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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 5:36 pm EDTNBA legend. Named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Biography, honors and career statistics below.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Career at a glance
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 20 NBA regular seasons between 1969 and 1989, appearing in 1,560 games and averaging 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He played for 2 teams: Milwaukee (1969–75, 467 games), L.A. Lakers (1975–89, 1,093 games). His best scoring season was 1971–72 with Milwaukee: 34.8 points per game over 81 games.
He rebounded best in 1975–76 at 16.9 per game. The season table marks him as the league leader in blocks 4 times, scoring twice, rebounding once, field-goal percentage once. Championship seasons: 1970–71 (Milwaukee), 1979–80 (L.A. Lakers), 1981–82 (L.A. Lakers), 1984–85 (L.A. Lakers), 1986–87 (L.A. Lakers), 1987–88 (L.A. Lakers).
In the playoffs he appeared in 18 postseason runs (237 games, 24.3 points per game). Multiplying each season’s games by its scoring average gives roughly 38,400 regular-season points (an estimate from per-game figures, not an official total). Among the 404 players with at least 200 NBA games profiled on whynba, Abdul-Jabbar ranks No. 19 in points per game, No. 24 in rebounds per game.
whynba analysis of the season-by-season statistics below (Wikipedia revision, CC BY-SA 4.0). Totals are estimates from per-game averages.
About Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.; April 16, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player. He played as a center for 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Abdul-Jabbar won a record six NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards. He was a 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA Team member, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection. He was a member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, and was twice voted the NBA Finals MVP. He was named to three NBA anniversary teams (35th, 50th, and 75th). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Abdul-Jabbar broke the NBA's career scoring record in 1984, and held it until 2023.
Abdul-Jabbar was known as Lew Alcindor when he played at Power Memorial, a private Catholic high school in New York City, where he led their team to 71 consecutive wins. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national championships. Abdul-Jabbar was a record three-time most outstanding player of the NCAA tournament. Drafted with the first overall pick by the one-season-old Milwaukee Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft, he spent six seasons with the team. After leading the Bucks to their first NBA championship at age 24 in 1971, he took the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Using his trademark skyhook shot, he established himself as one of the league's top scorers. In 1975, he was traded to the Lakers, with whom he played the final 14 seasons of his career, during which time the team won five NBA championships. Abdul-Jabbar's contributions were a key component in the Showtime era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career, his teams reached the playoffs 18 times and reached the NBA Finals ten times.
At the time of his retirement at age 42 in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's regular season career leader in points (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes (57,446), field goals made (15,837), field goal attempts (28,307), blocked shots (3,189), defensive rebounds (9,394), and personal fouls (4,657). He ranks second in career points, minutes played and field goal attempts, and is third all-time in both total rebounds (17,440) and blocked shots.ESPN named him the greatest center of all time in 2007, the greatest player in college basketball history in 2008, and the second best player in NBA history (behind Michael Jordan) in 2016. Abdul-Jabbar has also been an actor, a basketball coach, a best-selling author, and a martial artist, having trained in Jeet Kune Do under Bruce Lee and appeared in his film Game of Death (1972). He also appeared in Airplane! as Roger Murdock, a pilot who is repeatedly mistaken for Abdul-Jabbar. In 2012, Abdul-Jabbar was selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a U.S. global cultural ambassador. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- Born
- April 16, 1947 (age 79) New York City, New York, U.S.
- Listed height
- 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
- Listed weight
- 225 lb (102 kg)
- Position
- Center
- High school
- Power Memorial (New York City, New York)
- College
- UCLA (1966–1969)
- NBA draft
- 1969: 1st round, 1st overall pick
- Playing career
- 1969–1989
Career highlights and awards
- 6× NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
- 2× NBA Finals MVP (1971, 1985)
- 6× NBA Most Valuable Player (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)
- 19× NBA All-Star (1970–1977, 1979–1989)
- 10× All-NBA First Team (1971–1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986)
- 5× All-NBA Second Team (1970, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1985)
- 5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1974, 1975, 1979–1981)
- 6× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1970, 1971, 1976–1978, 1984)
- NBA Rookie of the Year (1970)
- NBA All-Rookie First Team (1970)
- 2× NBA scoring champion (1971, 1972)
- NBA rebounding leader (1976)
- 4× NBA blocks leader (1975, 1976, 1979, 1980)
- NBA anniversary teams (35th, 50th, 75th)
- No. 33 retired by Milwaukee Bucks
- No. 33 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
- Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year (1985)
- 3× NCAA champion (1967–1969)
- 3× NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1967–1969)
- 3× National college player of the year (1967–1969)
- 3× Consensus first-team All-American (1967–1969)
- 3× First-team All-Pac-8 (1967–1969)
- No. 33 retired by UCLA Bruins
- 2× Mr. Basketball USA (1964, 1965)
- 3× First-team Parade All-American (1963–1965)
- Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016)
- USBL champion (2002)
- 2× NBA champion (2009, 2010)
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969–70 | Milwaukee | 82* | — | 43.1 | .518 | — | .653 | 14.5 | 4.1 | — | — | 28.8 |
| 1970–71† | Milwaukee | 82 | — | 40.1 | .577 | — | .690 | 16.0 | 3.3 | — | — | 31.7* |
| 1971–72 | Milwaukee | 81 | — | 44.2 | .574 | — | .689 | 16.6 | 4.6 | — | — | 34.8* |
| 1972–73 | Milwaukee | 76 | — | 42.8 | .554 | — | .713 | 16.1 | 5.0 | — | — | 30.2 |
| 1973–74 | Milwaukee | 81 | — | 43.8 | .539 | — | .702 | 14.5 | 4.8 | 1.4 | 3.5 | 27.0 |
| 1974–75 | Milwaukee | 65 | — | 42.3 | .513 | — | .763 | 14.0 | 4.1 | 1.0 | 3.3* | 30.0 |
| 1975–76 | L.A. Lakers | 82 | 82 | 41.2 | .529 | — | .703 | 16.9* | 5.0 | 1.5 | 4.1* | 27.7 |
| 1976–77 | L.A. Lakers | 82 | 82 | 36.8 | .579* | — | .701 | 13.3 | 3.9 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 26.2 |
| 1977–78 | L.A. Lakers | 62 | — | 36.5 | .550 | — | .783 | 12.9 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 25.8 |
| 1978–79 | L.A. Lakers | 80 | — | 39.5 | .577 | — | .736 | 12.8 | 5.4 | 1.0 | 4.0* | 23.8 |
| 1979–80† | L.A. Lakers | 82 | — | 38.3 | .604 | .000 | .765 | 10.8 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 3.4* | 24.8 |
| 1980–81 | L.A. Lakers | 80 | — | 37.2 | .574 | .000 | .766 | 10.3 | 3.4 | .7 | 2.9 | 26.2 |
| 1981–82† | L.A. Lakers | 76 | 76 | 35.2 | .579 | .000 | .706 | 8.7 | 3.0 | .8 | 2.7 | 23.9 |
| 1982–83 | L.A. Lakers | 79 | 79 | 32.3 | .588 | .000 | .749 | 7.5 | 2.5 | .8 | 2.2 | 21.8 |
| 1983–84 | L.A. Lakers | 80 | 80 | 32.8 | .578 | .000 | .723 | 7.3 | 2.6 | .7 | 1.8 | 21.5 |
| 1984–85† | L.A. Lakers | 79 | 79 | 33.3 | .599 | .000 | .732 | 7.9 | 3.2 | .8 | 2.1 | 22.0 |
| 1985–86 | L.A. Lakers | 79 | 79 | 33.3 | .564 | .000 | .765 | 6.1 | 3.5 | .8 | 1.6 | 23.4 |
| 1986–87† | L.A. Lakers | 78 | 78 | 31.3 | .564 | .333 | .714 | 6.7 | 2.6 | .6 | 1.2 | 17.5 |
| 1987–88† | L.A. Lakers | 80 | 80 | 28.9 | .532 | .000 | .762 | 6.0 | 1.7 | .6 | 1.2 | 14.6 |
| 1988–89 | L.A. Lakers | 74 | 74 | 22.9 | .475 | .000 | .739 | 4.5 | 1.0 | .5 | 1.1 | 10.1 |
| Career | 1,560 | 789 | 36.8 | .559 | .056 | .721 | 11.2 | 3.6 | .9 | 2.6 | 24.6 | |
| All-Star | 18 | 13 | 24.9 | .493 | .000 | .820 | 8.3 | 2.8 | .4 | 2.1‡ | 13.9 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Milwaukee | 10 | — | 43.5 | .567 | — | .733 | 16.8 | 4.1 | — | — | 35.2 |
| 1971† | Milwaukee | 14 | — | 41.2 | .515 | — | .673 | 17.0 | 2.5 | — | — | 26.6 |
| 1972 | Milwaukee | 11 | — | 46.4 | .437 | — | .704 | 18.2 | 5.1 | — | — | 28.7 |
| 1973 | Milwaukee | 6 | — | 46.0 | .428 | — | .543 | 16.2 | 2.8 | — | — | 22.8 |
| 1974 | Milwaukee | 16 | — | 47.4 | .557 | — | .736 | 15.8 | 4.9 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 32.2 |
| 1977 | L.A. Lakers | 11 | — | 42.5 | .607 | — | .725 | 17.7 | 4.1 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 34.6 |
| 1978 | L.A. Lakers | 3 | — | 44.7 | .521 | — | .556 | 13.7 | 3.7 | .7 | 4.0 | 27.0 |
| 1979 | L.A. Lakers | 8 | — | 45.9 | .579 | — | .839 | 12.6 | 4.8 | 1.0 | 4.1 | 28.5 |
| 1980† | L.A. Lakers | 15 | — | 41.2 | .572 | — | .790 | 12.1 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 3.9 | 31.9 |
| 1981 | L.A. Lakers | 3 | — | 44.7 | .462 | — | .714 | 16.7 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 26.7 |
| 1982† | L.A. Lakers | 14 | — | 35.2 | .520 | — | .632 | 8.5 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 20.4 |
| 1983 | L.A. Lakers | 15 | — | 39.2 | .568 | .000 | .755 | 7.7 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 3.7 | 27.1 |
| 1984 | L.A. Lakers | 21 | — | 36.5 | .555 | — | .750 | 8.2 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 23.9 |
| 1985† | L.A. Lakers | 19 | 19 | 32.1 | .560 | — | .777 | 8.1 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 21.9 |
| 1986 | L.A. Lakers | 14 | 14 | 34.9 | .557 | — | .787 | 5.9 | 3.5 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 25.9 |
| 1987† | L.A. Lakers | 18 | 18 | 31.1 | .530 | .000 | .795 | 6.8 | 2.0 | .4 | 1.9 | 19.2 |
| 1988† | L.A. Lakers | 24 | 24 | 29.9 | .464 | .000 | .789 | 5.5 | 1.5 | .6 | 1.5 | 14.1 |
| 1989 | L.A. Lakers | 15 | 15 | 23.4 | .463 | — | .721 | 3.9 | 1.3 | .3 | .7 | 11.1 |
| Career | 237 | 90 | 37.3 | .533 | .000 | .740 | 10.5 | 3.2 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 24.3 |
Per-game averages. † won an NBA championship · * led the league · ‡ NBA record (as marked).
Profile observation date unavailable.
- Height
- 7′ 2″
- Weight
- 225 lb
- Position
- Center
- Jersey
- Not listed
- Country
- USA
- School / last affiliation
- Not listed
- Draft year
- 1969
- Draft pick
- Round 1 · Pick 1
Height, Weight, Position, Country, Draft year, Draft pick: blank in the NBA.com profile, filled from the Wikipedia infobox credited in the About section above.
Roster observations
These dates show when our saved NBA directory observations listed this player with a team. They are not signing, trade or contract dates, and this is not a complete career history.
No roster observations are stored for this player. Historical profile details above do not establish a current team assignment.
Profile source
Biographical fields reflect the saved official profile at the check time shown above. Team assignments use the dated directory evidence in Roster observations. Offseason rosters and jersey numbers can change.
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