Lew Alcindor

Lew Alcindor, known today as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was the most influential African American basketball player on equality of all people. Alcindor was born on April 16, 1947 and grew up in Manhattan in New York City. Alcindor chose to go to UCLA where he was a three-time First Team All-American and a two-time Player of the Year. Alcindor went on to continue his career in the NBA playing for the Milwaukee Bucks and was chosen as the first pick of the draft. Alcindor became an instant star in the league, ranking second in the league in scoring, third in rebounding, and earning the NBA Rookie of the Year. While playing for the Bucks, Alcindor changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and earned the NBA Most Valuable Player award and an NBA Championship. In 1975, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Abdul-Jabbar and his first season was record breaking. Abdul-Jabbar played the center position and is regarded as one of the best players of all time. He is the leading NBA scorer, collecting six titles, six regular season MVP, two finals MVP awards, fifteen NBA first or second teams, and a record nineteen NBA All-Star call-ups. Abdul-Jabbar is today the eighth most accurate shooter of all time, a lot of thanks goes to his size, at 7-2 weighing 225 pounds. Abdul Jabbar boycotted the 1968 Summer Olympics by deciding not to join the United States Men’s Olympic Basketball team that year, protesting the unequal treatment of African-Americans in the United States. The same year the black power salute was done by the members of the Olympic Project for Human Rights.