Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Arabic: كريم عبد الجبار; English: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, /kəˈriːm æbˈduːl dʒəˈbɑːr/; April 16, 1947 -), formerly known as Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. (English: Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. is a retired American NBA basketball player. He was a center player from high school to the NBA. He played for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in his 20-year career. During his career, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was selected to the NBA All-Star Game nineteen times, won six NBA championships and the NBA MVP of the Year, and was twice selected as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. In 1996, he was named one of the NBA's 50 greatest stars. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the player with the highest total points in NBA games until the record was broken by LeBron James nearly 40 years later. After retiring, he became a writer and part-time actor. His most outstanding skill as a player was the "hook", so he was nicknamed "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar." After retiring, he published many books, often spoke on racial and religious issues, and became a public intellectual. He is currently a columnist for Time Magazine. In 2012, he was selected as the United States Global Cultural Ambassador by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In 2016, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2021, he was selected as one of the 75 NBA stars.