Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:

Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr., better known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was an American collegiate and professional basketball player who dominated the sport as a 7-foot-2-inch (2.18-meter) tall center during the 1970s and early '80s. He also went by the nickname Lew Alcindor.

Alcindor was a four-year varsity player for Power Memorial Academy, and his 2,067 points were a New York City high school record (that has since been broken). His offensive prowess was so advanced right out of high school that the NCAA basketball rules committee forbade dunking before he enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1965 out of concern that he would be able to score at will. He broke the UCLA scoring record with 56 points in his debut game despite the new rule. Alcindor helped UCLA win three National Collegiate Athletic Association championships (1967–1969) while he was a player for famed coach John Wooden. During his time at UCLA, the squad only lost two games. In the years following Alcindor's graduation, the no-dunking policy was lifted.

For the 1969–1970 NBA season, Alcindor signed with the Milwaukee Bucks and won Rookie of the Year honors. Alcindor topped the league in scoring (2,596 points) and points-per-game average (31.7) in both 1970–71 and 1971–72 with the Bucks, who won the NBA title (2,822 points; 34.8). Alcindor adopted the Arabic name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971 after converting to Islam while a student at UCLA. He was transferred to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975, and they went on to win the NBA title in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. He outscored Wilt Chamberlain's 31,419-point career total in 1984.

Although NBA centers Chamberlain and Willis Reed had more physical strength than Abdul-Jabbar did, the latter was able to make up for it with strong shooting touch and a variety of elegant post moves, including his sweeping, all-around indefensible sky hook. He had great passing skills, too. After receiving a record-breaking six NBA Most Valuable Player awards, Abdul-Jabbar announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 1988–89 campaign. At the conclusion of his incredibly lengthy career, he had set NBA records for most points (38,387), most field goals made (15,837), and most minutes played (48,051). (57,446). When he retired, Abdul-Jabbar also held the record for the most blocks in league history (3,189; it was later surpassed by Hakeem Olajuwon and Dikembe Mutombo) and the third-most rebounds in his career (17,440). He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995, and in 1996, he was designated one of the top 50 NBA players ever.

Abdul-Jabbar explored interests in acting and writing away from the basketball court. He had several film and television appearances, including a famous performance as the copilot in the comedy Airplane! (1980). Giant Steps, his autobiography, was released in 1983. His works on the African American experience also include the children's book What Color Is My World? : The Lost History of African-American Invention, Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy of African-American Achievement (1996; with Alan Steinberg), Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes (2004; with Anthony Walton), On the Shoulders of Giants: My Personal Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance (2007; with Raymond Obstfeld) (2012; with Obstfeld).

In addition, he co-wrote a mystery trilogy about Sherlock Holmes's older brother, Mycroft, with Anna Waterhouse. The books are Mycroft and Sherlock (2018), Mycroft and Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage (2018), and Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship on and off the Court (2017). (2019). Additionally, Abdul-Jabbar coached and provided basketball consulting, spending time in Arizona's White Mountain Apache Reservation. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

1. All the courage and competitiveness of Jackie Robinson affects me to this day. If I patterned my life after anyone it was him, not because he was the first black baseball player in the majors but because he was a hero.

2. A lot of young players don't really know much about the history of the game and a lot of them are missing out on what the game is all about, especially the whole concept of sportsmanship and teamwork.

3. I read that Hollywood wanted to film Fences years ago with a white director, but [August] Wilson refused. He thought that the director needed to have lived the culture of black Americans.

4. The only reason is that I hadn't seen The Modern Jazz Quartet perform live and a live performance is often where the real experience of jazz takes place. I'm not familiar with the Boswell Sisters.

5. Common decency demands that [NCAA athletes] should be paid, but the only way it will happen is the same way workers got paid throughout American history, through a strong union.

6. When I traveled through Greece in the '90s, everything [Albert Hoxie] taught me came flooding back and I was able to appreciate the art and culture much more because of him.

7. The '80s made up for all the abuse I took during the '70s. I outlived all my critics. By the time I retired, everybody saw me as a venerable institution. Things do change.

8. Sports and entertainment are the only places where inner-city kids see themselves being able to succeed. Their intellectual development is something they don't relate to.

9. The lifespan of most professional athletes is relatively short, and most have no preparation for doing anything after their career ends, which it could in an instant.

10. I want people to understand that I intend to continue living and doing all the things that I love to do up until the end. And the end is by no means rushing up on me.

11. We can learn from mistakes of others, whether they're kings or our parents. When we do learn those lessons, we're better equipped to make our own dreams come true.

12. There are a lot of authors in the world, so it's difficult to find a unique niche to present your take on things. That is always a challenge for any author.

13. Lakers were able to maintain a certain level of talent and success and so were the Celtics. So after awhile it became part of people's sports lore.

14. I had a moment like that with Wilt (Chamberlain). He knocked me out of bounds, I came back and faked him, came across the middle and dunked on him.

15. For me, the bold jazz of John Coltrane and Miles Davis reflected the bold attitude in African-Americans finding their political identity and voice.

16. My mother had to send me to the movies with my birth certificate, so that I wouldn't have to pay the extra fifty cents that the adults had to pay.