Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.[a]; April 16,
1947) is an American former professional basketball player who played
20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the
Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as 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 selection, and
an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. A member of six NBA
championship teams as a player and two more 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.After winning 71 consecutive
basketball games on his high school team in New York City, Alcindor
was recruited by Jerry Norman, the assistant coach of UCLA, where he
played for coach John Wooden on three consecutive national
championship teams and was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA
Tournament. Drafted with the first overall pick by the one-season-old
Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft, Alcindor spent six seasons in
Milwaukee. After leading the Bucks to its 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 and won five additional
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 succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and got
past the first round 14 times; his teams reached the NBA Finals on 10
occasions.At the time of his retirement at age 42 in 1989,
Abdul-Jabbar was 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), career wins (1,074), and personal fouls
(4,657). He remains the all-time leader in points scored, field goals
made, and career wins. He is ranked third all-time in both rebounds
and blocked shots. 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 (behind Michael Jordan). Abdul-Jabbar has also
been an actor, a basketball coach, a best-selling author, and a
martial artist, having trained in Jeet Kune Do under Bruce Lee and
appeared in his film Game of Death (1972). In 2012, Abdul-Jabbar was
selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a U.S. global
cultural ambassador. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him the
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
1947) is an American former professional basketball player who played
20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the
Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as 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 selection, and
an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. A member of six NBA
championship teams as a player and two more 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.After winning 71 consecutive
basketball games on his high school team in New York City, Alcindor
was recruited by Jerry Norman, the assistant coach of UCLA, where he
played for coach John Wooden on three consecutive national
championship teams and was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA
Tournament. Drafted with the first overall pick by the one-season-old
Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft, Alcindor spent six seasons in
Milwaukee. After leading the Bucks to its 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 and won five additional
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 succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and got
past the first round 14 times; his teams reached the NBA Finals on 10
occasions.At the time of his retirement at age 42 in 1989,
Abdul-Jabbar was 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), career wins (1,074), and personal fouls
(4,657). He remains the all-time leader in points scored, field goals
made, and career wins. He is ranked third all-time in both rebounds
and blocked shots. 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 (behind Michael Jordan). Abdul-Jabbar has also
been an actor, a basketball coach, a best-selling author, and a
martial artist, having trained in Jeet Kune Do under Bruce Lee and
appeared in his film Game of Death (1972). In 2012, Abdul-Jabbar was
selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a U.S. global
cultural ambassador. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him the
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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