Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of the few who can stake a claim to be the greatest player of all time in the NBA. Kareem came into the league in 1969 on the back of a spectacular college career at UCLA, where he won 3 national championships, and he would immediately assert his dominance at the professional level as well.
In just his second season, Abdul-Jabbar was crowned MVP, led the league in scoring, and also won his first NBA title. He would go on to win a record 6 MVPs to go with 6 titles and remains the all-time leading scorer in the history of the league. A lot of Kareem’s success was thanks to his signature skyhook, a shot that helped him stay productive on the court even into his 40s.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Explains Why NBA Players Don’t Use The Skyhook Anymore
Kareem had mastered the skyhook in college after the NCAA banned dunks after his first season with UCLA as a means to curtail his dominance. It didn’t matter as Kareem continued to dominate, and perfecting the move back then helped him out a lot when he entered the NBA. Despite all the success he had with the skyhook, it is a shot that no one really uses anymore, and during an episode of Byron Scott’s podcast, he was asked why that is the case.
(starts at 20:30 mark):
“I don’t know, it’s not a hard shot to learn. You can do the George Mikan Drill and that will give you all the fundamentals, give you the footwork. How to use either hand and how to use the backboard. It teaches you everything about using that shot. It’s a great drill but there’s not too many guys that are using it and they don’t try to get the shots off in a game. So, it’s kind of gone out of style and out of the game.”
It has gone out of style to post up and go for the hook shot these days. Players just drift out to the perimeter to jack up threes, and we don’t see a scenario in the future where this way of playing the game changes.
It is a pity because it’s there for everyone to see just how effective the shot is. Kareem used it to devastating effect throughout his career and his former teammate Mychal Thompson recently shared a picture of a 75-year-old Kareem shooting the skyhook at the reunion for the Showtime Lakers. They certainly benefitted a lot from that shot, as it helped establish them as one of the greatest teams of all time.
