Captain Skyhook

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (formerly Lew Alcindor) recently turned 65!  I remember Dad taking Miles and me to see Kareem play when the Lakers visited the Hawks.  I got Pat Riley's autograph and, of course, got to see Magic and Kareem take it to the Hawks.

This and other classic Kareem shots are here.

Lew Alcindor had a storied collegiate and professional career.  Freshman could not play in his day, but the freshman squad beat the defending champion varsity squad in a real game on campus.  Beat them by 15 points!  The UCLA Bruins, in effect, were the second best team on their own campus.  In Lew's sophomore, junior and senior seasons he led the Bruins to three consecutive national championships (still a record) and an 88-2 record.

Here's a 15-yr. old Lew Alcindor.  Anthony Davis of the Kentucky Wildcats looks a lot like him.

It's hard to beat this pair: Kareem and Earvin. This duo teamed for five championships and eight championship appearances out of ten from '79-'89. One was The Captain and one was simply Magic. One mastered the skyhook and one orchestrated Showtime. In the mid 80's, on a school night, Dad took me to the Omni in Atlanta when the Lakers came to town. It was a dream come true!

UPDATE 3/24/14

 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, formerly Lew Alcindor.  The greatest scorer in the history of the NBA. 

This is a segment about the legendary UCLA Bruins coach John Wooden.  Interestingly, freshman, during the days when Alcindor was in college, could not play.  They were basically red-shirted, I guess.  However, the story goes that when Alcindor was a freshman at UCLA, the freshman team beat the three-time defending champion Bruins varsity team.  And therefore, the storied Bruins team was actually the second-best on the campus.  Pretty Impressive!  When you study his high school and collegiate careers, and then combine that with his championship, MVP and record-setting NBA career, Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is arguably the greatest single basketball player in history.  In January, my brother and his boys, on their trip to Pasadena, CA, had their photo taken next to Kareem's monument outside Staples Center.  I will try to add it here soon.