Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dominated the NBA like very few men ever had done before or after him during a storied 20-year career. Kareem armed with his unstoppable Sky Hook, terrorized the league for a long time as no one had an answer for that shot. It helped Kareem reach the very top of the mountain, as he would finish his career as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points.
Kareem would win 6 championships to go with a record 6 MVP awards along the way and he is regarded at worst as a top 5 player of all time, if not as the very greatest. Kareem had a hilarious response when asked who is the GOAT during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and he also spoke about where the league is now, compared to his time.
(starts at 1:57 mark)
“Earlier on, you might get 10 3-point shots in a game. Now there’s 10, 20 3-point shots in a quarter. It seems like its a 3-point shooting contest. People enjoy it and you know they should. I am still the all-time leading scorer in the NBA and I only made one 3-point shot.”
Kareem with another epic quote in what was honestly one of the best interviews we’ve seen in recent time. He also made a joke about the best topping for a hot dog being the tears of the 1985 Celtics after they lost the Finals to the Lakers. The 1985 Celtics were just one in the long line of victims of Kareem’s greatness as he won Finals MVP in that series by averaging over 25 points per game.
It’s a pity that no one today tries to perfect that Sky Hook which helped Kareem score all those points, as the emphasis is very much on the three-pointer. Analytics sets the way things are done in the NBA now and we are never going to see anyone dominate the NBA with their back to the basket the way Kareem once did.
