Watch - Pat Riley breaks down Showtime Lakers iconic plays featuring Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Pat Riley, Magic Johnson and the LA Lakers always had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to bail them out of trouble. The six-time MVP had a shot that was nearly unstoppable, a handy arsenal to have in crucial moments of a game.
Riley once explained how he sets up a specific play for Abdul-Jabbar to score an important basket:
“Kareem’s [Abdul-Jabbar] skyhook is to me synonymous with the cruise missile. … When we get in dire straits, you’ll see Earvin Johnson or myself do one thing and that is to put the fist in the air. When we put the fist in the air, that ball goes down to the No. 5 [center]."
He continued:
“We isolate him down in the position that he’s now owned for the past 20 years. … Kareem has the ability to operate here [post]. What we do like to see is him coming across the lane for the most incredible, unique shot in the history of the NBA, the skyhook."
The skyhook is perhaps the most lethal move in the history of the NBA. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar used it for the majority of his then-record 38,387 career points. “Cap’s” reliance on his go-to move was simply staggering. Opponents knew how he was going to attempt it but were almost always helpless to stop it.
What made the skyhook so difficult to stop was Abdul-Jabbar’s size, length and skills. He could hoist it up over most defenders and he could do it anywhere in the painted area. Some of his hooks from the baseline were just so remarkable that even opponents could only shake their heads in disbelief.
When he’s forced to the baseline by opposing defenses, he could still flip up the shot without the help of the backboard. Some defenders could only look at the ball, desperately hoping it would not go through the basket.
Pat Riley had this to say in an interview with ESPN about how dependent the LA Lakers were on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:
“We don't win championships without the greatest player in the history of the game, who had the greatest weapon in the history of the game. The skyhook was unstoppable. Last minute of the game, it's going to one guy. Kareem was the guy, and he'll always be the guy."
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhook is dead
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar used the skyhook to help him win six championships, six MVPs, 19 All-Star selections and many more. It was lethal, effective, nearly unstoppable and has been dead since “Cap” retired.
Abdul-Jabbar gave an explanation why his shot has never been consistently replicated:
(:31 mark)
“The reason young kids don’t learn the skyhook is everyone is so enamored with the three-point shot. So they don’t want two points, they don’t want to work with their back to the basket.”
The Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, one of the premier shooting bigs in the NBA, admitted that no one taught me the skyhook.
Pat Riley would have been happy to see one of today’s teams run the “fist up” to isolate a low-post scorer. Alas, it wouldn’t likely end with a skyhook to complete the play.
Also read: Whose record did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar break to become NBA's all-time leading points scorer?