Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born in New York City in 1947 and developed his basketball career at Power Memorial High School and UCLA. At Power Memorial, playing as Lew Alcindor, he scored 2,067 points across four varsity seasons, a total that set a New York City high school record. His signature skyhook, a high, sweeping shot delivered over defenders, became the most recognizable part of his game.
At UCLA, he helped the Bruins win three consecutive national championships. His professional career included the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, with one NBA championship in Milwaukee and five in Los Angeles. In 1971, a day after the Bucks won their title, he legally changed his name from Lew Alcindor to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, following a conversion to Islam that had begun during his college years.
His individual record includes six NBA Most Valuable Player awards, two Finals MVP awards and nineteen All-Star selections. He entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.
Abdul-Jabbar also developed a public voice beyond sports. In a signed 2014 TIME essay, he explicitly described himself as a Black man and criticized political advertising and restrictions on voting. In November 2016, the White House named him among that year's Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, citing basketball and social-justice advocacy.
Education became another part of that public work. His Skyhook Foundation provides outdoor environmental science education for children in underserved communities. Its Camp Skyhook program, delivered with the Los Angeles Unified School District, offers a five-day, four-night outdoor learning experience in the Angeles National Forest for fourth and fifth graders. UCLA and NASA contributed curriculum for hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities. UCLA's account of a November 2025 event describes the foundation's collaboration with schools and other partners continuing at a UCLA community school.
