Tag: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Bill Russell dipped down his newspaper …

Bill Russell dipped down his newspaper and looked me over with a frown. Then he snorted. “I’m not getting up just to meet some kid.” I shrank to about six inches tall. I just wanted to run straight home. Auerbach chuckled. “Don’t let him get to you, kid. Sometimes he can be a real sourpuss.” He grabbed my wrist and walked me over to Russell. “Bill, be nice. This is the kid who just might be the next you.” Bill looked at me again, this time taking a little longer. I was already 7’, two inches taller than him. I stuck out my hand. “How do you do, Mr. Russell. Pleasure to meet you.” He didn’t smile, but his demeanor had softened, just a little. He shook my hand. “Yeah, yeah, kid.” That’s how I met my childhood hero.

I was 67 years old when I finally got …

I was 67 years old when I finally got up the courage to ask Bill for something I’d wanted since meeting him 53 years ago. His autograph. Bill, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and I were shooting a commercial for AT&T. We all had so much fun that day joking around with each other that I thought it was the perfect time to spring into action. We were taking a break between filming. I saw him sitting comfortably in a chair, sipping coffee. I stalked him the way he’d taught me how to stalk players right before leaping up to block their shot. I got closer, a big disarming smile on my face. He looked up, unsuspecting. “Hey, Bill,” I said. “Wonder if you’d do me a favor.” He just looked at me. “Hmmm.” I whipped out the jersey from behind my back. His home jersey from the Celtics. Number 6. I held up a black Sharpie. “Mind autographing this for me?” He gave me a long look, took the jersey and Sharpie, signed it, handed it back. “Thanks,” I said. “Sure, kid,” he said. He had continued to call me kid since our first meeting when I was fourteen.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: My thoughts about …

Nick Wright: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest player ever

Although Fox Sports 1 personality Nick Wright frequently fawns over LeBron James, he thinks another Laker was the greatest NBA player ever.

Fox Sports 1 personality Nick Wright is well known for his strong opinion that LeBron James is a better player than Michael Jordan, whom many regard as the greatest NBA player ever.

Some may say it’s a generational thing. Wright is a millennial, and millennials and members of Generation Z are much more likely to put James over Jordan than those who have been around longer.

However, Wright surprisingly doesn’t think the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is the greatest of all time.

Instead, he thinks a former Lakers great deserves that spot.

While on “The Dan Patrick Show,” he said that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the greatest player in the history of the sport (in his opinion).

“If we were to say: Take the guys who are candidates for the greatest of all time in any sport. Nobody has more championships than him (Abdul-Jabbar) of the GOAT candidates. He has scored the most points, goals, or runs, whatever the sport is, of all the candidates – in fact, of everyone in history, and has the most league MVPs of everyone in history, it would not be controversial to say he should be in the discussion.”

“Jordan’s pinnacle, his peak, one could argue, was higher than anybody else’s. However, the second place on that list might be Shaquille O’Neal, so why is Shaquille O’Neal not in the top five, top six, top seven? He didn’t do it long enough. Kareem has more seasons where he was a top-five MVP vote-getter than Michael Jordan has seasons.”

“… Michael Jordan was a very good college player, good enough that people said I’d rather have Sam Bowie. In high school, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went 79-2, and I’m told Michael Jordan got cut from his team. Now I’m sure it was a very good team he got cut from, but Kareem wasn’t getting cut. I just think Kareem has the better basketball life than Michael Jordan.”

One of Wright’s main points is Abdul-Jabbar’s longevity. He mentioned the former Lakers great won the NBA Finals MVP at age 38 and was still a very good player at age 40, while Jordan wasn’t quite at the same level at the same ages.

Unfortunately, because Abdul-Jabbar had a reputation for being introverted and even difficult to deal with for the media during his playing days, he often gets shortchanged in this debate, especially by those who were too young to watch him play live.

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Paolo Banchero is just one of many to …

Paolo Banchero is just one of many to have all these three generational talents on his all-time top 5 players list. Recently, the newest Orlando Magic forward was asked to answer a few rapid-fire questions in a video with Complex Sports. When asked to reveal his all-time top 5 players list, the former Duke Blue Devil revealed (“in no order”): Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

A new documentary from Hulu seeks to …

A new documentary from Hulu seeks to capture the legacy of the Los Angeles Lakers. The streamer today dropped the first teaser trailer for Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers, from director and executive producer Antoine Fuqua. This teaser offers insight from Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Rob Lowe, and others about the rise of the Lakers. No premiere date has been set.

“The social justice nomination was a …

“The social justice nomination was a huge honor, something I wasn’t expecting,” VanVleet said Thursday at his Joe Buckets Training facility in Winnebago during a news conference for his Fred VanVleet Fest and youth camp Thursday through Sunday. “It wasn’t on my radar. That made it even sweeter for me. I wasn’t trying to win an award with the work I am doing. I am just doing it because I think I should be. I am trying to set the tone and be a foundation within the community. To be mentioned with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, that’s pretty special. That’s probably the coolest award that I’ve been in contact with. That was amazing.”