Why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar should be talked about when we talk about the NBA’s GOAT?
Lew Alcindor, more commonly known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was born on April 16, 1947, in New York City, New York. He attended Power Memorial High School in Manhattan, New York. He was 5’8" at 9 years old, and was 6’8" at 8th grade. He could already dunk on a 10 ft regulation basketball goal. He won 3 straight New York Catholic championships, national boy’s high school basketball championship in his junior year, and the runner-up his senior year. When he went to UCLA, he won Player of the Year twice, named first team All-American three times, and won three national championships. He was also named the first Naismith Player of the Year.
His college career was incredible, but his NBA career was even better. He was drafted first overall (obviously) by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969. While in Milwaukee, he averaged 30.4 points, 15.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game. When they started to keep track of steals and blocks, he averaged 1.2 steals and 3.4 blocks per game in Milwaukee. He won Rookie of the Year, 3 Most Valuable Player awards, 1 NBA Championship, 1 Finals MVP award, was a 5 time All-Star, made the All-NBA First Team 4 times, made the All-NBA Second Team once, and was on the All-Defensive First and Second Team twice. That’s only the beginning. When he teamed up with Earvin “Magic” Johnson, they started winning championship after championship. They became the “Showtime Lakers”. They continued the intense rivalry with the Boston Celtics. In the 80’s, either the Lakers or Celtics were in all 10 of the NBA Finals (3 of them against each other). The Lakers were a dominant force in the late 70’s and 80’s, and Kareem Abduul-Jabbar was a big part of it. He averaged 22.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.5 steals, and 2.7 blocks per game. He wasn’t the rebounding machine he was in Milwaukee, but he was still really good both offensively and defensively. With the Lakers, he won 5 more NBA Championships, won the Most Valuable Player award 3 more times, won another Finals MVP award, was a 14 time All-Star, made the All-NBA First Team 5 more times, made the All-NBA Second Team 4 more times, and made the All-Defensive First Team 3 more times and the Second Team 2 more times.
In his 20 year career, that makes him a 6 time NBA champion, 6 time MVP winner, won 2 Finals MVPs, a 19 time All-Star, 10 times on the All-NBA First Team and 5 times on the Second Team, and 5 times on the All-Defensive First Team and 6 times on the Second Team. He is first in career total points with 38,387 points, he is first in career field goals made with 15,837, he is third in career rebounds with 17,440, he is third in career blocks with 3,189, he is first in minutes played with 57,446 minutes played, he is 93rd in steals with 1,160, and he is 41st in assists with 5,660. That is a very accomplished NBA career. He even won 2 more championships as the assistant head coach with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010. In total, he has been a part of 8 of the 16 championship teams. That’s half of them, and this is one guy. His number (the number 33) was retired by UCLA, the Lakers, and the Bucks in his honor. This is great and all, but what kinda grinds my gears is that he isn’t even thought of when talking about the greatest player of all time, or the GOAT. When people are talking about the greatest player of all time, its always Michael Jordan or LeBron James, and Kareem is always left for the third spot. Am I saying that Kareem is the best player of all time, no, I think Michael Jordan is, but I am saying is we shouldn’t dismiss his career when talking about the GOAT.
