History

Fifteen Candidates Announced for First-Ever Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award

Fifteen Candidates Announced for First-Ever Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced today the fifteen watch list members for the 2015 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award. Named after Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its inaugural year recognizes the top centers in men’s college basketball. The watch list of 15 candidates was determined by a national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel.

read more
Elementary

Elementary

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar walked through the lobby of his hotel on Central Park South recently, doing his best impression of someone with a low profile. He swerved to avoid a chandelier (low clearance for a former N.B.A. center), then bumped into an old friend who’d been a coach with the Chicago Bulls. Handshakes, camera flashes.

read more
Why I Have Mixed Feelings about MLK Day by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Why I Have Mixed Feelings about MLK Day by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I have mixed emotions about Martin Luther King Jr. Day. For me, it’s a time of hopeful celebration — but also of cautionary vigilance. I celebrate an extraordinary man of courage and conviction and his remarkable achievements and hope that I can behave in a manner that honors his sacrifices. And while Dr. King still has his delusional detractors, who have a dream of dismissing his impact on history, it’s not them I worry about…

read more