Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a former professional NBA player, author, and social justice activist. Born as Lewis “Lew” Alcindor in 1947 in Harlem, New York, he was raised in Manhattan, where he attended Power Memorial Catholic School. As an undergraduate, he attended the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) as a college athlete. While he was in college, he played for UCLA’s freshman and varsity teams, winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship game three years in a row. His coach, John Wooden, was a significant personal and professional influence in Abdul-Jabbar’s life, and he continued to be his close friend for decades afterward. During this period of his life, Abdul-Jabbar converted to Islam, which prompted his name change from Lew Alcindor to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Even as a college player, Abdul-Jabbar’s significant talent was already generating attention in the press, and he gained a fan following. Upon his graduation from college in 1969, he signed with the newly established NBA team, the Milwaukee Bucks. He soon helped the team win the 1971 NBA Finals, the highest prize in the NBA, despite the team only being three years old. In 1975, Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and he won five more NBA championships with that team over his 14-season career with them. He retired at the age of 42 in 1989, but to this day, he is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Over the course of his long athletic career, he won six NBA championships and six Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards. By his retirement, he had set numerous records, including winning the most MVP awards and scoring over 38,000 points, making him one of the NBA’s leading scorers (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.” Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. Harvard University.)

While Abdul-Jabbar is primarily known for his incredible basketball career, he has also made significant contributions to social justice causes. As a college student, Abdul-Jabbar became politically active, supporting Muhammad Ali in his resistance to the draft, demonstrating in support of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and teaching in basketball clinics for Black youth in New York during his summer breaks. His commitment to activism has continued throughout his life: In 2009, he established his own nonprofit, The Skyhook Foundation, to give underprivileged children opportunities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. He is also a prolific author. In addition to this memoir, Abdul-Jabbar has written 16 other books that mostly focus on Black history, such as the Harlem Renaissance and Black intellectuals and inventors. For his efforts, Abdul-Jabbar has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, the Rosa Parks Memorial Award, and Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, among many other awards and honorary degrees (“About the Founder.” The Skyhook Foundation.)