Biography for
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

16 April 1947, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name

Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor

Nickname

Lew
Known as "The Big 'A'" before his name change.

Height

7' 2" (2.18 m)

Mini Biography

Legendary US NBA basketball player with the Milwaukee Bucks (1969-1975) and the Los Angeles Lakers (1975-1989), the 7' 2" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Lew Alcindor) has made numerous guest appearances on US TV shows including "Man from Atlantis" (1977), "21 Jump Street" (1987), "Tales from the Darkside" (1983) and "Scrubs" (2001).

However, he's best known to film audiences for two very different film roles. Firstly, as a very tall adversary to Bruce Lee during a rather unique fight sequence in Lee's final film The Game of Death (1978), and then Kareem played an airline pilot with a remarkable similarity to "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar" in the hilarious Airplane! (1980).

IMDb Mini Biography By: firehouse44@hotmail.com

Spouse

Janice Habiba' Brown'

(28 May 1971 - 1978) (divorced) 4 children

Trade Mark

Wears a #33 on his basketball jersey

Shooting the "sky-hook" and wearing goggles when he played

Trivia

B.A. from U.C.L.A. [1969]

NBA's all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points.

Graduate of Power Memorial High School, New York City.

Enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

Played for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Milwaukee Bucks (1969-1970 thru 1974-1975) and Los Angeles Lakers (1975-1976 thru 1988-1989).

Studied Jeet Kune Do Martial arts under Bruce Lee.

Only college player to win three Player of the Year awards.

Holds the NBA record for Most Valuable Player awards with six.

Began wearing goggles on the court due to corneal erosion syndrome, a condition where the eye cornea doesn't produce moisture and begins to dry out.

The NCAA outlawed the dunk shot because of his dominance at center for UCLA.

Assistant coach for the NBA Los Angeles Clippers, (2000).

Holds NBA career records for most minutes (57,446), most points (38,387), most field goals made (15,837) and most field goals attempted (28,307). First player in NBA history to play 20 seasons. Led NBA in scoring (1971-1931.7 ppg, 1972-1934.8 ppg). Led NBA in rebounding (1976-1916.9 rpg). Led NBA in blocked shots (1975, 1976, 1979, 1980). NBA MVP (1971-1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980). NBA Rookie of the Year (1970). All NBA First Team (1971-1974, 1976-1977, 1980-1981, 1984, 1986). NBA All-Defensive First Team (1974-1975, 1979-1981). NBA Finals MVP (1971, 1985).

NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team (1980). NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (1996).

Played for UCLA (1965-1969). The Sporting News College Player of the Year (1967, 1969). Three-time First Team All-America (1967-1969). Two-time National Player of the Year (1967, 1969). Three-time NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (1967-1969). Naismith Award winner (1969). Leading scorer in UCLA history. Led NCAA with .667 field goal percentage (1967) and .635 field goal percentage (1969).

Played in 18 NBA All-Star Games (1970-1977, 1979-1989).

Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament wrote a song about him based on the urban myth that he lost all of his money investing in hotels for tall people. The song, entitled "Sweet Lew," appears on the album "Lost Dogs."

Grandparents are originally from Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.

Father was a transit police officer in New York City.

Father of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Retired from the NBA in 1989.

Diagnosed with leukemia in December, 2008.

Personal Quotes

I saw Islam as the correct way to live, and I chose to try to live that way.

On meeting Coach John Wooden: Coach Wooden's office was about the size of a walk-in closet. I was brought in, and there was this very quaint-looking Midwesterner. I'd heard a lot about this man and his basketball wisdom, but he surely look like he belonged in a one-room schoolhouse. I found myself liking Mr. Wooden right away. He was calm, in no hurry to impress me with his knowledge or his power. He called me Lewis, and that decision endeared him to me even more. It was at once formal, my full name. II was no baby Lewie. Lewis. I liked that.

On Coach John Wooden: He broke basketball down to it's basic elements. He always told us basketball was a simple game, but his ability to make the game simple was part of his genius. There was no ranting and raving, no histrionics or theatrics. To lead the way Coach Wooden led takes a tremendous amount of faith. He was almost mystical in his approach, yet that approach only strengthened our confidence. Coach Wooden enjoyed winning, but he did not put winning above everything. He was more concerned that we became successful as human beings, that we earned our degrees, that we learned to make the right choices as adults and as parents. In essence, he was preparing us for life.

Salary

Airplane! (1980)

$35,000

Where Are They Now

Coached the Oklahoma Storm of the United States Basketball League in 2002, leading them to the league championship before resigning.