Basketball player, born in New York City, USA. A talented player from youth, his exceptional height (7 ft 2 in/2 m 5 cm) made him a formidable opponent. He studied at the University of California (1965), then joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) Milwaukee Bucks (1969), leading them to victory in the NBA championships (1971). Already converted to Islam, he took an Arabic name (1971). He moved to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975, and went on to establish an individual points record of 46 725. He retired in 1989.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar| Position | Center |
|---|---|
| Height | 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) |
| Weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Born |
April 16, 1947 New York, NY |
| College | UCLA |
| Draft |
1st overall, 1969 Milwaukee Bucks |
| Pro career | 1969 – 1989 |
| Former teams |
Milwaukee (1969 – 1975) LA Lakers (1975 – 1989) |
| Awards |
Six-time NBA MVP Six-time NBA Champion Two-time Finals MVP NBA Rookie of the Year (1970) |
| Hall of Fame | 1995 |
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. on April 16, 1947 in New York City, New York, United States;
Considered one of the greatest players of all time, the 7ft-2in (2.18 m) Abdul-Jabbar played center for UCLA from 1965–69. Later, he played professionally for the Milwaukee Bucks (1969–75) and the Los Angeles Lakers (1975–89), accumulating 38,387 points, the NBA's highest career total. His on-court success was superlative, as he won a record six NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, while playing on six NBA championship teams; After a then-record 20 professional seasons in the NBA, Abdul-Jabbar retired from the game in 1989, leaving a legacy of professionalism, class, and success.
Early years
He was born to Cora and Ferdinand Lewis "Al" Alcindor in Harlem, New York City, in 1947, and was 12 pounds, 11 ounces, and was twenty-two and a half inches.
College
Heavily sought by collegiate basketball programs, he played for the UCLA Bruins from 1966 to 1969 under coach John Wooden, contributing to the team's three-year record of 88 wins and only two losses (it must be noted that in his day, freshmen were not eligible for varsity athletics). During his college career, he was twice named Player of the Year (1967, 1969), was a three-time First Team All-American (1967-69), played on three NCAA Basketball champion teams (1967, 1968, 1969), was honored as the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament (1967, 1968, 1969), and became the first-ever Naismith College Player of the Year in 1969.
Professional athletics
Milwaukee Bucks
The Harlem Globetrotters offered him $1 million to play for them, but he declined, and he was picked first in the 1969 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, only in their second season, who won the coin-toss for first pick over the Phoenix Suns.
Lew Alcindor's entry into the NBA was timely, as center Bill Russell had just left the Boston Celtics, and Wilt Chamberlain, though still effective, was aging, at almost 35 years. Alcindor's presence enabled the 1969-70 Bucks to claim second place in the NBA's Eastern Division with a 56-26 record (up from 27-55 the previous year), and he was an instant star, ranking second in the league in scoring (28.8 ppg) and third in rebounding (14.5 rpg), for which he was awarded the title of NBA Rookie of the Year. On May 1, 1971, the day after the Bucks won the NBA championship, he adopted the Arabic name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, meaning "noble, servant of the powerful one [i.e.
Abdul-Jabbar remained a dominant force for Milwaukee, repeating as scoring champion (34.8 ppg) and NBA Most Valuable Player the following year, and helping the Bucks to repeat as division leaders for four straight years. In 1973, Abdul-Jabbar won his third MVP Award in five years and was among the top five NBA players in scoring (27.0 ppg, third), rebounding (14.5 rpg, fourth), blocked shots (283, second), and field goal percentage (.539, second).
While remaining relatively injury-free throughout his NBA career, Abdul-Jabbar twice broke his hand.
After a few seasons in Milwaukee under his new name, Kareem said that the city did not fit his cultural needs and requested a trade to either New York or Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Lakers
In 1975, the Bucks traded him and reserve center Walt Wesley to the Los Angeles Lakers for center Elmore Smith, guard Brian Winters, and rookie "blue chippers" Dave Myers and Junior Bridgeman. The trade paved the way for a second Abdul-Jabbar dynasty as the Lakers went on to become one of the most dominant teams of the 1980's, appearing in the finals eight times and winning five NBA championships.
A little more than halfway into his career, in 1983, Abdul-Jabbar's house burnt down, among others incinerating his collection of jazz albums.
On June 28, 1989, after a record-setting twenty professional seasons, Abdul-Jabbar announced his retirement.
Post-NBA career
Abdul-Jabbar had been interested in coaching since his retirement, and given the influence he has had on the league, he had presumed that opportunities in that realm would come easily. In his biography My Life, Magic Johnson recalls instances when Abdul-Jabbar brushed him off when Magic (as a ballboy) asked for his autograph, Abdul-Jabbar froze out reporters who gave him a too enthusiastic handshake or even hugged him, or refused to stop reading the newspaper while giving an interview.
It is widely believed, including by Abdul-Jabbar himself, though he acknowledges his own culpability in creating that impression, that this reputation has contributed greatly to the lack of coaching opportunities that have thus far been presented to him. Abdul-Jabbar was the head coach in 2002 of the Oklahoma Storm of the United States Basketball League (winning that league's championship that season), but he failed to land the head coaching position at Columbia University a year later.
Film career
Playing in Los Angeles facilitated Abdul-Jabbar's trying his hand at acting. In this acclaimed movie, Abdul-Jabbar has a notable scene in which a little boy looks at him and remarks that he is in fact Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Abdul-Jabbar also played Hakim in the film Game of Death. In the extended footage of the final fight scenes of the film, which last about half an hour, Abdul-Jabbar and Bruce Lee fight on the highest level of a pagoda which Bruce's character had to fight his way up.
Player profile
His list of personal and team accomplishments is perhaps the most awesome in league history. — introductory line of Abdul-Jabbar's nba.com biographyAbdul-Jabbar played the center position and is regarded as one of the best players of all time. He is the all-time leading NBA scorer with 38,387 points, having collected six titles, six regular season MVP and two Finals MVP awards, fifteen NBA First or Second Teams, a record nineteen NBA All-Star callups and averaging 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 blocks per game.
On offense, Abdul-Jabbar was an unstoppable low post threat.
On defense, Abdul-Jabbar was a terrifying defensive presence, proven by his eleven call-ups for the NBA All-Defensive Teams. He was also known for his strict fitness regime, which made him one of the most durable players of all time: in the NBA, his 20 seasons and 1560 games are performances surpassed only by fellow great Robert Parish.
Abdul-Jabbar made the NBA's 35th and 50th Anniversary Teams and was named one of the 50 Greatest Players of All Time in 1996.
Sky hook
Abdul-Jabbar was well-known for his trademark "sky hook", a hook shot in which he bent his body like a straw in one fluid motion to raise the ball (rather just than moving the arm) and let the ball go at the highest point of his arm's arcing motion.
Professional basketball career and statistics
Teams and years
1969-75 Milwaukee Bucks 1975-89 Los Angeles LakersStatistics
Jersey number - 33 Games played - 1560 (2nd most in NBA history) Field goal % - 55.9 (8th highest in NBA history) Free throw % - 72.1 Three-point % - 5.6 (Note: he made just one three-point field goal in his career) Rebounds - 17,440 (3rd most in NBA history) Rebounds per game - 11.2 (tied for 24th highest in NBA history) Assists - 5660 (31st in NBA history) Assist per game - 3.6 Steals - 1160 Steals per game - 0.74 Blocks - 3189 (2nd most in NBA history) (Note: blocks were not officially tabulated until the 1973-1974 season) Blocks per game - 2.57 Points per game - 24.6 (12th highest) Holds NBA career record for: Most points in NBA history - 38,387 Most minutes played (57,446) Most field goals made (15,837) Most field goals attempted (28,307) Most All-Star selections (19) Most All-Star games played (18) Most playoff games played (237)Athletic honors
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (May 15, 1995) College: Player of the Year (1967, 1969) Three-time First Team All-American (1967-69) Three-time NCAA champion (1967, 1968, 1969) Most Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament (1967, 1968, 1969) Naismith College Player of the Year (1969) National Basketball Association: Rookie of the Year (1970) Six-time NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988) Most Valuable Player (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980) Finals Most Valuable Player (1971, 1985) Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" (1985) One of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996) First player in NBA history to play 20 seasons #7 in SLAM Magazine's Top 75 NBA Players of all time in 2003.Books authored
Abdul-Jabbar is also a bestselling author, the latest of his books being Brothers In Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes (Publisher: Broadway 2004, ISBN 0-385-50338-5), co-written with Anthony Walton.
Other books:
Giant Steps with Peter Knobler (1987) ISBN 0-553-05044-3 Kareem (1990) ISBN 0-394-55927-4 Selected from Giant Steps (Writers' Voices) (1999) ISBN 0-7857-9912-5 Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy of African-American Achievement with Alan Steinberg (1996) ISBN 0-688-13097-6 A Season on the Reservation: My Soujourn with the White Mountain Apaches with Stephen Singular (2000) ISBN 0-688-17077-3Personal life
Abdul-Jabbar was married to Habiba Abdul-Jabbar (nee Janice Brown), who bore him four children, daughters Habiba and Sultana and sons Kareem and Adam.
Abdul-Jabbar was known as "Lew Alcindor" early in his life, before he converted to Islam.
Abdul-Jabbar was successful in suing Miami Dolphins running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar because he felt Karim was sponging off of the name he made famous by having the Abdul-Jabbar moniker and number 33 on Dolphins jerseys.
Abdul-Jabbar has a prescription to smoke marijuana in the state of California, the result of nausea-inducing migraine headaches .
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Preceded by: N/A |
Naismith College Player of the Year (men) 1969 |
Succeeded by: Pete Maravich |
|
Preceded by: Jerry Chambers |
NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player (men's) 1967–1969 |
Succeeded by: Sidney Wicks |
Abdul-Jabbar | Campbell | Cooper | Green | Magic Johnson | Matthews | Rambis | Scott | Smrek | Thompson | Wagner | Worthy (Finals MVP) | Coach Riley
Los Angeles Lakers 1986-87 NBA ChampionsAbdul-Jabbar | Branch | Cooper | Green | Magic Johnson (Finals MVP) | Matthews | Rambis | Scott | Smrek | Thompson | Thompson | Worthy | Coach Riley
Los Angeles Lakers 1984-85 NBA ChampionsAbdul-Jabbar (Finals MVP) | Cooper | Kupchak | Lester | Magic Johnson | McAdoo | McGee | Nevitt | Nixon | Rambis | Scott | Spriggs | Worthy | Coach Riley
Los Angeles Lakers 1981-82 NBA ChampionsAbdul-Jabbar | Brewer | Cooper | Haywood | Landsberger | Clay Johnson | Magic Johnson (Finals MVP) | Jordan | McGee | Nixon | Rambis | Wilkes | Coach Riley
Los Angeles Lakers 1979-80 NBA ChampionsAbdul-Jabbar | Byrnes | Chones | Cooper | Haywood | Holland | Magic Johnson (Finals MVP) | Landsberger | Lee | Nixon | Wilkes | Coach Paul Westhead | Baseline Move
Milwaukee Bucks 1970-71 NBA ChampionsAbdul-Jabbar (Finals MVP) | Allen | Boozer | Cunningham | Dandridge | Greacen | McGlocklin | McLemore | Robertson | Smith | Webb | Winkler |
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