Kareem+Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

High School: Who we know as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born Ferninand Lewis Alcindor on April of 1947, in New York, New York. Through his high school and college career he was known as Lew Alcindor. He played high school basketball for Power Memorial Academy. In high school he was chosen as an All-American player three times. College:  Lew Alcindor's basketball talents led to a scholarship at UCLA where he won 3 national championships from 1967 to 1969. From 1967 to 1969 Alcindor was named the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. NBA Career: Alcindor joined the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969. He was named Rookie of the Year scoring more than 2,000 points in that season. In Lew's next season he led his team to victory in the 1971 NBA championship and he also changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which means "noble, powerful servant." Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's scoring champion and the NBA's MVP in the 1971-1972 season. He was also the MVP the following year. At 7 feet, 2 inches tall, and only 225 pounds, Kareem could combine his speed and grace on the court with the unblockable sky-hook-shot. Jabbar was sidelined for 16 games in 1974 because of a broken hand and a scratched cornea. Kareem then began wearing proctective goggles in games to prevent further damage to his eye. This became a trademark for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. After making it to the finals in 1974, the Bucks dropped to last place the following year. This made Kareem request for a trade. His request was granted in 1975 and he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Kareem was voted MVP in both his first and second seasons with the Lakers. With Abdul-Jabbar suffering with injuries, the Lakers' next two seasons were not very successful. The Lakers were back on track when they acquired rookie Earvin "Magic" Johnson in 1979. They won the NBA championship in 1980 with Kareem winning his sixth MVP award. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored his 31,420th point on April 5, 1984, setting the record for most career total points; a record that still stands today. In that season the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. The following year the Lakers faced the Celtics again in the finals, but it was a different story with the Lakers coming out on top. This rivalry was tested once again in the 1987 finals, with the Los Angeles Lakers winning again. At age 40, Kareem led his team to another championship in 1988. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played his last season in 1989. After 20 seasons in the NBA, he retired with nine NBA records. After Retirement:

After retiring, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has devoted a lot of his time to writing. His first book was an autobiography titled //Giant Steps//, which was published in 1987. Kareem's second book was about his final season and was titled //Kareem//. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

Abdul-Jabbar announced that he had been diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia in November 2009, which is manageable with medication.

Since being diagnosed, Kareem founded the Skyhook Foundation in 2009, which holds an all-star basketball team of middle school and high school students in partership with the Boys & Girls Clubs' College Bound program. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has also produced a documentary based on his book, //On the Shoulders of Giants//, which features an interview with another NBA Hall-of-Famer, Bill Russell. The film was complete in 2011. --Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at Power Memorial AcademyKareem Abdul-Jabbar at UCLAKareem Abdul-Jabbar in the NBA with the LA Lakers media type="youtube" key="lM6xCirDOKs" height="346" width="462" align="center"

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's top ten plays featuring the unblockable sky-hook-shot. Back to Home Page