Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The skyhook legend who redefined basketball greatness.
He won a record six NBA Most Valuable Player awards and six NBA championships as a player.[1] At his retirement in 1989, he was the NBA's all-time leader in points (38,387), games played (1,560), and several other categories.[2][3] Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr., who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was born on April 16, 1947, and played center for 20 NBA seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers.[1]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 16 April 1947
- Birthplace
- New York City, New York, U.S.
- College
- UCLA (1966–1969)
- Draft round
- 1
- Drafted by
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Career position
- Center
- Career number
- 33
- Coach start
- 1998
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Abdul-Jabbar was born in Harlem, New York, the only child of Cora Lillian and Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Sr.[4] At UCLA, he won three consecutive national championships and was a three-time NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.[5] He retired at age 42 in 1989 holding the NBA career scoring record, which stood until 2023.[1][2][6] After his sophomore season, the NCAA's National Basketball Committee banned the dunk, a move critics immediately labeled the "Alcindor rule".[7][8]
The Milwaukee Bucks selected him with the first overall pick in the 1969 NBA draft; he then guided the franchise to its first NBA championship in 1971 and adopted the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[5]
What the cited sources add
The Andscape article by Smith notes that Abdul-Jabbar's political consciousness was awakened by the Harlem riot of 1964, triggered by the fatal shooting of 15-year-old James Powell.[8] Schwartz also reports that as a sophomore at Power Memorial, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 19 points and 18 rebounds as the team went undefeated.[9] The NBA.com legends profile notes that Abdul-Jabbar's strict physical-fitness regimen was years ahead of its time in the NBA.[10] The ESPN article by Adande reports that Abdul-Jabbar learned the hook shot in fifth grade because it was "the only shot I could shoot that didn't get smashed back in my face"[11]
Adande also states that Milwaukee Bucks announcer Eddie Doucette gave the skyhook its name during Abdul-Jabbar's early pro years.[11]
References
- Wikipedia, "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Bio", NBA.com; "NBA Legends: Profiling the league's greatest players", NBA.com; "Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience", Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 5 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; "The Game's Greatest Giants Ever", ESPN, March 6, 2007; "25 Greatest Players in College Basketball", ESPN, March 8, 2008; "All-Time #NBArank: Kareem No. 2", ESPN, February 10, 2016; Raymond, "Bruce Lee's Game Of Death: Why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Really Cameoed", Screen Rant, March 20, 2021; "Surely, we're serious: 'Airplane!' stars back in cockpit", TODAY.com, 2013-09-20; "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar named U.S. global cultural ambassador", Los Angeles Times, January 19, 2012; "President Obama Names Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Fre en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "10 memories top his all-time list of great moments", Des Moines Sunday Register, April 30, 1989, p. 13D; Schwartz, "Kareem just kept on winning", ESPN (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR", July 6, 2015; "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography and Interview", American Academy of Achievement (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Bio", NBA.com; "Legends profile: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar", NBA.com, September 13, 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Bio", NBA.com; "All-Time #NBArank: Kareem No. 2", ESPN, February 10, 2016; Corvo, "LeBron James passes fellow Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most points in NBA history", ClutchPoints, February 7, 2023; "Watch: Kareem passes basketball to LeBron after breaking record", RSN, February 8, 2023; Botkin, "LeBron James passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become NBA's all-time leading scorer", CBS Sports, February 8, 2023; Windhorst, "LeBron's 38,390-point scoring record a triumph in longevity of mind, body", ESPN, Feb en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "NCAA Men's Basketball Records", NCAA; "Alcindor The Awesome", March 1967, p. 91–97; "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar"; Schwartz, "Kareem just kept on winning", ESPN; Schwartz, "Kareem just kept on winning", ESPN; "Lew's Still Loose", April 14, 1967; Smith, "The reign of Lew Alcindor in the age of revolt", Andscape, March 30, 2018; Schwartz, "Kareem just kept on winning", ESPN; "Great athletes: Basketball", Salem Press, 2010, p. 1–4; "Lew's Still Loose", April 14, 1967; "Great athletes: Basketball", Salem Press, 2010, p. 1–4; Smith, "The reign en.wikipedia.org
- Smith, "The reign of Lew Alcindor in the age of revolt", Andscape, March 30, 2018. facts only, no text reused. andscape.com
- Schwartz, "Kareem just kept on winning", ESPN. facts only, no text reused. espn.com
- "Legends profile: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar", NBA.com, September 13, 2021. facts only, no text reused. nba.com
- Adande, "Secrets of the Skyhook", ESPN. facts only, no text reused. espn.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Notable Figures
Elsewhere in Historical Figures
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced