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Kareem, Abdul-Jabbar and Daymond Obstfeld. Becoming Kareem, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,2017

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When He was sent to the Holy Providence Boarding school even though he was a good kid but his parents didn't give him a reason. He was bullied by an older kid and he snitched and the kid beat him up and after that something inside him broke.

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After his time at Holy province he became different instead of being defined by his personality he was now defined by his height & race. He became aware of what life without education would be like and he learned how being black had a new set of challenges he'll have to face daily

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Coach Farrell Hopkins made sure Lew no matter how he played felt like a valuable of the team. Even though Lew would always ride the bench Coach assigned George a collage player to teach him how to play

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by 7th grade he wasn't a XXL Benchwarmer but a force in a game that year they got new jersey's and he chose #33 because the Giants fullback Mel Triplett wore #33 after that his passion for playing began

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He met coach Jack Donahue in 8th grade at Power to Shoot and he liked him right away he knew how to talk to kids his age and he didn't try to flatter him. They would talk like 2 fans who love the game he even gave Lew & his friends game tickets. He chose to go to Power Memorial High School so he can be with Coach Donahue

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when he was a freshman the civil rights movement was starting up and he would watch the news at dinner with his parents silently while his insides filled with anger at the injustices against black people across the country. He felt isolated from the white kids at this time because they would treat him differently

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When he started high school he was 6'10 at 14yrs old and the civil rights movement was picking up so he felt separated from the white kids at his school.

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During this time he began see many bad Christians that committed brutality against black people and this is when he began doubting the Christian faith.

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Lew spent his summer in the city to attend coach Donahue's Friendship Farm basketball camp. Lew says "Life on the streets varied and surprising." (90) He played a lot of street ball.

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Junior year for Lew didn't start normally with happy thoughts. Lew says "It started with the murder of black children."(95) He was talking about the Birmingham church bombing this led to him feeling safer in black environments, He stayed in Harlem that whole year.

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They had a game against St.Helena and were feeling cocky. At halftime they were only up by six points unlike the 20 they expected. They all go into coach Donahue's office and he was angry he was yelling at them telling them you don't deserve to win he called them a mess and he pointed at told him you weren't doing any of the things you supposed to do. He then glared into Lew's eyes and said "You're acting like just a (racial slur for African American people)"(101) in his face

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Lew played the 2nd half of the game while shocked & hurt because of what coach told him. Coach told Lew to go to coach's office and coach tells him "It worked! My strategy worked." (103) it turns out coach said that word to shock Lew so he can play better in the 2nd half but to Lew coach crossed a line there was no going back from. Lew left coach's office feeling more lonely than ever.

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Lew went home after the game against he St. Helena he told his parents "I'm done, I cant go back to power" (104) he went home to pack because they had a game in Maryland he didn't want to go back to play for coach Donahue but if he would have left he would miss a year of eligibility to play basketball. His parents were sympathetic to his feelings but they knew for the best of his future he would have to finish the season with coach Donahue. they won their game and Lew played hard not to please Coach but to show his teammates he wasn't effected by what coach said.

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The summer leading up to his senior year Lew didnt attend Coach Donahue's Camp, He joined the Heritage Teaching Program for Harlem Youth Action Project as a reporter. He was thrilled to work in Harlem, when coach Donahue found out Lew wasn't attending his camp that year he asked him why and Lew told him he had made other plans. Lew still felt like he still owed him coach took him to see games, driven him to school, and made him the powerhouse he was at the time, Lew agreed to join the camp. Lew thought to him self that "After this, I owed him nothing. I would be free." (111)

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a few weeks before senior year started Lew tried to get back to his normal life. "Lew says the whole year was a boring repeat of the year before" (147) they won 71 games in a row that season.

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Lew wanted a collage that would help him build his pro basketball career, He also wanted a good academic school because he knew "the career of an athlete, whether in college or in the pros, depended on avoiding serious injuries" (155) he knew that if he suffered a serious injury and didn't have good academics he wouldn't be able to be successful. He ended up choosing to visit UCLA

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Lew expected to be intimidated by his new coach. When Lew knocked he heard a voice say come in it was Coach Wooden. Coach used to be a former basketball start he sunk 134 consecutive free throws and knew his way around a court. The first thing coach said was talk to lew about his grades than he told him "For most students, basketball is temporary but knowledge is forever." (159)

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Coach Wooden would always say "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. " (203) Lew did good all 4 years at UCLA he led the team to the NCAA championship from (1967-1969)and was named the tournaments Most outstanding player each time. Lew only lost 2 games his whole college career.

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When Lew went to UCLA he decided to abandon his catholic upbringing he wanted to understand what god meant to him his interest in Islam began when he read the auto biography of Malcolm X. He ended up Converting.

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In his senior year Lew got several offers to play professionally but he narrowed it down to two. 1 from the NBA and 1 from the ABA, he was looking for the best financial offer but he was hoping for the ABA because it would be for the NY Nets in his home town where he preferred to live but they paid way less than the Bucks with the NBA . He chose the Bucks.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shares how activism shaped his legacy on and off the court

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 'literally changed the game' — Chris Broussard | FOX SPORTS

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Photography: Dave Lauridsen Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the most celebrated players in basketball history, was a natural leader on the court. But the head coaching jobs he later aspired to eluded him. More recently he has become a successful writer, historian, and filmmaker, producing several well-received books and a documentary about unsung African-American heroes. Listen [...]

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Life's Work: An Interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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Photography: Dave Lauridsen Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the most celebrated players in basketball history, was a natural leader on the court. But the head coaching jobs he later aspired to eluded him. More recently he has become a successful writer, historian, and filmmaker, producing several well-received books and a documentary about unsung African-American heroes.

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Lessons from a legend: Abdul-Jabbar on a life of activism

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From his childhood in Harlem, to his stardom in the NBA, to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stressed the importance of identity and activism in a speech at Brown University.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar deserves the title of being the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball in my opinion for one reason alone: his implementation and later perfection of the sky hook shot.

No other player in the history of the game has come close to developing a shot that is more lethal and more effective in crunch-time situations, than the Sky hook shot. And no other offensive weapon was more reliable when it was needed the most.

Furthermore, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's sky hook shot has not been duplicated like the dunk or the finger roll have been, and this puts Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a class all by himself.

Because Kareem could use the sky hook with equal effectiveness with either his right or his left hand, and from any distance from the basket, it has basically transcended any element of the game of basketball that came after it.

Now, top this all off with the fact that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored more points (38,387) and had greater longevity in a career that spanned over 21 seasons, makes it hard to find a better argument. Karl Malone's 36,928 points and Michael Jordan's 32,292 points keeps one of those players (Jordan) in the conversation for the all-time best.

But Kareem's sky hook was so devastating, opposing coaches and players had no other choice but to poke him in the eyes to try to stop it. This is when Kareem had to bring out the goggles. So, for you youngsters out there who were born in the '90s and later, contrary to popular belief, it was not Rip Hamilton or A'mare Stoudemaire that were the first to sport something protective over their faces during a game.

It was the big fella, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, formerly Lou Alcindor, a collegiate phenomenon at UCLA and the greatest thing to every come out of the New York City since the subway was invented.

Critics will argue that it is Shaquille O'Neal's power dunking ability that makes him one of the most dominating players to ever play the center position, and that he is better than Kareem. Of course, Michael Jordan's name will come up in the conversation because he won championships more recently than Kareem did, and also because he had a nickname and marketing campaign that spanned world-wide.

No one can argue that Jordan's "Air Jordan" logo with him flying through the air with both legs spread-eagle and tongue stuck-out was literally before its time, and didn't have an enormous impact on the game. Some even take it a step further arguing that Jordan's logo should replace the current NBA logo that consists of the great Jerry West driving to the basket.

This will always keep Jordan in the conversation but it is not enough to overtake Kareem's Sky hook shot and his scoring record.

Then there's the argument for Wilt Chamberlain, arguably the most powerful and largest force to ever play the game before Darryl Dawkins and Shaquille O'Neal became household names for dunking the basketball with extreme force. Chamberlain also had a finesse game, with a finger roll that he used when the name finger roll hadn't been created yet.

But how can anyone else argue that any other player was better than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he perfected a sky hook shot that has often been imitated, but has never been duplicated? The fact of the matter is, no one can. This is why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has to be crowned the best of all-time.

Younger generation basketball enthusiasts will argue that another current Laker, Kobe Bryant, is the greatest player of all-time or definitely will be when his career is over since he is still playing at a very high level and continues to add to his future legacy and his mark upon the game.

No one can argue that Kobe's body of work doesn't deserve to be mentioned in this conversation, but Kobe hasn't created a shot or a move that no one else can do.

Basketball inventions like George Gervin's finger roll, Darryl Dawkins' backboard-shattering slam dunks, prolific shooting accuracy from behind the three-point Line, the crossover dribble, and Dr. J's dunk from the free-throw line, have all been duplicated and perfected by another player.

But these feats are still remarkable, and all command the attention of milestones that will forever be acknowledged for changing the game of basketball. And the players who perfected them definitely deserve consideration as some of the greatest players.

But all of these pale in comparison to Kareem's sky hook, its' impact on the game, and his scoring record. If someone else comes along in the near future that can shoot the sky hook with equal proficiency using both hands, and can dethrone Kareem, Karl and Michael in scoring, then they would deserve to be mentioned as one of the greatest players of all-time. But think about what has to happen for that to become a reality.

People, I wouldn't spend too much time trying to come up with a better argument, because you are wasting your time. The greatest player of all-time in the NBA is arguably the NBA's greatest scorer.

Since basketball games are won by the team that scores the most points, no one can argue against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because he is currently the leading scorer in NBA history, played 21 competitive years in the NBA, and had arguably the most prolific offensive scoring weapon ever created for basketball.

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The Greatest Player in NBA History: Why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Deserves the Title

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar deserves the title of being the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball in my opinion for one reason alone: his implementation and later perfection of the sky hook shot...