Back Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Afrikaans Kareem Abdul-Jabbar AN كريم عبد الجبار Arabic كريم عبد الجبار ARZ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar AST Kərim Əbdül-Cabbar Azerbaijani کریم عبدالجبار AZB Кәрим Абдул-Джаббар Bashkir Kaeerem Abdul-Jabbar BCL Карым Абдул-Джабар BE-X-OLD
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (/kəˈriːm æbˈduːl dʒəˈbɑːr/ kə-REEM ab-DOOL jə-BAR; born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. (/ælˈsɪndər/ al-SIN-dər); April 16, 1947) is an American former basketball player. He played professionally for 20 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins as a center. Abdul-Jabbar won a record six NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards. He was a 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA Team member, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection. He was a member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, and was twice voted the NBA Finals MVP. He was named to three NBA anniversary teams (35th, 50th, and 75th).[1] Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time,[2][3][4] he has been called the greatest basketball player of all time by many of his contemporaries such as Pat Riley, Isiah Thomas, and Julius Erving.[5][6][7] Abdul-Jabbar broke the NBA's career scoring record in 1984, and held it until LeBron James surpassed him in 2023.
Abdul-Jabbar was known as Lew Alcindor when he played at parochial high school Power Memorial in New York City, where he led their team to 71 consecutive wins. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national championships under head coach John Wooden.[8] Alcindor was a record three-time most outstanding player of the NCAA tournament. Drafted with the first overall pick by the one-season-old Milwaukee Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft, he spent six seasons with the team. After leading the Bucks to their first NBA championship at age 24 in 1971, he took the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Using his trademark skyhook shot, he established himself as one of the league's top scorers. In 1975, he was traded to the Lakers, with whom he played the final 14 seasons of his career, during which time the team won five NBA championships. Abdul-Jabbar's contributions were a key component in the Showtime era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career, his teams reached the playoffs 18 times and got past the first round 14 times; his teams reached the NBA Finals ten times.[1][9]
At the time of his retirement at age 42 in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's regular season career leader in points (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes (57,446), field goals made (15,837), field goal attempts (28,307), blocked shots (3,189), defensive rebounds (9,394), and personal fouls (4,657). He remains the all-time leader in minutes played and field goals made. He ranks second in career points and field goal attempts, and is third all-time in both total rebounds (17,440) and blocked shots.[10] ESPN named him the greatest center of all time in 2007,[2] the greatest player in college basketball history in 2008,[11] and the second best player in NBA history (behind Michael Jordan) in 2016.[4] Abdul-Jabbar has also been an actor, a basketball coach, a best-selling author,[12][13] and a martial artist, having trained in Jeet Kune Do under Bruce Lee and appeared in his film Game of Death (1972).[14] In 2012, Abdul-Jabbar was selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a U.S. global cultural ambassador.[15] In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[16]
- ^ a b "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Bio". NBA.com. Archived from the original on January 19, 2016.
- ^ a b "The Game's Greatest Giants Ever". ESPN. March 6, 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
- ^ Aikins, Mike (December 27, 2010). "The Greatest Player in NBA History: Why Kareem Abdul-Jabbal Deserves the Title". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ a b "All-Time #NBArank: Kareem No. 2". ESPN. February 10, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
- ^ Mitchell, Fred (March 23, 2012). "NBA's best all-time player? You be the judge". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ Dilbeck, Steve (April 1, 2013). "The growing pains for seven-footer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar". The National. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ "Julius Erving interview". Grantland. December 20, 2013. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2014 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography and Interview". Achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
- ^ "Legends profile: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar". NBA.com. September 13, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
brwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "25 Greatest Players in College Basketball". ESPN. March 8, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ^ "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar". IMDb.cm. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ "Books by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar". Amazon.com. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Raymond 2021was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar named U.S. global cultural ambassador". Los Angeles Times. January 19, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ "President Obama Names Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom". Whitehouse.gov. November 16, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016 – via National Archives.