Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem (b. Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor)

(1947–  ) basketball player; born in New York City. After leading the University of California: Los Angeles (UCLA) to three National Collegiate Athletic Association championships (1967–69), the 7'2" center played for the Milwaukee Bucks (1969–75) and Los Angeles Lakers (1975–89), where he was named the Most Valuable Player six times (1971–72, 1974, 1976–77, 1980) and established over 20 all-time records during his 20-year career. He scored the most career points of any player in history (38,387), scored the most playoff points (5,762), played the most games (1,560), and played the most years (20). He led the Bucks to one National Basketball Association title (1971) and the Lakers to five championships (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987–88).

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.