Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | America’s Unloved One

April 5, 1984 remains an exceptional – yet little known – date in the career of the prodigious Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. That year, he won nothing. Just a new citation in the All-NBA First Team. The main thing is elsewhere. At the end of the season, the Lakers’ pivot broke Wilt Chamberlain’s career scoring record in a game against Utah. Record that was then established at 31 419 units. Sublime moment for the League.

For five seasons, the Lakers’ interior will continue to improve the mark. In 1989, the date of the end, it is 38 387 points. Karl Malone and Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have exceeded in turn, during their careers, Chamberlain but the bar passed by Abdul-Jabbar remained inviolate. But it seems less untouchable since LeBron James could cross it if he averages 15.5 points until the end of next season.

Born Lew Alcindor

Two decades long between Milwaukee and Los Angeles, Jabbar’s career began in Harlem. Lew (who converted to Islam in 1971) was born in New York on April 16, 1947, two years after the end of World War II. An only son, ultra-protected by his mother but severely shaken by a very strict father. The young Alcindor throws himself into basketball to escape as quickly as possible from the family environment. Spotted by John Wooden’s special envoys, he went to the West Coast of the United States and landed on the UCLA campus. With the Bruins, he won three NCAA titles in 1967, 68 and 69. Twice player of the year, Alcindor is on the table of all the scouts of the country.

The Bucks selected him 1st overall in the 1969 draft. At the time, Milwaukee was a franchise with only two years of experience. When the giant of 2.18 m arrives in Wisconsin, the big men begin to desert the League (Bill Russell has just tarpaulin in Boston) or become old, like Wilt Chamberlain who approaches 35 years. The door of success opens wide for the newcomer of the Bucks who starts with a title of Rookie of the Year, with an average of 28.8 points and 14.5 rebounds.

Champion in his second year

During the summer of 1970, Milwaukee strengthens with Oscar Robertson and the young Lucius Allen. The effect is immediate. With Alcindor, who won his first MVP award of the season, Bob Dandridge, Jon McGlocklin and Greg Smith, the Bucks were crowned champions against the Baltimore Bullets (4-0). Kareem has plenty of time to look forward to his first ring. He will have to wait nine years before winning a new one! He is certainly crowned four times MVP of the regular season (1972, 74, 76, 77) but it is only with the Lakers showtime version that he will know again the consecration.

The divorce with Milwaukee occurred in the summer of 1975. Lew Alcindor, who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, caused confusion among Bucks fans. They do not understand his religious convictions. People question his culture, his opinions, his aspirations. Kareem claims a trade to a big city. Either Los Angeles or New York. There, tolerance and openness are greater, without being exceptional either. A deal is concluded with the Lakers. But it is a bruised man who sets foot on the Pacific Coast. Abdul-Jabbar lost a house and, more importantly, his childhood memories in a fire of unexplained origin. It will take a long, long time to get a smile from this extraordinary athlete who will win six NBA rings (five with Magic Johnson’s Lakers), six regular season MVP titles and two Finals MVP trophies (in 1971 and ’85), to name only the most important.

The antithesis of Magic Johnson

The image, however, will remain blurred. At the height of his glory with the Angelinos, Abdul-Jabbar defined himself as “the meanest of the meanest guys. That’s enough to dissuade even the boldest of reporters from interviewing him. Between Magic Johnson’s Colgate smile and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s frozen mask, we quickly made our choice. To Magic the light and the adoration, to Kareem the shadow and the incomprehension. Pat Riley, who coached Abdul-Jabbar for eight seasons in Los Angeles, refuses to judge this exceptional player who literally put a figure in the basketball textbooks, the “skyhook” (rotation of the body towards the circle and winding of the ball that ends its perfect curve in the circle).

“Why judge? When a man has broken records, won titles, endured so much criticism, so much responsibility, why still judge him at all costs? He is one of the greatest players of all time.”

During his final 10 years in the league, Abdul-Jabbar won nine division titles. He was one of the first to enjoy the showtime orchestrated by Magic when he arrived in 1979. During the 1980 NBA Finals against the Sixers, the pivot of L.A. is already 33 years old. If he wins his sixth and last title of MVP of the season (24.8 pts and 10.8 rbds), he owes his second championship ring to the dashing rookie. Injured in Game 5, Abdul-Jabbar could not take his place for the next game. Magic took over and made one of the best performances of all time (42 pts, 15 rbds, 7 pds and 3 ints). Injury without consequence for the future of a player that Earvin Johnson describes as “the most beautiful athlete of all sports”.

He retires at 42 years old

How to explain this longevity that will lead Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to play until 42 years? It is known that in recent years, he turned to yoga and martial arts, while meditation allowed him to manage stress before games. The 1985 Final against the Celtics is a perfect example of how Kareem approached his games at that time. Ridiculed by Robert Parish in Game 1, known as the “Memorial Day Massacre” (the Lakers took a 148-114 beating), Abdul-Jabbar had to settle for 12 points and 3 rebounds.

During the two days of break that precede the Game 2, he follows a specific preparation, at the same time of the games, by embarking on a real marathon focused on the work of an interior player. In this Game 2, Parish doesn’t know where he lives anymore: Abdul-Jabbar plants 30 points on him, catches 17 rebounds, delivers 8 assists and counters three times. Victory of the Lakers 109-102. Needless to say, the pivot of L.A. is decisive not only on this game but also on the series, won 4-2 by the Californians. The title of MVP is for him. Moreover, it is always this 1985 Final that he puts forward. A final won at the Boston Garden, which had never happened in his career. The year before, the Celtics had sent the Lakers back to school, as many other times under the reign of Bill Russell.

Read: Kareem-Abdul Jabbar answers to Basket USA readers

While he won two more NBA titles in 1987 and 1988, Abdul-Jabbar was not fooled when he retired. American society had changed. It no longer looked at him as a curious beast. But the distrust of this definitive player was still there. “Since I retired, everyone sees me as a venerable institution. Things change…” he laughs today. Without ever really leaving the shadows.

We saw him as an assistant coach with the Clippers for a few months in 2000 (working on the Michael Olowokandi case…) then as head coach of Oklahoma, a minor league team, in 2002. Back to the Lakers, he was in charge of coaching the pivots. He worked with Kwame Brown, he does the same with Andrew Bynum. But he was rarely seen talking with Phil Jackson or his assistants… Few or no interviews, as always. A real lone wolf even if eight years ago, he had accepted to answer to the readers of Basket USA!

During a transit through Houston Airport a few years ago, we saw Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the basketball player with all kinds of titles, buying an ice cream like an ordinary traveler before taking a flight to Los Angeles. Alone with his gear, like a globetrotter. And obviously without being bothered by anyone. A strange sequence to say the least. As if this exceptional player reflected the image of the common man. There will always be a blur between Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and America, even if today an award bears his name: the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award. It distinguishes the player who distinguishes himself by his actions for social justice, and he gave his trophy to Carmelo Anthony this season.

MVP Awards: 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980
Number of NBA games: 1,560
Number of career points: 38,387