Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

High school

Power Memorial Academy

College

UCLA

Pro team(s)

Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers

Hall of Fame

⭐ Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Ferdinand Lewis "Lew" Alcindor Jr. was born on April 16, 1947, in Inwood, Manhattan, and grew up in the Dyckman Houses public housing project in upper Manhattan. He attended Power Memorial Academy, a Catholic high school on the West Side of Manhattan where he led the team to a 71-game winning streak and three city championships; his size, skill, and athleticism made him the most recruited high school player in the nation. He enrolled at UCLA under coach John Wooden, where — though freshmen were ineligible for varsity competition at the time — he led the Bruins to three consecutive national championships (1967, 1968, 1969) and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four all three times. He converted to Islam in 1971 and changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Selected first overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969, he won the Rookie of the Year award, then led Milwaukee to the 1971 NBA championship. Traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975, he teamed with Magic Johnson to win five more NBA titles (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988). Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA MVP awards — the most in league history — was a 19-time NBA All-Star, and was named the Finals MVP twice. He invented and refined the skyhook — arguably the most unstoppable offensive weapon in basketball history — and used it to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer with 38,387 career points, a record he held from 1984 until 2023 when LeBron James surpassed it. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995. Born and raised in Manhattan, New York.