(LeBron James, whose first name is a French term meaning “The Bron,” will likely surpass him next year.) Lew Alcindor’s transformation to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was reminiscent of heavyweight boxer Cassius Clay announcing to the world that he had become a Muslim and had changed his name to Muhammad Ali shortly after he beat Sonny Liston and won the heavyweight title in 1964. (Chamberlain hailed from Overbrook Park, the same neighborhood as Kobe Bryant, another all-time National Basketball Association great.) Shortly after the Bucks won the NBA championship in 1971, Alcindor changed his name to Kareem-Abdul Jabbar and would go on to become what is as of this writing the top scorer in NBA history. When I was ten, my favorite basketball team was the Milwaukee Bucks, featuring black point guard Oscar Robertson and black center Lew Alcindor, who at 7’2” was even more of a biological freak than the 7’1” Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain, who was born in Philly and was easily the most famous basketball player of the 1960s. Since I am decent at the art of physical aggression but abjectly atrocious at sports requiring hand-eye coordination, I am in awe of anyone who can dribble and shoot a basketball or throw and hit a baseball with any degree of finesse.
I was good at reading and writing but abysmal at basketball, unlike my next-door neighbor, who wound up being drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1987. In the all-white, brick-and-cement neighborhood of my childhood, sports were more important than books.
Professor v trash talker movie#
J” Erving and Larry Bird choke one another, 1984.Īs the saying goes, “White men can’t jump.” That’s as may be, but black men can’t do math, yet you don’t see Hollywood filming a whole movie about it.
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