Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
By: Gavin Freckman
Early year synopsis.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr in his early years was born in New york, New york. He was the only child to Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Sr and his wife Cora Alcindor. Alcindor was a remarkable child from the start and was noticed by people at a early age, people saw the child for his heigh. Standing an astonishing 5'8 at the age of 9. He grew another foot by the eighth grade and could dunk a ball. In his highschool years he earned many achievements such as, most rebounds and points in his career. He lead his team to 71 straight wins and 3 city titles. After graduating from his high school he went on to play at the University of California Los Angeles, he played there under the coach John Wooden he once again led his team to national title from 1967 to 1969. He got MVP of the league all 3 years.
Pro Years
In Alcindor's Pro years he was a successful basketball player and person. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969. Alcindor lead the bucks to a turn around season from a previous 27 win season to a season of 56-26, this was the start of the Bucks return. The next year 1971 the bucks improved to an astonishing 66-16 and even made it to the playoffs and beat the Baltimore bullets in the finals. The year he received his first of 6 MVP's of his 20 year career. After the season ended Alcindor converted to Islam and changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which in means Noble, Powerful Servant. He then again lead the Bucks to the NBA finals in 1974 but came up short and lost to the Boston Celtics. After that season Abdul-Jabbar while great on the court, had a hard time to cope with being in a small big city, he went up to his manager and demanded he be drafted to New York or Los Angeles. He agreed to and traded Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers for a handful of players. Here Abdul-Jabbar was in his prime, being paired with legends such as Magic Johnson and the 1979-80 Lakers. Not only did he beat legends of the time such as Larry Bird and Julius Erving, he was also an actor. He had roles in films most notable Bruce Lee's game of death playing Hakim. And also in the comedy "Airplane!". Abdul-Jabbar maintained being an athlete with a acting career
Abdul's signature skyhook shot
Erving "magic" Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar side by side
Kareem and Bruce Lee in game of death
significance and cultural impact.
Kareem has done things since his career that have put him in a spot of importance, most notably when he was appointed as the global cultural ambassador in 2012, He now goes around and speaks out about education, social and racial tolerance, and reasons why sports is empowerment. He has also done a number on African-American history projects. with his documentary "on the shoulders of giants". And launched the skyhook foundation which gave children the opportunity of education and sports.