Before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar spent 20 years in the national basketball association, he was Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. born in New York, New York. His father was a police officer whom only had one son. Ferdinand stood 5 foot 8 inches at just 9 years old and by time he got to the eighth grade he had already grown a foot, and could dunk a basketball. As a sophomore in highschool he averaged 19 points and 18 rebounds a game, his senior year he averaged 30 points a game. At Power Memorial Academy Ferdinand set New York city school records for scoring and rebounding, all while winning 71 straight games and winning 3 state titles. Given this it isn 't surprising Ferdinand got a scholarship to UCLA. After Ferdinand graduated in 1965 he went to play for the most legendary coach in ncaa history John Wooden. He continued his …show more content…
The bucks went 27-55 and didn’t even make a run at making the playoffs in the season before, after they got Ferdinand they improved to 56-26 and made it to the division finals before losing to the knicks. One season after he was drafted he took the bucks to the best record in the nba 66-16, and a nba championship. Alcindor won mvp of the regular season and of the finals that year. In the fall of 1971 Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. Legally changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Even tho fans were unhappy about the name change Kareem still won his second mvp and a scoring title (34.8) that year. In 1975 young Kareem decided milwaukee wasn 't able to suite his cultural needs and demanded a trade. Kareem was then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Although the Lakers didn’t make it over .500 or make the playoffs Kareem still won his fourth mvp award, leading the league in rebounds (16.9) and blocks (4.12). In 1977-78 Kareem lost his temper and lashed out breaking his hand on Bucks rookie center Kent Benson 's face. He missed 20 games and got a 5,000 dollar fine from the