name	John Wooden
birth date	October 14, 1910
death date	June 04, 2010
birth place	Hall, Indiana, United States
death place	Los Angeles, California, United States
sport	Basketball
overall record	664–162 (.804)
awards	2006 founding class, College Basketball Hall of Fame1972 National Basketball Hall of Fame as a Coach6 time NCAA College Basketball Coach of the Year1930 Basketball All-American1931 Basketball All-American 1932 Basketball All-American1932 College Basketball Player of the Year1933 National Basketball League – Scoring Champion1938 National Basketball League – First Team1960 National Basketball Hall of Fame as a Player1964 Henry Iba Award Coach of the YearPresidential Medal of Freedom
championships	As player:*1932 National ChampionshipAs coach:*1964 NCAA National Championship*1965 NCAA National Championship*1967 NCAA National Championship*1968 NCAA National Championship*1969 NCAA National Championship*1970 NCAA National Championship*1971 NCAA National Championship*1972 NCAA National Championship*1973 NCAA National Championship*1975 NCAA National ChampionshipRegional Championships – Final Four(1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975)
player years	1929–33
player teams	Purdue University
player positions	Guard
coach years	1946–481948–75
coach teams	Indiana State UniversityUCLA
baskhof year	1961
cbbaskhof year	2006 }}

John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games. He was named national coach of the year six times.

As a player, Wooden was the first to be named basketball All-American three times and he won a national championship at Purdue. Wooden was named a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player (inducted in 1961) and as a coach (in 1973), the first person ever enshrined in both categories. Only Lenny Wilkens and Bill Sharman have since had the same honor.

He was one of the most revered coaches and was beloved by his former players, among them Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton. Wooden was renowned for his short, simple inspirational messages to his players, including his "Pyramid of Success." These often were directed at how to be a success in life as well as in basketball.

Early life and playing career

Born in 1910 in the town of Hall, Indiana, Wooden moved with his family to a small farm in Centerton in 1918. As a boy one of his role models was Fuzzy Vandivier of the Franklin Wonder Five, a legendary basketball team that dominated Indiana high school basketball from 1919 to 1922. After his family moved to the town of Martinsville when he was 14, he led the high school team to the state championship finals for three consecutive years, winning the tournament in 1927. He was a three time All-State selection.

After graduating in 1928, he attended Purdue University and was coached by Ward "Piggy" Lambert. He helped lead the Boilermakers to the 1932 National Championship, as determined by a panel vote rather than the NCAA tournament, which did not begin until 1939. John Wooden was named All-Big Ten and All-Midwestern (1930–32) while at Purdue, and he was the first player ever to be named a three-time consensus All-American. He was also selected for membership in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Wooden is also an honorary member of the International Co-Ed Fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. Wooden was nicknamed "The Indiana Rubber Man" for his suicidal dives on the hardcourt. He graduated from Purdue in 1932 with a degree in English.

After college, Wooden spent several years playing professionally with the Indianapolis Kautskys (later the Indianapolis Jets), Whiting Ciesar All-Americans, and Hammond Ciesar All-Americans while teaching and coaching in the high school ranks. During one 46-game stretch he made 134 consecutive free throws. He was named to the NBL's First Team for the 1937–38 season.

In 1942, during World War II, he joined the Navy. He served for nearly three years and left the service as a lieutenant.

In 1961, he was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame for his achievements as a player.

Family and faith

Wooden was the son of Roxie Anna and Joshua Hugh Wooden. He had three brothers: Maurice, Daniel, and William. His two sisters died before reaching the age of three. One was unnamed and died in infancy, while Cordelia died from diphtheria when she was two.

Wooden met his future wife, Nellie (Nell) Riley, at a carnival in July 1926. They married in a small ceremony in Indianapolis in August 1932. Afterwards, they attended a Mills Brothers concert at the Circle Theatre to celebrate. John and his wife had a son, James Hugh Wooden, and a daughter, Nancy Anne Muehlhausen. Nellie died on March 21, 1985 from cancer.

Wooden remained devoted to Nellie, even decades after her death, until Wooden's own death. Since her death, he kept to a monthly ritual (health permitting)—on the 21st, he visited her grave, and then wrote a love letter to her. After completing the letter, he placed it in an envelope and added it to a stack of similar letters that accumulated over the years on the pillow she slept on during their life together. Wooden only stopped writing the letters in the last months of his life due to failing eyesight.

In mourning Nellie's death, Wooden was comforted by his faith. He was a devout Christian, considering his beliefs more important to him than basketball: "I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior." Wooden's faith strongly influenced his life. He read the Bible daily and attended the First Christian Church. He said that he hoped his faith was apparent to others: "If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me."

Coaching career

High school

Wooden coached two years at Dayton High School in Kentucky. His first year at Dayton marked the only time he had a losing record (6–11) as a coach. After Dayton, he returned to Indiana, teaching English and coaching basketball at South Bend Central High School until entering the Armed Forces. His high school coaching record over 11 years, two at Dayton and nine at Central, was 218–42.

Indiana State University

After World War II, Wooden coached at Indiana State Teacher's College (now Indiana State University) in Terre Haute, Indiana, from 1946 to 1948, succeeding his high school coach, Glenn Curtis. In addition to his duties as basketball coach, Wooden also coached baseball and served as athletic director, all while teaching and completing his master's degree in Education. In 1947, Wooden's basketball team won the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament in Kansas City. Wooden refused the invitation, citing the NAIB's policy banning African American players. One of Wooden's players was Clarence Walker, an African-American from East Chicago, Indiana.

That same year, Wooden's alma mater Purdue University wanted him to return to campus and serve as an assistant to then-head coach Mel Taube until Taube's contract expired. Then, at that time, Wooden would take over the program. Citing his loyalty to Taube, Wooden declined, as this would have effectively made Taube a lame-duck coach.

In 1948, Wooden again led Indiana State to the conference title. The NAIB had reversed its policy banning African-American players that year, and Wooden coached his team to the NAIB National Tournament final, losing to Louisville. This was the only championship game a Wooden-coached team ever lost. That year, Walker became the first African-American to play in any post-season intercollegiate basketball tournament. John Wooden was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame on February 3, 1984.

UCLA

After the 1947–48 season, Wooden became the head coach at UCLA, after negotiating for a three-year contract. UCLA had actually been his second choice for a coaching position in 1948. He had also been pursued for the head coaching position at the University of Minnesota, and it was his and his wife's desire to remain in the Midwest. But inclement weather in Minnesota prevented Wooden from receiving the scheduled phone offer from the Golden Gophers. Thinking that they had lost interest, Wooden accepted the head coaching job with the Bruins instead. Officials from the University of Minnesota contacted Wooden right after he accepted the position at UCLA, but he declined their offer because he had given his word to the Bruins.

Wooden had immediate success, fashioning an "instant turnaround" for an undistinguished, faltering program. In 1948, he took a UCLA team that had a 12–13 record the previous year and transformed it into a Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) Southern Division Champion with a 22–7 record, the most wins in a season for UCLA since it started playing basketball in 1919. He surpassed that number the next season with 24–7 and a second Southern Division Championship and PCC outright, and won a third and fourth straight Southern Division Championship his first four years. Up to that time, UCLA had collected a total of two such championships the previous 30 years.

In spite of these achievements, Wooden reportedly did not initially enjoy his position, and his wife did not favor living in Los Angeles. When Mel Taube left Purdue in 1950, Wooden's inclination was to return and finally accept the head coaching job there. He was ultimately dissuaded when UCLA officials reminded him that it was he who had insisted upon a three-year commitment during negotiations in 1948. Wooden felt that leaving UCLA prior to the expiration of his contract would be tantamount to breaking his word.

By the 1955-56 season, Wooden had established a sustained success at UCLA. That year, he guided the team to its first undefeated PCC conference title, and a 17-game winning streak that came to an end only at the hands of Bill Russell's University of San Francisco team in the 1956 NCAA Tournament. However, UCLA was unable to advance from this level over the immediately ensuing seasons, finding itself unable to return to the NCAA Tournament as the Pete Newell-coached teams at the University of California, Berkeley took control of the conference at the end of the decade. Also hampering the fortunes of Wooden's team during that time period was a probation imposed on all UCLA sports in the aftermath of a scandal involving illegal payments made to players on the school's football team, along with USC, Cal and Stanford, resulting in the dismantling of the PCC conference.

By 1962, with the probation no longer in place, Wooden had righted the basketball program's ship and returned his team to the top of the conference. This time, however, they would take the next step, and in so doing, unleash a run of dominance unparalleled in the history of college basketball. A narrow loss, due largely to a controversial foul call, in the semifinal of the 1962 NCAA Tournament convinced Wooden that his Bruins were ready to contend for national championships. Two seasons later, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place when assistant coach Jerry Norman persuaded Wooden that the team's small-sized players and fast-paced offense would be complemented by the adoption of a zone press defense. The result was a dramatic increase in scoring, giving UCLA a powerhouse team that went undefeated on its way to the school's first basketball national championship.

Wooden's team repeated as national champions the following season before the 1966 squad fell briefly, finishing second in the conference. However, the Bruins' 1967 incarnation returned with a vengeance, reclaiming not only the conference title, but the national crown, and then retaining it every season but one until Wooden's retirement in 1975.

Wooden coached what would prove to be his final game in Pauley Pavilion on March 1, 1975, in a 93–59 victory over Stanford. Four weeks later, following a 75–74 overtime victory over Louisville in the 1975 NCAA Tournament semifinal game, Wooden announced that he would retire immediately after the championship game. His legendary coaching career concluded triumphantly, as his team responded with a win over Kentucky to claim Wooden's first career coaching victory over the Wildcats and his unprecedented 10th national championship.

In 2004, a 93-year old Wooden stated that he wouldn't mind coming back as an assistant who could help players with practices and other light duties.

During his tenure with the Bruins, Wooden became known as the "Wizard of Westwood" (although he personally disdained the nickname) and gained lasting fame with UCLA by winning 620 games in 27 seasons and 10 NCAA titles during his last 12 seasons, including seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. His UCLA teams also had a record winning streak of 88 games and four perfect 30–0 seasons. They also won 38 straight games in NCAA Tournaments and 98 straight home game wins at Pauley Pavilion. Wooden was named NCAA College Basketball's "Coach of the Year" in 1964, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973. In 1967, he was named the Henry Iba Award USBWA College Basketball Coach of the Year. In 1972, he shared ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award with Billie Jean King. He was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1973, becoming the first to be honored as both a player and a coach.

"He never made more than $35,000 a year salary (not including camps and speaking engagements), including 1975, the year he won his 10th national championship, and never asked for a raise," wrote Rick Reilly of ESPN. He was given a Bruin powder blue Mercedes that season as a retirement gift. According to his own writings, Wooden turned down an offer to coach the Los Angeles Lakers from owner Jack Kent Cooke that may have been ten times what UCLA was paying him.

Criticism of Wooden with regard to his stewardship of the UCLA basketball program has most often focused on his failure to investigate or curtail his players' involvement with Sam Gilbert, a UCLA booster who was a prominent figure in the players' circle in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. A 1981 investigation by the ''Los Angeles Times'' found that Gilbert had regularly arranged to procure items such as automobiles, clothing and airline tickets for UCLA players, and in so doing, apparently committed numerous violations of NCAA regulations. The investigation did not uncover evidence that Wooden had explicit personal awareness of Gilbert's activities. However, Gilbert's overall influence in the lives of the players was so well-known, the ''Times'' reporters concluded that if Wooden was not cognizant of the specifics of Gilbert's favors for players, it was only because Wooden made no effort to discover those details. For his part, Wooden acknowledged that he had always felt uneasy about Gilbert's relationship with the players, but steadfastly denied having knowledge at the time of anything done by Gilbert that was in violation of NCAA regulations. He also asserted that both he and UCLA athletic director J.D. Morgan had advised players to steer clear of Gilbert, but that ultimately they could not control the players' or Gilbert's actions. Given what later came to light, however, Wooden granted that he may have had "tunnel vision" and that he perhaps "trusted too much". Nonetheless, Wooden said that his "conscience [was] clear" with regard to his own role in the matter.

Head coaching record

Wooden championships

! Year	! Record	! Final Opponent	! Final Score	! Notes
	30–0		98–83
	28–2		91–80	The Bruins are led by senior All-American guard Gail Goodrich and their zone press. Goodrich scores 42 points in the final against Michigan and Cazzie Russell.
	30–0		79–64	The Bruins start a junior and four sophomores, including Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). UCLA defeats unranked Dayton and Don May in the title game.
	29–1		78–55	UCLA's 47-game winning streak comes to an end on January 20 when the Bruins are beaten by Houston and All-American Elvin Hayes in the Astrodome 71–69 in front of the biggest college basketball crowd in NCAA history (52,693) in the nation's first nationally televised regular season college basketball game. The game was known as the Game of the Century. Lew Alcindor was limited from having been hospitalized the week before with a scratched cornea. The Bruins, at full strength, avenged the loss in a rematch with Houston in the NCAA semi-finals, beat the Cougars 101–69. UCLA then defeated North Carolina in the title game to become the only team to win consecutive NCAA championships twice.
	29–1		92–72	UCLA defeats Wooden's alma mater Purdue and their All-America Rick Mount in the championship game. UCLA becomes the only school to win three NCAA Basketball Championships in a row and Wooden becomes the first coach to win five NCAA championships. Lew Alcindor finishes his career at UCLA with an 88–2 record.
	28–2		80–69	Even with the graduation of Alcindor (Abdul-Jabbar), UCLA wins its fourth in a row. The Bruins come back from a nine-point first half deficit as junior Sidney Wicks outshines Artis Gilmore in the title game.
	29–1		68–62	Senior Steve Patterson scores 29 points in the championship game against Villanova and tourney MVP Howard Porter (basketball)
	30–0		81–76	Sophomore [[Bill Walton leads the Bruins to their sixth championship in a row. The Bruins have a rough time with Florida State and their great ball handler, Otto Petty, in the closest game of all their title wins, but their margin of victory in the NCAA tournament is a record 30.3 points. They become the first team to post three 30–0 seasons.
	30–0		87–66	The Bruins become the only team in history with back-to-back undefeated seasons as they win their seventh straight. In the championship game, junior Bill Walton hits 21 of 22 field goal attempts and scores 44 points in one of the greatest offensive performances in the history of the NCAA tournament.
	28–3		92–85

Legacy

The John Wooden era at UCLA is unrivaled in terms of national championships. The next-closest school, on the women's side, Tennessee, has won eight championships with the next-winningest coach, Pat Summitt. For men's basketball, Adolph Rupp and Mike Krzyzewski have won four national championships; Bob Knight has won three titles and has an undefeated season (Wooden had four perfect seasons, with Geno Auriemma also having four with the Connecticut women's team; no other men's or women's Division I coach has more than one).

UCLA celebrates John Wooden Day every February 29.

In 2009, John R. Wooden was named The Sporting News "Greatest Coach of All Time".

Honors

Wooden has been recognized numerous times for his achievements. After his coaching career ended UCLA continued to honor Wooden with the title of Head Men's Basketball Coach Emeritus On November 17, 2006, Wooden was recognized for his impact on college basketball as a member of the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was one of five, along with Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Dean Smith and Dr. James Naismith, selected to represent the inaugural class. He was inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009 in St. Louis. Coach Wooden was the ninth honoree in the Missouri Valley Conference's Lifetime Achievement category. Wooden said the honor he was most proud of was "Outstanding Basketball Coach of the U.S." by his denomination, the Christian Church.

Since 1977, the most coveted of four college basketball player of the year awards has been named the John R. Wooden Award. This award has attained the status of being the equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy for college basketball, with the winner announced during a ceremony held at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The MVP award for the McDonald's All-American Game in high-school basketball is named the "John R. Wooden Most Valuable Player Award". Two annual doubleheader men's basketball events called the "John R. Wooden Classic" and the "John R. Wooden Tradition" are held in Wooden's honor.

He has schools and athletic facilities named after him. The gym at his alma mater Martinsville High School bears his name, and in 2005 a high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District was renamed to John R. Wooden High School. In 2003, UCLA dedicated the basketball court in Pauley Pavilion in honor of John and Nell Wooden. Named the "Nell & John Wooden Court," Wooden asked for the change from the original proposal of the "John & Nell Wooden Court," insisting that his wife's name should come first. In 2008, Indiana State also bestowed this honor on Wooden by naming their home court in the Hulman Center the "Nellie and John Wooden Court." The student recreation center at UCLA is also named in his honor. Also in 2008, Wooden was honored with a commemorative bronze plaque in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Memorial Court of Honor because his UCLA basketball teams played six seasons in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. On Wooden's 96th birthday in 2006, a post office in Reseda, California, near where Wooden's daughter lives, was renamed the Coach John Wooden Post Office. This act was signed by President George W. Bush based on legislation introduced by Congressman Brad Sherman.

On July 23, 2003, John Wooden received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. It was presented by George W. Bush after a three-year campaign by Andre McCarter, who was on Wooden's 1975 National Championship team. The Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership at California State University, Long Beach established the John Wooden Ethics in Leadership Award in 2009, with Wooden being the inaugural recipient. In 1986 John Wooden was honored as an Outstanding Alumnus of the School of Liberal Arts at Purdue University – the first year the award was given.

On October 14, 2010, the Undergraduate Student Association Council of UCLA held a "John Wooden Day Celebration" to honor Wooden's 100th birthday and to commemorate his contributions to the university. A portion of the Morgan Center was set apart as a recreation of Wooden's office to honor his memory on campus.

Golf Digest lists John Wooden as one of four people to hit both a double eagle and a hole in one in the same round of golf. The feat was accomplished in 1947 at the South Bend Country Club in South Bend, Indiana.

The flagship leadership development program of Wooden’s fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, is named "The John and Nellie Wooden Institute for Men of Principle" after Coach Wooden and his wife, Nellie. Coach Wooden’s maxims and Creed are central to the teaching of leadership development at the Institute.

Following Wooden

Four coaches left UCLA in the nine years following Wooden. One former UCLA head coach, former ESPN analyst and current St. John's head coach Steve Lavin (fired from UCLA in 2003), has said "The mythology and pathology of UCLA basketball isn't going to change" due to Wooden's legacy and believes that every basketball coach will eventually be fired or forced out from UCLA.

Wooden's immediate successor at UCLA, Gene Bartow, went 28–5 in 1976, but was blown out twice that season by the eventual national champions Indiana, the second time in the '76 Final Four, and lost 76–75 in the 1977 West Region semi-finals to Idaho State University. Bartow won 85.2% of his games (compared to Wooden's 80.8%) in two years, yet supposedly received death threats from unsatisfied UCLA fans. Wooden himself has often joked about being a victim of his own success, calling his successors on the phone and playfully identifying himself ominously as "we the alumni..." In his autobiography, Wooden recounts walking off the court after his last game coaching in 1975, having just won his tenth title, only to have a UCLA fan walk up and say, "Great win coach, this makes up for letting us down last year" (UCLA had lost in the semi-finals double overtime in 1974) Bartow's successor, Wooden's protege, Gary Cunningham, posted an even better two year record after Bartow, .862 (50–8) and No. 2 rankings each year, but could not proceed past two wins in the NCAA's, and left. Larry Brown came next, racking up more losses, 17, in two years than UCLA had experienced the previous four, yet with a near magical end season run typical of his career, he managed to coach UCLA into the finals of the Final 4 in 1980. He left. UCLA went 20 years after Wooden's retirement before winning another national basketball championship, finally hanging a banner again in 1995 under coach Jim Harrick. In 2006, Ben Howland led the team back to the national championship game for the first time since the 1995 title game.

Health and death

Wooden was in good health until the final years of his life. On April 3, 2006, he spent three days in a Los Angeles hospital receiving treatment for diverticulitis. He was hospitalized again in 2007 for bleeding in the colon, with his daughter quoted as saying her father was "doing well" upon his subsequent release. Wooden was hospitalized on March 1, 2008, after a fall in his home. He broke his left wrist and his collarbone in the fall, but remained in good condition according to his daughter and was given around-the-clock supervision. In February, 2009, he was hospitalized for four weeks with pneumonia.

On May 26, 2010, Wooden was admitted to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after suffering from dehydration and remained hospitalized there until his death the following week. He died of natural causes on June 4, 2010, at the age of 99. Wooden was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park following a private ceremony, and a public memorial service was held two weeks later at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.

Seven Point Creed

John Wooden's Seven Point Creed, given to him by his father Joshua upon his graduation from grammar school:

Be true to yourself.

Make each day your masterpiece.

Help others.

Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

Make friendship a fine art.

Build a shelter against a rainy day.

Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

Wooden also authored a lecture and a book about the Pyramid of Success. The Pyramid of Success consists of philosophical building blocks for winning at basketball and at life. In his later years he was hired by corporations to deliver inspirational lectures and even appeared in commercials for Hartford Insurance and the NCAA. Following his death, all UCLA teams wore either a patch or helmet sticker with the initials "JRW" inside a black pyramid, in honor of his philosophy. It is generally known that he received lecture fees that exceeded the salaries he was paid as a coach. Wooden proudly claimed that these late in life windfalls allowed him to set up education accounts for all of his grandchildren. In a 2009 interview, John Wooden described himself politically as a "liberal Democrat," who had voted for some Republican presidential candidates. At the top of the Pyramid of Success was "Competitive Greatness" which Wooden defined as "Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day."

Wooden was also the author of several other books about basketball and life.

Among Wooden's maxims:

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Flexibility is the key to stability.

Be quick, but don't hurry.

Publications

Coach John Wooden and Don Yaeger (2009) ''A Game Plan for Life'', Bloomsbury USA, ISBN 978-1-59-691701-9

John Wooden (2009) ''Coach Wooden's Leadership Game Plan for Success: 12 Lessons for Extraordinary Performance and Personal Excellence'', McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-07-162614-9

John Wooden with Steve Jamison (2006) ''The Essential Wooden'', McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-07-148435-0

John Wooden (2005) ''Wooden on Leadership'', McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-07-145339-4

John Wooden with Steve Jamison (2004) ''My Personal Best'', McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-07-143792-9

John Wooden (2003) ''They Call Me Coach'', McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-07-142491-2

John Wooden with Steve Jamison (1997) ''Wooden'', McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-8092-3041-9

John Wooden (1966) ''Practical Modern Basketball''. The Ronald Press Company.

References

External links

Pyramid of Success (Printable PDF)

The Coach Wooden Cup

The Wooden Course – Designed to teach Wooden's life philosophy

Bill Walton's tribute to Wooden

John Wooden's Best Players - slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Video: Coach John Wooden speaks about basketball, life and death

Video: Vin Scully talks about how he met Coach John Wooden

John Wooden on the difference between winning and success

John Wooden's business partner and co-author, Steve Jamison speaks about the legendary UCLA coach on Hard Court Lessons Radio

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da:John Robert Wooden de:John Wooden es:John Wooden fr:John Wooden it:John Wooden he:ג'ון וודן pl:John Wooden ru:Вуден, Джон sr:Џон Вуден fi:John Wooden sv:John Wooden tr:John Wooden

name	Bill Walton
number	32, 5
position	Center
height ft	6
height in	11
weight lb	210
birth date	November 05, 1952
birth place	La Mesa, California
nationality	American
high school	Helix (La Mesa, California)
college	UCLA (1970–1974)
draft year	1974
draft round	1
draft pick	1
draft team	Portland Trail Blazers
career start	1974
career end	1987
years1	–
team1	Portland Trail Blazers
years2	–
team2	San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers
years3	–
team3	Boston Celtics
highlights	2× NBA Champion (, ) NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (1977) NBA Most Valuable Player () NBA Sixth Man of the Year () 2× NBA All-Star (–) All-NBA First Team () All-NBA Second Team (1977) 2× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1977–1978) 2× NCAA Champion (1972–1973) 2× NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player (1972–1973) 3× Naismith College Player of the Year (1972–1974) 3× USBWA Player of the Year (1972–1974) 3× Adolph Rupp Trophy (1972–1974) 2× Helms Foundation College Player of the Year (1972–1973) 3× ''Sporting News'' College Player of the Year (1972–1974) 2× AP College Player of the Year (1972–1973) 3× Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1972–1974) NBA 50th Anniversary Team #32 Retired by the Portland Trail Blazers
stats league	NBA
stat1label	Points
stat1value	6,215 (13.3 ppg)
stat2label	FG%
stat2value	52.1
stat3label	Blocks
stat3value	1,034 (2.2 bpg)
bbr	waltobi01
letter	w
hof player	william-t-bill-walton }}

William Theodore "Bill" Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is a retired American basketball player and television sportscaster. The "Big Red-Head", as he was called, achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s, winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, while leading the Bruins to two Division I national titles. He then went on to have a prominent career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) where he was a league Most Valuable Player (MVP) and won two NBA championships. His professional career was significantly hampered by multiple foot injuries. Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on May 10, 1993 and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame that same year. He is the father of current Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton.

Early life and college career

Walton was born in La Mesa, California, the son of Gloria Anne (née Hickey) and William Theodore "Ted" Walton. His listed adult playing height was 6 feet 11 inches; it has been reported that Walton was actually taller (7 feet 2 inches, or more), but did not like being categorized as a seven-footer.

He played high school basketball at Helix High School. At the age of 17, Walton played for the United States men's national basketball team at the 1970 FIBA World Championship. He played college basketball for John Wooden at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1971 to 1974, winning the national title in 1972 over Florida State and again in 1973 with an 87–66 win over Memphis State in which Walton made an impressive 21 of 22 field goal attempts and scored 44 points. The Walton-led 1971–72 UCLA basketball team had a record of 30–0, in the process winning its games by an average margin of more than 30 points. He was the backbone of two consecutive 30–0 seasons and was also part of UCLA's NCAA men's basketball record 88-game winning streak. The UCLA streak contributed to a personal winning streak that lasted almost five years, in which Walton's high school, UCLA freshman (freshmen were ineligible for the varsity at that time), and UCLA varsity teams did not lose a game from the middle of his junior year of high school to the middle of his senior year in college.

Bill Walton was the 1973 recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Walton also received the USBWA College Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year as the top college basketball player in the country three years in a row while attending UCLA, at the same time earning Academic All-American honors three times. Some college basketball historians rate Walton as the greatest who ever played the game at the college level. In Bill Walton's senior year during the 1973–74 season, the school's 88-game winning streak ended with a 71–70 loss to the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish. During the same season, UCLA's record seven consecutive national titles was broken when North Carolina State defeated the Bruins 80–77 in double overtime in the NCAA semi-finals. With Walton's graduation in 1974 and legendary Bruin coach John Wooden's retirement after UCLA's 1975 national title, the unprecedented UCLA dynasty came to an end.

NBA career

On leaving college, Walton was drafted by the San Diego Conquistadors of the American Basketball Association and also taken as the number one overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1974 NBA Draft and was hailed as the savior of the Portland franchise. He signed with the Trail Blazers but his first two seasons were marred by injury (at different times he broke his nose, foot, wrist and leg) and the Blazers missed the playoffs both years. It was not until the 1976–77 season that he was healthy enough to play 65 games and, spurred by new head coach Jack Ramsay, the Trail Blazers became the Cinderella team of the NBA. Walton led the NBA in both rebounds per game and blocked shots per game that season, and he was selected to the NBA All-Star Game, but did not participate due to an injury. Walton was named to the NBA's First All-Defensive Team and the All-NBA Second Team for his regular season accomplishments. In the postseason, Walton led Portland to a sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference finals (arguably holding his own against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during the series) and went on to help the Trail Blazers to the NBA title over the favored Philadelphia 76ers despite losing the first two games of the series. Walton was named the Finals MVP.

The following year, the Blazers won 50 of their first 60 games before Walton suffered a broken foot in what turned out to be the first in a string of foot and ankle injuries that cut short his career. He nonetheless won the league MVP that season (1978) and the ''Sporting News'' NBA MVP, as well. He played in his only All-Star Game in 1978 and was named to both the NBA's First All-Defensive Team and the All-NBA First Team. Walton returned to action for the playoffs, but was reinjured in the second game of a series against the Seattle SuperSonics. Without Walton to lead them, Portland lost the series to Seattle in six games. As it turned out, Walton would never play for the Trail Blazers again. During the offseason, Walton demanded to be traded, citing unethical and incompetent treatment of his and other players' injuries by the Blazers' front office. He did not get his wish and sat out the 1978–79 season in protest, signing with the San Diego Clippers when he became a free agent in 1979.

Walton spent several seasons alternating between the court and the disabled list with his hometown San Diego Clippers. After the 1984–85 campaign, Walton called on two of the league's premier teams, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. After several players on the Celtics said they liked the idea of having Walton as a teammate backing up Robert Parish and Kevin McHale, Red Auerbach made the deal happen. One anecdote that particularly illustrates Walton's decision to choose the Celtics over the Lakers involves Larry Bird, who happened to be in Auerbach's office when Walton called. Bird said that if Walton felt healthy enough to play that it was good enough for him, as opposed to Lakers GM Jerry West, who was hedging his interest in Walton pending a doctor's report. Boston acquired Walton by sending popular forward Cedric Maxwell to the Clippers along with a first-round draft pick. Providing a reliable backup to McHale and Parish, Walton played in a career-high 80 games and received the NBA Sixth Man Award that season en route to the NBA Championship, becoming the only player to have ever won an NBA Finals MVP, Sixth Man Award, and regular season MVP.

Walton injured himself again the following season, but returned for the 1987 playoffs. He spent the 1987–88 season on the injured list. He attempted a comeback in February 1990, but injury intervened and he retired from the game. His ankle problems became so severe years later that he had both his ankles surgically fused. His saga of injury and failed rehabs was connected to the use of pain killers by the doctor who was assigned to his case. Walton has said repeatedly in his broadcasts that he is just as much to blame for taking the medication as the doctor was for giving it to him. Yet his experience with injuries and the circumstances surrounding them have come to serve as a warning for professional athletes who undergo major injury, as well as being an interesting case study for medical ethics. In a June 8, 2010 interview on ''The Dan Patrick Show'', Walton admitted to contemplating suicide for a time due to the constant pain resulting from injuries sustained during his NBA career. His injuries, along with his 1978–1979 year-long protest, gave him an unpleasant, if not odd, record. Walton holds the record for the most games missed during an NBA playing career, when taking into account the number of years he was officially listed as a player on a team roster.

Walton was inducted into both the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. Walton also had his number 32 retired by the Blazers in 1989. His number 32 was also retired at UCLA, in a joint ceremony with fellow basketball legend, number 33, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor). He is also enshrined in the UCLA Hall of Fame. In 1996, he was named as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of all time. He was added to the San Diego Hall of Champions in 1990.

Broadcasting

After his retirement as a player, Walton overcame a stuttering problem to become a successful and controversial NBA color commentator for NBC (1990–2002), Los Angeles Clippers (1990–2002) and ABC/ESPN (2002–2009). Walton's trademark catchphrases included, "That's a ''terrible'' call! ''Terrible,''" "Where in the world is [x]?" (for a player who has disappeared from a game), "What is a foul?", "Dial a violation," "He couldn't even inbound the ball!", "Throw it down, big man! Throw it down!", and "Basketball is a game played by men competing for the ultimate prize". Also, after a predominantly one-handed player made a basket going to his strong hand, Walton would often summarize the action and then say, "He's left-handed by the way Marv" or "Someone should tell player |x| that player |y| is left-handed and promises to be so for the remainder of the game," indicating that perhaps the defender should have defended that side of the player. In addition, his commentary during games was notable for his frequent use of hyperbole. Walton typically was paired with Steve "Snapper" Jones for NBA games because he and Jones had a point-counterpoint banter during games. Despite their frequent on-air argumentative banter they are actually good friends, as was shown in Walton's short lived 2003 TV series ''Bill Walton's Long Strange Trip''.

After nineteen years working in broadcasting, he left ESPN in November 2009, as the result of back problems dating back to an injury suffered while playing at UCLA. Following surgery on his back, Walton returned to broadcasting as a part-time commentator for the Sacramento Kings and the Boston Celtics.

Personal life

Walton currently resides in his hometown of San Diego with his wife Lori. He and his first wife, Susie, have four sons: Adam, Nathan, Luke, and Chris. Luke, although not as tall as his father, played at the collegiate level for the University of Arizona and now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers as a small forward, a team with whom he won in both the 2009 and 2010 NBA Finals, making them the third father-son pair to have both won an NBA championship. Another of Walton's sons, Chris, played for San Diego State University. Nate, his middle son, played basketball at Princeton University but then entered the corporate world and earned his MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. (Bill Walton attended Stanford Law School for two years but never graduated.) Nate was on the ballot for the 2003 California Recall Election, receiving 1,697 votes. Walton's other son, Adam, also played NCAA basketball at Louisiana State University.

Walton is a well-known fan of the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers Band, Neil Young, Phish, and Bob Dylan. He attended more than 650 Grateful Dead concerts, including traveling with the band to Egypt for its famous 1978 performance before the Pyramids (joining the band on drums), quotes Dead lyrics in TV and radio interviews. To fellow Deadheads, Walton is fondly known as "Grateful Red" and the "Big Red Deadhead" and "World's Tallest Deadhead". In the video for "Touch of Grey", Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart is wearing a Celtics jacket that was given to him by Walton. In 2001, Bill Walton was inducted into The Grateful Dead Hall of Honor.

Walton expounds upon his music interests on his own satellite radio show, ''One More Saturday Night'' (named after the Dead song of the same name), heard during late prime time on Sirius Radio's Jam On and XM Radio's Grateful Dead channel. Walton has stated in his online introduction to his radio show column that he enjoys going to concerts alone because then he has fewer things in between him and reaching the omega point that all concert goers seek at shows.

Walton still has a committed relationship with the Celtics, if not professionally, as a fan. Despite the area where he grew up, and the team his son Luke plays for, Walton is careful to point out, "Even though I grew up in the heart of Laker country, the Celtics were always MY team". He keeps a picture of the floor of the old Boston Garden in his kitchen. Walton joined the Celtics broadcast crew for a West Coast road trip in 2011.

In 1990, Walton was inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.

In popular culture

Walton has cameo appearances in the films ''Celtic Pride'', ''Little Nicky'' and ''Semi-Pro''. Walton also appeared as Sven the Wise in the 2011 Capital One Visigoth SportsNet commercials.

Bill Walton is a playable character in the video games ''NBA Street Vol. 2'' (2003) and ''NBA Street V3'' (2005), and lent his voice to ESPN NBA 2K5 and NBA Shootout 2004.

Walton is parodied in a popular Twitter account (@TheBillWalton) entitled 'The Bill Walton Trip' that has been featured in the Washington Post and on live NCAA coverage discussed by fellow former UCLA great and NBA professional Marques Johnson. Due to the content and increased popularity of the feed, it was featured on ESPN.com Page 2 and commented on by Bill Walton himself.

Further reading

References

External links

Bill Walton's official site

Bill Walton's Historical Profile on NBA.com

Hoopedia bio

Bill Walton commentary on Pete Maravich

Bill Walton statistics

1972–74 Oscar Robertson Trophy USBWA College Player of the Year

Category:1952 births Category:American basketball players Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from California Category:Boston Celtics players Category:Centers (basketball) Category:James E. Sullivan Award recipients Category:Living people Category:Los Angeles Clippers players Category:Los Angeles Clippers broadcasters Category:National Basketball Association broadcasters Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from San Diego, California Category:Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Category:Portland Trail Blazers players Category:San Diego Clippers players Category:San Diego Conquistadors draft picks Category:Stanford Law School alumni Category:UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:College basketball announcers in the United States Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees

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Name	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Width	250px
Position	Center
Height ft	7 |height_in2
Weight lbs	225
Number	33
Birth date	April 16, 1947
Birth place	New York City
Career start	1969
Career end	1989
Draftyear	1969
Draftteam	Milwaukee Bucks
Draftround	1
Draftpick	1
College	UCLA
Teams	Milwaukee Bucks (1969–1975) Los Angeles Lakers (1975–1989)
Stat1label	Points
Stat1value	38,387
Stat2label	Rebounds
Stat2value	17,440
Stat3label	Blocks
Stat3value	3,189
Bbr	abdulka01
Letter	a
Highlights	6× NBA Champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987–1988) 6× NBA Most Valuable Player (–, , –, ) 19× NBA All-Star (1970–1977, 1979–1989) 2× NBA Finals MVP (1971, 1985) 10× All-NBA First Team (–, –, –, , ) 5× All-NBA Second Team (, –, , ) 5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (–, –) 6× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (–, –, ) NBA Rookie of the Year () NBA All-Rookie Team () NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team 3× NCAA Men's Basketball Champion (1967–1969) 3× NCAA Basketball Tournament MOP (1967–1969) Naismith College Player of the Year (1969) 2× USBWA College Player of the Year (1967–1968) No.33 retired by Milwaukee Bucks No.33 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
Hof player	kareem-abdul-jabbar }}

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr., April 16, 1947) is a retired American basketball player, coach, actor, and author. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar scored more points than any other player in league history, won six NBA championships and a record six regular season MVP Awards. In college at UCLA, he played on three consecutive national championship teams, and his high school team won 71 consecutive games. At the time of his retirement, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's all-time leader in points scored, games played, minutes played, field goals made, field goal attempts, blocked shots, defensive rebounds, and personal fouls.

Early life

Abdul-Jabbar was born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr on April 16, 1947, and grew up in Manhattan in New York City, the only child of Cora Lillian, a department store price checker, and Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Sr, a transit police officer and jazz musician. At birth, he weighed 12 pounds, 10 ounces (5.73 kg), and was twenty-two and a half inches (57.2 cm) long. He was raised as a Catholic and attended St. Jude School in the Inwood section of Manhattan. Later in life he converted to Islam. He initially joined the Nation of Islam in 1968, before retaking the Shahada and converting to Sunni Islam that same summer.

From an early age he began his record-breaking basketball accomplishments. In high school, he led Power Memorial Academy to three straight New York City Catholic championships, a 71-game winning streak, and a 79–2 overall record.

College

Lew Alcindor played three seasons for the UCLA Bruins from 1966–69 under coach John Wooden, contributing to the team's three-year record of 88 wins and only two losses: one to the University of Houston (see below) and the other to crosstown rival USC who played a "stall game" (i.e., there was no shot clock in those days, so a team could hold the ball as long as it wanted before attempting to score).

During his college career, Alcindor was twice named Player of the Year (1967, 1969), was a three-time First Team All-American (1967–69), played on three NCAA basketball champion teams (1967, 1968, 1969), was honored as the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament (1967, 1968, 1969), and became the first-ever Naismith College Player of the Year in 1969.

In 1967 and 1968 he also won USBWA College Player of the Year which later became the Oscar Robertson Trophy. Alcindor became the only player to win the Helms Foundation Player of the Year award three times. The 1965–1966 UCLA Bruin team was the preseason #1. But on November 27, 1965, the freshman team led by Alcindor defeated the varsity team 75–60 in the first game in the new Pauley Pavilion. Alcindor scored 31 points and had 21 rebounds in that game.

The dunk was banned in college basketball after the 1967 season, primarily because of Alcindor's dominant use of the shot. It was not allowed again until 1976.

While playing for UCLA, he suffered a scratched left cornea on January 12, 1968, at the Cal game when he was struck by Tom Henderson of Cal in a rebound battle. He would miss the next two games against Stanford and Portland. This happened right before the momentous game against Houston. His cornea later would be scratched again during his pro career, subsequently causing him to wear goggles for protection.

Alcindor boycotted the 1968 Summer Olympics by deciding not to join the United States Men's Olympic Basketball team that year, protesting the unequal treatment of African-Americans in the United States.

Besides playing basketball, Alcindor also earned a degree in history from UCLA.

Game of the Century

On January 20, 1968, Alcindor and the UCLA Bruins faced the Houston Cougars in the first-ever nationally televised regular season college basketball game. In front of 52,693 fans at the Houston Astrodome, Elvin Hayes scored 39 points and had 15 rebounds—while Alcindor, who suffered from a scratch on his left cornea, was held to just 15 points—as Houston beat UCLA 71–69. The Bruins' 47-game winning streak ended in what has been called the "Game of the Century". Hayes and Alcindor would have a rematch in the 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament where UCLA with a healthy Alcindor, would defeat Houston in the semi-finals 101–69, and go on to win the National Championship.

School records

Alcindor had an outstanding career at UCLA. As of the 2008–2009 season, he still holds or shares a number of individual records at UCLA:

Highest career scoring average: 26.4

Most career field goals: 943 (tied with Don MacLean)

Most points in a season: 870 (1967)

Highest season scoring average: 29.0 (1967)

Most field goals in a season: 346 (1967)

Most free throw attempts in a season: 274 (1967)

Most points in a single game: 61

Most field goals in a single game: 26 (vs. Washington State, February 25, 1967)

Professional career

Milwaukee Bucks

The Harlem Globetrotters offered him $1 million to play for them, but he declined, and was picked first in the 1969 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks (who were in only their second season of existence.) The Bucks won a coin-toss with the Phoenix Suns for first pick. He was also chosen first overall in the 1969 American Basketball Association draft by the New York Nets. The Nets believed that they had the upper hand in securing Alcindor's services because he was from New York; however, when Alcindor told both the Bucks and the Nets that he would accept one offer only from each team, the Nets bid too low.

Lew Alcindor's entry into the NBA was timely, as center Bill Russell had just left the Boston Celtics, and Wilt Chamberlain, though still effective, was 33 years old. Alcindor's presence enabled the 1969–70 Bucks to claim second place in the NBA's Eastern Division with a 56–26 record (up from 27–55 the previous year), and he was an instant star, ranking second in the league in scoring (28.8 ppg) and third in rebounding (14.5 rpg), for which he was awarded the title of NBA Rookie of the Year.

The next season the Bucks acquired All-Star guard Oscar Robertson, known to sports fans as "the Big 'O'." Milwaukee went on to record the best record in the league with 66 victories in the 1970–71 NBA season, including a then-record of 20 straight wins. Alcindor was awarded his first of six NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, along with his first scoring title (31.7 ppg). In the playoffs, the Bucks went 12–2 (including a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals), won the championship, and Alcindor was named Finals MVP. On May 1, 1971, the day after the Bucks won the NBA championship, he adopted the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, its Arabic translation roughly "generous/noble (Kareem), servant of (Abdul) the mighty/stern one (Jabbar) [i.e., of God]."

Abdul-Jabbar remained a dominant force for Milwaukee, repeating as scoring champion (34.8 ppg) and NBA Most Valuable Player the following year, and helping the Bucks to repeat as division leaders for four straight years. In 1974, Abdul-Jabbar won his third MVP Award in five years and was among the top five NBA players in scoring (27.0 ppg, third), rebounding (14.5 rpg, fourth), blocked shots (283, second), and field goal percentage (.539, second).

While remaining relatively injury-free throughout his NBA career, Abdul-Jabbar twice broke his hand. The first time was during a pre-season game in 1974, when he was bumped hard and got his eye scratched, which angered him enough to punch the basket support stanchion. When he returned, after missing the first 16 games of the season, he started to wear protective goggles. The second time he broke his hand was in the opening game of the 1977–78 NBA season. Two minutes into the game, Abdul-Jabbar punched Milwaukee's Kent Benson in retaliation for an overly aggressive elbow. He was out for two months.

Although Abdul-Jabbar always spoke well of Milwaukee and its fans, he said that being in the Midwest did not fit his cultural needs and requested a trade to either New York or Los Angeles in October 1974.

Los Angeles Lakers

In 1975, the Lakers acquired Abdul-Jabbar and reserve center Walt Wesley from the Bucks for center Elmore Smith, guard Brian Winters, and rookie "blue chippers" Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgeman. In the 1975–76 season, his first with the Lakers, he had a dominating season, averaging 27.7 points per game and leading the league in rebounding, blocked shots, and minutes played. His 1,111 defensive rebounds remains the NBA single-season record (defensive rebounds were not recorded prior to the 1973–74 season). Also it marked the last time anyone had 4,000 or more PRA (Points + Rebounds + Assists) in a single NBA season. He earned his fourth MVP award, but missed the post-season for the second straight year.

Once he joined the Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar began wearing his trademark goggles (he briefly ditched them in the 1979–80 season). Years of battling under NBA backboards, and being hit and scratched in the face in the process, had taken their toll on his eyes and he developed corneal erosion syndrome, where the eyes begin to dry out easily and cease to produce moisture. He once missed a game in the 1986–87 season due to his eyes drying out and swelling as a result.

In the 1976–77 season, Abdul-Jabbar had another strong season. He led the league in field goal percentage, finished second in rebounds and blocked shots, and third in points per game. He helped lead the Lakers to the best record in the NBA, and he won his record-tying fifth MVP award. In the playoffs, the Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference semi-finals, setting up a confrontation with the Portland Trail Blazers. The result was a memorable matchup, pitting Abdul-Jabbar against a young, injury-free Bill Walton. Although Abdul-Jabbar dominated the series statistically, Walton and the Trail Blazers (who were experiencing their first-ever run in the playoffs) swept the Lakers, behind Walton's skillful passing and leadership.

Abdul-Jabbar's play remained strong during the next two seasons, being named to the All-NBA Second Team twice, the All-Defense First Team once, and the All-Defense Second Team once. The Lakers, however, continued to be stymied in the playoffs, being eliminated by the Seattle SuperSonics in both 1978 and 1979.

In 1979, the Lakers acquired 1st overall draft pick Earvin "Magic" Johnson. The trade and draft paved the way for a Laker dynasty as they went on to become one of the most dominant teams of the 1980s, appearing in the finals eight times and winning five NBA championships. Individually, while Abdul-Jabbar was not the dominant center he had been in the 1970s, he experienced a number of highlight moments. Among them were his record sixth MVP award in 1980, four more All-NBA First Team designations, two more All-Defense First Team designations, the 1985 Finals MVP, and on April 5, 1984 breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record for career points. Later in his career, he bulked up to about 265 pounds, to be able to withstand the strain of playing the highly physical center position into his early 40s.

While in L.A., Abdul-Jabbar started doing yoga in 1976 to improve his flexibility, and was notable for his physical fitness regimen. He says, "There is no way I could have played as long as I did without yoga."

In 1983, Abdul-Jabbar's house burnt down, incinerating many of his belongings including his beloved jazz LP collection. Many Lakers fans sent and brought him albums, which he found uplifting.

On June 28, 1989, after twenty professional seasons, Abdul-Jabbar announced his retirement. On his "retirement tour" he received standing ovations at games, home and away and gifts ranging from a yacht that said "Captain Skyhook" to framed jerseys from his basketball career to an Afghan rug. In his biography ''My Life'', Magic Johnson recalls that in Abdul-Jabbar's farewell game, many Lakers and Celtics legends participated. Every player wore Abdul-Jabbar's trademark goggles and had to try a sky hook at least once, which led to comic results. The Lakers made the NBA Finals in each of Abdul-Jabbar's final three seasons, defeating Boston in 1987, and Detroit in 1988. The Lakers lost to the Pistons in a four-game sweep in his final season. .

At the time of his retirement, Jabbar held the record for most games played by a single player in the NBA; this would later be broken by Robert Parish.

Post-NBA career

Since 2005, Abdul-Jabbar has served as special assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. Abdul-Jabbar had been interested in coaching since his retirement, and given the influence he had on the league, he thought that the opportunity would present itself. However, during his playing years, Abdul-Jabbar had developed a reputation of being introverted and sullen. He did not speak to the press, leading to the impression that he disliked them. In his biography ''My Life'', Magic Johnson recalls instances when Abdul-Jabbar brushed him off when Magic (as a ball boy) asked for his autograph, Abdul-Jabbar froze out reporters who gave him a too enthusiastic handshake or even hugged him, and refused to stop reading the newspaper while giving an interview. Many basketball observers, in addition to Abdul-Jabbar, believe that Kareem's reticence, whether through disdain for the press corps or simply because of introversion, contributed to the dearth of coaching opportunities offered to Abdul-Jabbar by the NBA. In his words, he said he had a mindset he could not overcome, and proceeded through his career oblivious to the effect his reticence may have had on his coaching prospects in the future. Abdul-Jabbar said: "I didn't understand that I also had affected people that way and that's what it was all about. I always saw it like they were trying to pry. I was way too suspicious and I paid a price for it." Since he began lobbying for a coaching position in 1995, he has managed to obtain only low-level assistant and scouting jobs in the NBA, and a head coaching position only in a minor professional league.

Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament wrote the song "Sweet Lew" about a similar incident when he met Abdul-Jabbar whom he "idolized" at a charity game and got a "complete lack of response or interest". Ament was upset by the incident. The song appears on the Pearl Jam's B-Sides compilation ''Lost Dogs''.

Abdul-Jabbar has worked as an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Seattle SuperSonics, helping mentor, among others, their young centers, Michael Olowokandi and Jerome James. Abdul-Jabbar was the head coach of the Oklahoma Storm of the United States Basketball League in 2002, leading the team to the league's championship that season, but he failed to land the head coaching position at Columbia University a year later. He then worked as a scout for the New York Knicks. Finally, on September 2, 2005, he returned to the Lakers as a special assistant to Phil Jackson to help the Lakers' centers, and in particular their young draftee Andrew Bynum. Abdul-Jabbar's influence has been credited with Bynum's emergence as a more talented NBA center. Abdul-Jabbar has also served as a volunteer coach at Alchesay High School on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Whiteriver, Arizona in 1998.

Acting career

Playing in Los Angeles facilitated Abdul-Jabbar's trying his hand at acting. He made his film debut in Bruce Lee's posthumous 1978 film ''Game of Death'', in which his character Hakim fought Billy Lo (played by Lee). His character was the last and most dangerous guardian that Bruce Lee's character had to face. In the extended footage of the final fight scenes of the film (which were shot in 1973), which last about half an hour, Abdul-Jabbar and Lee fight on the highest level of a pagoda in which Lee's character had to fight his way up. In real-life, Abdul-Jabbar was a student of Lee's Jeet Kune Do fighting philosophy.

In 1980, he played co-pilot Roger Murdock in ''Airplane!''. Abdul-Jabbar has a memorable scene in which a little boy looks at him and remarks that he is in fact Abdul-Jabbar—spoofing the appearance of football star Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch as an airplane pilot in the 1957 drama ''Zero Hour!''. Staying in character, Abdul-Jabbar states that he is merely Roger Murdock, an airline co-pilot, but the boy continues to insist that Abdul-Jabbar is "the greatest", but that, according to his father, he doesn't "work hard on defense" and "never really tries, except during the playoffs". This causes Abdul-Jabbar's character to snap, "The hell I don't!", then grab the boy and snarl he has "heard that crap since UCLA", he "busts his buns every night" and the boy should tell his "old man to drag [Bill] Walton and [Bob] Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes". When Murdock passes out later in the film, he is carried out wearing Abdul-Jabbar's goggles and yellow Lakers' shorts.

Abdul-Jabbar has had numerous other television and film appearances, often playing himself, including appearances in the movie ''Fletch'', the sitcoms ''Full House'', ''Living Single'', ''Amen'', ''Everybody Loves Raymond'', ''Martin'', ''Diff'rent Strokes'' (his height humorously contrasted with that of diminutive child star Gary Coleman), ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'', ''Scrubs'', ''21 Jump Street'' and ''Emergency!''. Jabbar played a genie in lamp in a 1984 episode of ''Tales From The Darkside''. He also appeared in the telemovie version of Stephen King's ''The Stand'', played the Archangel of Basketball in ''Slam Dunk Ernest'', and a brief non-speaking cameo appearance in ''BASEketball''. Abdul-Jabbar was also the co-executive producer of the 1994 TV movie, ''The Vernon Johns Story''. He has also made appearances on ''The Colbert Report'', in a 2006 skit called "HipHopKetball II: The ReJazzebration Remix '06" and in 2008 as a stage manager who is sent out on a mission to find Nazi Gold. On Al Jazeera English he expressed his desire to be remembered not just as a player, but somebody who had many talents and used them.

Player profile

Abdul-Jabbar played the center position and is regarded as one of the best players of all time. He is the all-time leading NBA scorer with 38,387 points, having collected six titles, six regular season MVP and two Finals MVP awards, fifteen NBA First or Second Teams, a record nineteen NBA All-Star call-ups and averaging 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 blocks per game. He is also the third all-time in registered blocks (3,189), which is even more impressive because this stat had not been recorded until the fourth year of his career (1974).

On offense, Abdul-Jabbar was an unstoppable low-post threat. In contrast to other low-post dominators like Wilt Chamberlain, Artis Gilmore or Shaquille O'Neal, Abdul-Jabbar was a relatively slender player, standing 7–2 but only weighing 225 lbs (though in his latter years the Lakers listed Abdul-Jabbar's weight as 265). However, he made up for his relative lack of bulk by showing textbook finesse, strength and was famous for his ambidextrous skyhook shot (see below), which defenders found impossible to block. It contributed to his high .559 field goal accuracy, making him the eighth most accurate scorer of all time and a feared clutch shooter. Abdul-Jabbar was also quick enough to run the "Showtime" fast break led by Magic Johnson and was well-conditioned, standing on the hardwood an average 36.8 minutes. In contrast to other big men, Abdul-Jabbar also could reasonably hit his free throws, finishing with a career 72% average.

On defense, Abdul-Jabbar maintained a dominant presence. He was selected to the NBA All-Defensive Team eleven times. He frustrated opponents with his superior shot-blocking ability, denying an average 2.6 shots a game.

As a teammate, Abdul-Jabbar exuded natural leadership and was affectionately called "Cap" or "Captain" by his colleagues. He was also known for his strict fitness regime, which made him one of the most durable players of all time. In the NBA, his 20 seasons and 1,560 games are performances surpassed only by Robert Parish.

Abdul-Jabbar made the NBA's 35th and 50th Anniversary Teams, and was named one of the 50 Greatest Players of All Time in 1996.

Sky hook

Abdul-Jabbar was well known for his trademark "sky hook", a hook shot in which he bent his entire body (rather than just the arm) like a straw in one fluid motion to raise the ball and then release it at the highest point of his arm's arching motion. Combined with his long arms and great height (7 feet 2 inches), the sky hook was nearly impossible for a defender to block without goaltending. Only a few have blocked his legendary skyhook, including basketball greats Wilt Chamberlain and Hakeem Olajuwon. It was a reliable and feared offensive weapon and contributed to his high lifetime field goal percentage of .559. As a twist, he was adept at shooting the skyhook with either hand, which made him even more difficult to defend against. According to Abdul-Jabbar, he learned the move in fifth grade after practicing with the Mikan Drill and soon learned to value it, as it was "the only shot I could use that didn't get smashed back in my face".

NBA career and statistics

Teams and years

1969–75 Milwaukee Bucks

1975–89 Los Angeles Lakers

Statistics

Games played – 1560 (2nd most in NBA history)

Field goal % – 55.9 (10th highest in NBA history)

Free throw % – 72.1

Three-point % – 05.6

Rebounds – 17,440 (3rd most in NBA history)

Rebounds per game – 11.2 (23rd highest in NBA history)

Assists – 5,660 (34th in NBA history)

Assist per game – 3.6

Steals – 1,160

Steals per game – 0.74

Blocks – 3,189 (3rd most in NBA history) (Note: blocks were not officially tabulated until the 1973–74 season)

Blocks per game – 2.57

Points per game – 24.6 (14th highest in NBA history)

Holds NBA career record for:

Most points (38,387)

* Most minutes played (57,446)

* Most field goals made (15,837)

* Most field goals attempted (28,307)

* Most All-Star selections (19)

* Most All-Star games played (18)

Career highs

40 point games

70 times in the regular season 55 with Milwaukee Bucks 15 with Los Angeles Lakers

50 point games

All of Abdul-Jabbar's 50 point efforts occurred while he played for the Milwaukee Bucks. His career high as a Laker was 48 points against the Portland Trail Blazers on .

! Points	! Opponent	! Home/Away	! Date	Field goal (basketball)>FGM	! FGA	Free throw (basketball)>FTM	! FTA
55	Boston Celtics	Home		23	36	9
53	Cleveland Cavaliers	Away		20	32	13
53	Boston Celtics	Away		22	31	9
53	Cleveland Cavaliers	Away		23	31	7
53	Philadelphia 76ers	Home		18	28	17	22
52	Atlanta Hawks	Home		18	29	16	20
51	Seattle SuperSonics	Neutral		18	25	15	23
51	Boston Celtics	Away		21	36	9
50	Los Angeles Lakers	Away		22	39	6
50	Portland Trail Blazers	Home		18	30	14

Top shot-blocking efforts

	Occurred in playoff competition

! Blocks	! Opponent	! Home/Away	! Date	! Minutes played	Point (basketball)>Points	Rebound (basketball)>Rebounds	Assist (basketball)>Assists
	Detroit Pistons	Away		46	29	21	2
	Detroit Pistons	Home		43	27	16	4
	Kansas City Kings	Home		41	25	15	3
	Detroit Pistons	Home		53	19	16	5
	Atlanta Hawks	Home		49	39	23	5
	Atlanta Hawks	Home		39	28	15	2
	Detroit Pistons	Home		35	19	10	0
9	Phoenix Suns	Away		39	18	17	2
9	Milwaukee Bucks	Away		45	30	20	5
9	Portland Trail Blazers	Home		46	41	20	3
9	Phoenix Suns	Home		26	28	12	1
9	Golden State Warriors	Home		40	40	19	3
9	New Orleans Jazz	Away		48	34	16	6
9	Chicago Bulls	Away		44	18	10	8
9	Indiana Pacers	Away		40	25	13	8

Regular season

! Stat	! High	! Opponent	! Date
Points	55	vs. Boston Celtics
Field goals made, none missed	11—11	vs. Phoenix Suns
Field goals made, none missed	10—10	vs. Golden State Warriors
Field goals made	24	vs. Houston Rockets
Field goal attempts	39	at Los Angeles Lakers
Free throws made, none missed	—
Free throws made	20	at Boston Celtics
Free throw attempts	25	at Boston Celtics
		vs. Detroit Pistons
Rebounds	30	at Boston Celtics
		at New Jersey Nets
Offensive rebounds
		vs. Detroit Pistons
Assists	14	at Seattle SuperSonics
Steals
Minutes played	60	at Cleveland Cavaliers

Playoffs

! Stat	! High	! Opponent	! Date
Points	46	vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Field goals made	20	at Chicago Bulls
Field goals made	19	vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Field goal attempts	37	vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Field goal attempts	37	vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Free throws made	13
Free throw attempts	18
Rebounds	31	vs. New York Knicks
Defensive rebounds	18	vs. Golden State Warriors
Assists	11	at New York Knicks
Steals	6	at Portland Trail Blazers
Blocked shots	9	vs. Golden State Warriors
Blocked shots	8	at Portland Trail Blazers
Blocked shots	8	at Portland Trail Blazers
Blocked shots	7	vs. Denver Nuggets
Blocked shots	7	vs. Seattle SuperSonics

Athletic honors

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (May 15, 1995)

College:

* Player of the Year (1967, 1969)

* Three-time First Team All-American (1967–69)

* Three-time NCAA champion (1967, 1968, 1969)

* Most Outstanding Player in NCAA Tournament (1967, 1968, 1969)

* Naismith College Player of the Year (1969)

National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (2007)

National Basketball Association:

* Rookie of the Year (1970)

* Six-time NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)

* Most Valuable Player (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)

* Sporting News NBA MVP (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)

* Finals Most Valuable Player (1971, 1985)

* ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" (1985)

* One of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996)

* First player in NBA history to play 20 seasons

* #7 in SLAM Magazine's Top 50 NBA Players of all time in 2009.

As author

Abdul-Jabbar is also a best-selling author. His first book, his autobiography ''Giant Steps'', was written in 1983 with co-author Peter Knobler. (The book's title is an homage to jazz great John Coltrane.) His latest is ''On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance'', co-written with Raymond Obstfeld. His previous book, ''Brothers In Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII's "Forgotten Heroes'', co-written with Anthony Walton, is a history of an all-black armored unit that served with distinction in Europe.

Bibliography:

''Giant Steps'', with Peter Knobler (1983) ISBN 0-553-05044-3

''Kareem'', with Mignon McCarthy (1990) ISBN 0-394-55927-4

''Selected from Giant Steps (Writers' Voices)'' (1999) ISBN 0-7857-9912-5

''Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy of African-American Achievement'', with Alan Steinberg (1996) ISBN 0-688-13097-6

''A Season on the Reservation: My Sojourn with the White Mountain Apaches'', with Stephen Singular (2000) ISBN 0-688-17077-3

''Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes'' with Anthony Walton (2004) ISBN 978-0767909136

''On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance'' with Raymond Obstfeld (2007) ISBN 978-1416534884

Audio Book:

''On the Shoulders of Giants: An Audio Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance'' 8 CD Set Vol. 1–4, with Avery Brooks, Jesse L. Martin, Maya Angelou, Herbie Hancock, Billy Crystal, Charles Barkley, James Worthy, Julius Erving, Jerry West, Clyde Drexler, Bill Russell, Coach John Wooden, Stanley Crouch, Quincy Jones and other chart-topping musicians, as well as legendary actors and performers such as Samuel L. Jackson. (2008) ISBN 978-0-615-18301-5

In 2007, Abdul-Jabbar participated in the national UCLA alumni commercial entitled "My Big UCLA Moment." The UCLA commercial is featured on YouTube.

On February 10, 2011, Abdul-Jabbar debuted his film ''On the Shoulders of Giants'', documenting the tumultuous journey of the famed yet often-overlooked Harlem Renaissance professional basketball team, at Science Park High School in Newark, NJ. The event was simulcasted live throughout the school, city, and state.

Personal life

Abdul-Jabbar was married to Habiba Abdul-Jabbar (born Janice Brown), and together they had three children: daughters Habiba and Sultana and son Kareem Jr., who also played basketball. They were divorced in 1978. He has another son, Amir, with Cheryl Pistono. Another son, Adam, made an appearance on the TV sitcom ''Full House'' with him.

Religion and name

Speaking about the thinking behind his change of name when he converted to Islam he said to ''Playboy'' that he was "latching on to something that was part of my heritage, because many of the slaves who were brought here were Muslims. My family was brought to America by a French planter named Alcindor, who came here from Trinidad in the 18th century. My people were Yoruba, and their culture survived slavery (...) My father found out about that when I was a kid, and it gave me all I needed to know that, hey, I was somebody, even if nobody else knew about it. When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. And that's a terrible burden on black people, because they don't have an accurate idea of their history, which has been either suppressed or distorted."

Abdul-Jabbar reached a settlement after suing Miami Dolphins running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar (now Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar, born Sharmon Shah) because he felt Karim was sponging off the name he made famous by having the Abdul-Jabbar moniker and number 33 on his Dolphins jersey, even though names are not protectable under U.S. copyright laws. As a result, the younger Abdul-Jabbar had to change his jersey nameplate to simply "Abdul" while playing for the Dolphins. The football player had also been an athlete at UCLA.

Health problems

Abdul-Jabbar suffers from migraines, and his use of cannabis to reduce the symptoms has had legal ramifications.

In November 2009, Abdul-Jabbar announced that he was suffering from a form of leukemia, Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. The disease was diagnosed in December 2008, but Abdul-Jabbar said his condition could be managed by taking oral medication daily, seeing his specialist every other month and getting his blood analyzed regularly. He expressed in a 2009 press conference that he did not believe that the illness would stop him from leading a normal life. Abdul-Jabbar became a spokesman for Novartis, the company that produces his cancer medication, Gleevec.

In February 2011, Abdul-Jabbar announced via Twitter that his leukemia was gone and was "100% cancer free". A few days later, he clarified his misstatement. "You're never really cancer-free and I should have known that," Abdul-Jabbar said. "My cancer right now is at an absolute minimum."

See also

NBA

List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders

List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff blocks leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most rebounds in a game

List of National Basketball Association players with most blocks in a game

List of individual National Basketball Association scoring leaders by season

College

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 60 or more points in a game

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds

References

External links

Official Kareem Abdul-Jabbar website

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Blog

Kareem's complete bio @ NBA.com

1967–68 Oscar Robertson Trophy USBWA College Player of the Year

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar playerfile, stats, draft, NBA at 50, wallpapers

SPORT magazine, February 1976: Goodbye Schlitz, Hello Smog: Kareem Goes West Again

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Profile and Stats at LakersWeb.com

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: My Big UCLA Moment

Video: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar speaks about Coach John Wooden

Video: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gives the keynote address during the inauguration of UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball coaches Category:African American basketball players Category:African American Muslims Category:Converts to Islam Category:African American Muslims Category:American Muslims Category:African American non-fiction writers Category:American basketball players Category:African American film actors Category:American people of Yoruba descent Category:African American television actors Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from New York Category:People with cancer Category:College basketball announcers in the United States Category:Converts to Islam from Christianity Category:Los Angeles Clippers assistant coaches Category:Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches Category:Los Angeles Lakers players Category:Seattle SuperSonics assistant coaches Category:Male basketball centers Category:Milwaukee Bucks draft picks Category:Milwaukee Bucks players Category:National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:New York Nets draft picks Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:Sportspeople from Manhattan Category:UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Category:United States Basketball League coaches

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