Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born named as Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr on April 16, 1947) is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. All through his career, his position on court was a center.
- Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP),
- A record 19-time NBA All-Star,
- A 15-time All-NBA team selection,
- A 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member,
- He has been a member of 6 NBA championship winning teams and two as an assistant coach,
- Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP.
In 1996, he was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. NBA coach Pat Riley and players Isiah Thomas and Julius Erving have called him the greatest basketball player of all time.
Early career
Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr (Now known as Kareem Abdul- Jabbar) was born in New York City, the only child of Cora Lillian, a department store price checker, and Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Sr., a transit police officer and jazz musician. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Power Memorial Academy, a Catholic high school in Manhattan. After winning 71 consecutive basketball games on his high school team in New York City, Lew Alcindor attended college at UCLA, where he played on three consecutive national championship basketball teams and was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA Tournament. Drafted by the one-season-old Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft with the first overall pick, Alcindor spent six seasons in Milwaukee.
Career at Lakers
After winning his first NBA championship in 1971, he changed his name to the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at age 24. Using his trademark "skyhook" shot, he became one of the league's top scorers. In 1975, he was traded from the Bucks to the Lakers, the team he played the last 14 seasons of his career and won five NBA championships with. Abdul-Jabbar's contributions to the team were a key component in the "Showtime" era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career his teams made the playoffs 18 times and past the 1st round in 14 of them; his teams reached the NBA Finals 10 times. Kareem retired in 1989 as the NBA's all-time leader in
-Points scored (38,387),
- Games played (1,560)
- Minutes played (57,446)
-Field goals made (15,837),
-Field goal attempts (28,307),
- Blocked shots (3,189),
-Defensive rebounds (9,394),
- Personal fouls (4,657).
Legacy
He remains the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, and is ranked 3rd all-time in both rebounds and blocks. In 2007 ESPN voted him the greatest center of all time, in 2008 they named him the "greatest player in college basketball history," and in 2016 they named him the second best player in NBA history. Abdul-Jabbar has also been an actor, a basketball coach, and a best-selling author In 2012, he was selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a U.S. global cultural ambassador.
Here is a documentary on his career
- Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP),
- A record 19-time NBA All-Star,
- A 15-time All-NBA team selection,
- A 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member,
- He has been a member of 6 NBA championship winning teams and two as an assistant coach,
- Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP.
In 1996, he was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. NBA coach Pat Riley and players Isiah Thomas and Julius Erving have called him the greatest basketball player of all time.
Early career
Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr (Now known as Kareem Abdul- Jabbar) was born in New York City, the only child of Cora Lillian, a department store price checker, and Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Sr., a transit police officer and jazz musician. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Power Memorial Academy, a Catholic high school in Manhattan. After winning 71 consecutive basketball games on his high school team in New York City, Lew Alcindor attended college at UCLA, where he played on three consecutive national championship basketball teams and was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA Tournament. Drafted by the one-season-old Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft with the first overall pick, Alcindor spent six seasons in Milwaukee.
Career at Lakers
After winning his first NBA championship in 1971, he changed his name to the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at age 24. Using his trademark "skyhook" shot, he became one of the league's top scorers. In 1975, he was traded from the Bucks to the Lakers, the team he played the last 14 seasons of his career and won five NBA championships with. Abdul-Jabbar's contributions to the team were a key component in the "Showtime" era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career his teams made the playoffs 18 times and past the 1st round in 14 of them; his teams reached the NBA Finals 10 times. Kareem retired in 1989 as the NBA's all-time leader in
-Points scored (38,387),
- Games played (1,560)
- Minutes played (57,446)
-Field goals made (15,837),
-Field goal attempts (28,307),
- Blocked shots (3,189),
-Defensive rebounds (9,394),
- Personal fouls (4,657).
Legacy
He remains the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, and is ranked 3rd all-time in both rebounds and blocks. In 2007 ESPN voted him the greatest center of all time, in 2008 they named him the "greatest player in college basketball history," and in 2016 they named him the second best player in NBA history. Abdul-Jabbar has also been an actor, a basketball coach, and a best-selling author In 2012, he was selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a U.S. global cultural ambassador.
Here is a documentary on his career