Oct. 2017.

“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Los Angeles Lakers.” NBA.com, www.nba.com/stats/player/76003/career. Accessed 21 June 2024.

Knieb, Martha. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. New York: Rosen, 2002.

McMenamin, Dave, and Ohm Youngmisuk. "LeBron James Breaks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's NBA Scoring Record." ESPN, 8 Feb. 2023, www.espn.com/nba/story/‗/id/35611846/lakers-lebron-james-passes-kareem-abdul-jabbar-become-nba-all-scoring-leader. Accessed 9 Feb. 2023.

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