Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem << `ahb` dool juh BAHR, kuh REEM >> (1947-…), became one of the greatest centers in basketball history. Standing 7 feet 2 inches (218 centimeters) tall, he combined his height advantage with quick, graceful movements, fine shooting, and excellent teamwork. He was especially known for a sweeping hook shot that became known as the “sky hook.”
Abdul-Jabbar played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1969 until his retirement at the end of the 1988-1989 season. During his professional career, he scored 38,387 regular-season points. His career scoring total stood as a record until LeBron James surpassed it in 2023. Abdul-Jabbar played in 1,560 regular-season games over 20 seasons. He led the NBA in scoring in the 1970-1971 and 1971-1972 seasons. He was named the league’s Most Valuable Player six times.
During his college career, Abdul-Jabbar led UCLA to national championships in 1967, 1968, and 1969. After graduation, he joined the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA. In 1975, he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, finishing his career with that team.
Abdul-Jabbar was born on April 16, 1947, in New York City. His given and family name was Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. He received the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he adopted the Muslim religion in 1968. His name was legally changed to Abdul-Jabbar in 1971.
Abdul-Jabbar has written or co-written a number of books, including the autobiographies Giant Steps (1987); Kareem (1990); Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship on and off the Court (2017); and Becoming Kareem: Growing Up on and off the Court (2017), written with Raymond Obstfeld. His other books include Black Profiles in Courage (2000), historical portraits of notable Black men and women; Brothers in Arms (2004), an account of the first all-Black armored unit to fight in World War II (1939-1945); and On the Shoulders of Giants (2007), a personal account of African American history in the early 1900’s.
He has written two children’s books, both with Obstfeld, What Color Is My World? The Lost History of African-American Inventors (2012) and Sasquatch in the Paint (2013). Together with Anna Waterhouse, Abdul-Jabbar began a series of detective novels about Mycroft Holmes, the older brother of the British detective Sherlock Holmes. The series began with Mycroft Holmes (2015). Mycroft is also the main character in Mycroft Holmes and the Apocalypse Handbook (2017), a graphic novel written with Obstfeld and illustrated by John Cassara.
