Kareem Abdul-Jabbar biography All time great basket ball player.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar biography
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born in New York City in 1947. Abdul-Jabbar, a dominant high school basketball player, was recruited for UCLA and led the Bruins to three national titles.
His dominance in the NBA continued, first for the Milwaukee Bucks and later for the Los Angeles Lakers. Abdul-Jabbar won six titles and six MVP awards and became the league’s top scorer.
He retired in 1989 and is considered one of the greatest players in NBA history. His talent was already celebrated in high school.
Lew Alcindor
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born on April 16, 1947 in New York City as Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. As the only son of the New York police officer Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Sr. and his wife Cora, Alcindor was always the tallest boy in his class.
Known as Lew Alcindor, he stood at the age of nine with an impressive 5’8 “and when he reached the eighth grade, he had grown another full foot and was already able to dive a basketball.
He started sport at a young age. At the Power Memorial Academy, Alcindor put together a high school career that few could match. He set school records for points and rebounds in New York City, while leading his team to astounding 71 straight wins and three straight city championship titles.
In 2000, the National Sports Writers named Alcindors Team “The Best High School Team of the Century”.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar height
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 7’2 “tall.
John Wooden
After graduating in 1965, Alcindor enrolled at the University of California at Los Angeles. There he continued his unprecedented dominance and became the best college game player.
Under the legendary trainer John Wooden, Alcindor led the Bruins to three national championships from 1967 to 1969 and was named the most outstanding player in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) tournament during these years.
Milwaukee Bucks
In the spring of 1969, in their second year of existence, the Milwaukee Bucks selected Alcindor with their first overall win in the NBA design.
Alcindor quickly adjusted to the professional game. He finished second in the league in the ranking and third in the rebound and was named rookie of the year.
He also helped change the fate of his franchise dramatically. After a sad season with 27 victories the year before, the conversion of Bucks with Alcindor improved to 56:26.
The following season, the Bucks made another big leap after adding Future Roberts of the Hall of Fame, Oscar Robertson, to their list. The team ended regular season 66-16 and then rolled through the playoffs, winning the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA final in 1971.
In the same year, Alcindor won its first Most Valuable Player Award, the first of six MVP honors he received during his long career.
Conversion to Islam
Shortly after the end of the 1971 season, Alcindor converted to Islam and adopted the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which translates into “noble, powerful servants”.
In 1974 Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks into the NBA final again, where the team lost to the Boston Celtics.
Los Angeles Lakers
Despite all of his success as a buck on the pitch, Abdul-Jabbar’s life in Milwaukee struggled to find happiness off the pitch.
“Live in Milwaukee?” he said in an early magazine interview. “No, I think you could say that I exist in Milwaukee. I am a soldier who was hired for the service and I will do this service well. Basketball has given me a good life, but this city has nothing to do with it to do my roots. There is no common ground. “
After the 1975 season ended, Abdul-Jabbar requested a trade and asked the Bucks management to send him to New York or Los Angeles. He was eventually sent west to receive a package of players, none of which Milwaukee would deliver nearly what Abdul-Jabbar would give the Lakers.
In the next 15 seasons, Abdul-Jabbar turned Los Angeles into an eternal winner. Beginning with the 1979/80 season when he was paired with rookie point guard Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the dominant center drove the Lakers to five championship titles.
His striking jump shot, the Skyhook, proved to be an unstoppable weapon of attack for Abdul-Jabbar, and the Lakers dominated the championship over the Philadelphia 76er from Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Larry Birds Boston Celtics and Isiah Thomas’ Detroit Pistons.