Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born April 16, 1947) was a successful collegiate and professional basketball player. Born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor (byname Lew Alcindor) in New York City, he was a center who grew to seven feet 3 inches (2.18 m) tall. He played for UCLA from 1967 - 1969. During his time on the team, UCLA lost only 2 games. He was the number 1 1969 NBA draft pick. After graduating from UCLA, he played for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. While at UCLA Abdul-Jabbar converted to Islam. He took his Arabic name in 1971.

Abdul-Jabbar was famous for his sky hook shot, which was notoriously hard to defend against. He was also notable for his physical fitness regime.

Statistics

• Games Played - 1560 (2nd Highest in NBA history)
• Field Goal % - 55.9 (8th Highest)
• Free Throw % - 72.1
• 3-Point % - 5.6
• Rebounds - 17,440 (3rd Highest)
• Rebounds per Game - 11.2 (25th Highest)
• Assists - 5660 (29th Highest)
• Assist per Game - 3.6
• Steals - 1160
• Steals per Game -
• Blocks - 3189 (Highest)
• Blocks per Game - 2.57
• Points - 38,387 (Highest)
• Points per Game - 24.6 (12th Highest)

Honors

• College Player of the Year (1967, 1969)
• Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1995)
• NCAA champion (1967, 1968, 1969)
• NCAA Player of the Tournament (1967, 1968, 1969)
• NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
• NBA MVP (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980) (a record 6 times)
• NBA Final MVP (1971, 1985)
• Rookie of the Year (1970)
• One of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996)

Playing for the Lakers allowed Jabbar to try his hand at acting: In 1980, he participated as the co-pilot in the movie Airplane