Over two decades in the NBA, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dominated the basketball court. With his brilliant basketball IQ and his unmatched offensive talent, Kareem retired in 1989 as one of the greatest players ever.
Even today, people rave at the success he found as a player.
In a piece for The Athletic, Kareem’s former teammate Magic Johnson gave a glowing review of the 6x MVP, calling him the smartest man he’s ever played with.
“He’s the smartest, not just basketball player I ever played with, but also the smartest man. The guy is just so intelligent.“
7x All-Star James Worthy also chimed in, praising Kareem’s consistency and discipline.
“He was in great shape. He was disciplined. He was consistent. He had four years of college under one of the greatest coaches of all time in John Wooden, where he got the science and the theory and the know-how to play the game,” former Lakers star and teammate James Worthy said. “And, he had a weapon. It’s a nuclear weapon… I’ve seen his full body of work. When you think of the fan base now, which is composed mostly of social media and a younger audience, and even younger sportswriters who never saw Kareem play, they don’t understand. They don’t understand the hook shot. They don’t understand that he changed the game.”
”When people ask me, I still say, he’s the best to ever play the game.”
Abdul-Jabbar is a 19x All-Star, 15x All-NBA player, 2x Scoring Champ, 6x MVP, and 6x Champion. He’s also the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with over 38,000 points scored in his career.
He led a Lakers team through the best era in the franchise’s history, leaving behind a legacy that will forever live on in NBA history.
In their most current list of top players, The Athletic labeled him as the third greatest ever, behind LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
