The Kareem of the Crop (Part 2)
Corneal erosion syndrome, is a condition in which the infected person’s eyes begin to dry out and stop producing moisture (this syndrome cost Abdul-Jabbar a game in the 1986-1987 seasons). 1976-1977, was another good season for
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He led the Lakers to the best record NBA had ever seen and won his fifth MVP award. In 1979, the Lakers were able to draft Earvin “Magic” Johnson. This new addition to the team, allowed the Lakers to be one of the most feared team of
the 80’s (They won 5 NBA championships). The 70’s was overall, a good decade for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He won his 6th MVP in 1980, and 4 more All-NBA First Team designations, two All-Defense First team designations, the 1985 Finals MVP, just to name
a few achievements. After 20 years of playing professional Basketball, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar told the world that he wanted to retire. He was such a good player that on his last tour, he received standing ovations at all games, and every player who participated
in his farewell game, wore his “trademark” goggles and tried to perform his signature move (the skyhook) at least once. He also received gifts such as a Yacht, and an Afghan rug during his final season. By the time Kareem Abdul Jabbar retired, he had accomplished
setting the record for most games played by a single player (this record was later beaten by Robert Parish).
After his fruitful career in the NBA, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became interested in coaching. He had thought that the influence he had on the NBA would land him a job as a coach easily, but that was not the case. His personality had
given him a reputation of being self absorbed and dark. He would not speak to the press, which gave the impression that he did not like them very much. Kareem would shun away reporters who seemed to be too enthusiastic, and he also refused to stop reading
newspapers, even during interviews! Magic Johnson claims that when he was a water boy, he went up to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for an autograph, only to be brushed away by the star. Since 1995, Abdul-Jabbar managed to maintain a low level assistant and scouting
job in the NBA (he has been the assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers since 2005). He also worked as a scout for the New York Knicks until 2005.
Like most sports players, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar didn’t want to be remembered as someone who only played Basketball. Thus, while playing for the Lakers, the Basketball superstar tried his luck in the field of entertainment, more specifically,
acting. He made his debut on the big screen in Bruce Lee’s film “Game of Death” in which he played a character that has to fight Bruce Lee. In the special version of the film, the two fight for a good half an hour in an action sequence. In 1980, Kareem played
Roger Murdock, a co-pilot, in the epic hilarious comedy, Airplane. The Basketball player has also had many television appearances (often as himself), such as “Full House”, “Everybody Loves Raymond”, “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”, and Scrubs to name just a
few. Kareem appeared as a guest star in many other movies as well. He made appearances in movies like “BASEketball”, and “Vernon John”, as well as appearing on The Colbert Report. On Al-Jazeera English, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar told the world that he wanted to
be remembered as someone who was not just a player, but someone with many talents.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was in the center position and is still known as one of the world best players in history. He has many titles under his belt, such as the “All-time leading NBA scorer”, he collected 6 titles, 6 regular season
MVP’s and 2 Finals MVP. He was an unstoppable monster during offence. He was mostly known for his artistic execution of his plays, and his ever famous “Skyhook”, a shot which he developed while playing in high school. When on the field, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
radiated leadership qualities. His friends and fellow team-mates coined him the nickname “captain”. He was also named as one of the greatest players of all time in 1996. A title well deserved by someone so skilled and talented. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is truly
one of the best, and remains as one, in his profession.
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