BIG A; The story of Lew Alcindor

Ronald Koch (Cover photograph) New York: Scholastic Book Services, a division of Scholastic Magazines, Inc., 1971. First Printing [Stated]. Trade paperback. 112 pages. Illustrated. Cover has some wear, tears and soiling. Includes chapters on Ready for the Tap...; The Age of Alcindor: The Start of Something Big; Movies, Marbles, and Dancing School; School of Hard Knocks; Putting Teeth Into the Defense; Where There's a Wilt; Pride and Passion; Power Power; Lew's Last Hurrah; Picking a College; Lew the Brubabe; Coming-Out Time; Sitting on the Ball; The Dunk is Junked; Evil Eye; Hometown Reception; Sweet Revenge; Big Decisions; Lew Becomes Kareem; End of An Era; The Trojan Horse; Winners and Still Champions; The Million-Dollar Auction; Fabulous Rookie; Exhibition Time; Season's Greetings; Happy New Year; Ouch; The Spirited 76ERS; Pressure Points; Praise from Caesar; and Wait Till Next Year. This book covers the story of Lew Alcindor from childhood to smash success as a professional athlete. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.; April 16, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP. In 1996, he was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. NBA coach Pat Riley and players Isiah Thomas and Julius Erving have called him the greatest basketball player of all time.
After winning 71 consecutive basketball games on his high school team in New York City, Alcindor was recruited by Jerry Norman, the assistant coach of UCLA, where he played for coach John Wooden on three consecutive national championship teams and was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA Tournament. Drafted with the first overall pick by the one-season-old Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft, Alcindor spent six seasons in Milwaukee. After leading the Bucks to its 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 and won five additional 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 succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and got past the first round 14 times; his teams reached the NBA Finals on 10 occasions.
At the time of his retirement at age 42 in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's all-time leader in points scored (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes played (57,446), field goals made (15,837), field goal attempts (28,307), blocked shots (3,189), defensive rebounds (9,394), career wins (1,074), and personal fouls (4,657). He remains the all-time leader in points scored, field goals made, and career wins. He is ranked third all-time in both rebounds and blocked shots. In 2007, ESPN voted him the greatest center of all time,[8] in 2008, they named him the "greatest player in college basketball history", and in 2016, they named him the second best player in NBA history (behind Michael Jordan).[10] 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). 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.
Condition: Good.

Keywords: Basket Ball Players, Lew Alcindor, Professional Athletes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA, MVP, Valuable Player, All-Star, Milwaukee Bucks, Ronald Koch

[Book #81802]

Price: $25.00

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