How long was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the NBA and how many points did he average in his last season?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, previously the all-time scoring leader, played in the NBA for 20 seasons. He played until he was 42 years old and averaged 10.1 points in 74 games in his last year in the NBA.
“Cap” is often an overlooked name in the GOAT conversation, but his resume speaks for itself. He is a six-time NBA champ, six-time MVP, two-time Finals MVP and a 19-time All-Star and 11-time All-Defensive team selection. Plus, he won three NCAA championships at UCLA, and that could have been four, but freshmen were not allowed to play varsity basketball when he played in college.
Kareem held the scoring record for 39 years.
Salute to one of the greatest to ever play the game 🙌 https://t.co/nO6LITBdJw
Abdul-Jabbar came into the NBA as a gangly center, who was perhaps the greatest college basketball player ever, by the name of Lew Alcindor. The Milwaukee Bucks drafted him as the first pick in 1969.
Alcindor was so good that both the NBA and the American Basketball Association played a heated tug-of-war for his services. The New York Nets, an ABA team, thought they could land the coveted player as he is from New York City.
The UCLA superstar chose the Bucks, who offered him $1.4 million, which was countered by the Nets’ $3.25 million offer. He didn’t want to encourage the bidding war, as he didn’t want to feel like a “flesh peddler.” The Bucks made a franchise-changing decision.
Alcindor won Rookie of the Year in his debut season and carried Milwaukee to a 56-26 record. He averaged 28.8 points, second in the league, and 14.5 rebounds, third-best among all players.
The following season, he led the third-year Milwaukee Bucks to the championship in a sweep over the Baltimore Bullets. He won the NBA Finals MVP and was unquestionably the best player in the league.
In 1971, he went by his Muslim name as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the legendary basketball player fans most remember him for.
Abdul-Jabbar requested a trade in 1975 to New York or to Los Angeles. Milwaukee didn’t want him to be in the same conference, so he was shipped to Hollywood. Five years later, the Bucks drafted Magic Johnson to form a tag-team partnership with “Cap” and forged the backbone of the Showtime Lakers.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989 with 38,387 points. The record stood for 38 years before it was shattered by LeBron James on Tuesday night.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar used his signature skyhook to score most of his points
Besides the goggles, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is most recognizable for his skyhook. It’s a shot that’s mainly responsible for the ton of points he has accumulated in his Hall of Fame career.
Here’s the shot by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to break Wilt Chamberlain’s record 39 years ago in 1984.
https://t.co/o6yidgrQAr
On April 5, 1984, he reached 31,422 points to break Wilt Chamberlain’s then-scoring record. He grabbed the mark with his trademark hook shot over the Utah Jazz’s 7-foot-4 center, Michael Eaton.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was so dominant in college that the dunk was banned. With the slam being prohibited, he learned to utilize his skyhook more, which became his inimitable signature shot.
LeBron James, before breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record, called it the most unguardable shot or weapon created in basketball. The late Bill Russell asserted it was a shot no one had a chance of stopping in 20 years.
Over the years, “Cap” also managed to tweak his hook shot. He could even use it with a left hand to throw off defenders. It was a shot that was elegant, beautiful and terrifying to opponents.