Kareem

Third Quarter Moon

While the atmospheric-river/pineapple-express warm torrents of rain pummeled my humble camp again this week, I have passed the down time plowing through a neglected stack of books next to my reading chair. Larry McMurtry's Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen and The Son by Phillip Meyer are great "reads" as they say by two amazing storytellers. Give them a try if you have not already done so.

But personally, I got even more joy and fuel for introspection from two books by one of my all-time heroes, perhaps my favorite living hero, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. First I read Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court. I followed it with Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court.

I am not sure it matters what order you choose, but I loved both accounts of the parts of Kareem's life which he decided to share with us. I am five years younger than he is. When I was in 8th grade and just discovering that I could be a pretty decent basketball player at the local level, Kareem, then Lew Alcindor, had finished up his high school career at Power Memorial High School in Manhattan. His teams went 90-2 there and UCLA, having just won two consecutive Final Fours under Coach John Wooden, was fortunate enough to acquire Lew's services for the next four years.

My first three years of high school corresponded with his three years of varsity dominance with the Bruins, where he went 88-2, won three Final Fours and three Final Four MVP's, and solidified his position to enter the NBA, where he continued to build perhaps the most stellar basketball resume ever. Only the great Bill Russell's overall career can arguably compare with Kareem's. And, oh yeah, Kareem also graduated with a degree in history from UCLA with highest honors.

To say that I was inspired by his accomplishments on the court is a severe understatement. But as time went by, from the late 1960s through the 1980s and into the 21st century, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's public life and moral commitments off the court have served as measuring sticks, guides, and examples that I have tried my best to live up to as well.

Kareem is so much more than a 7'2" basketball legend. He is a teacher and a coach and a historian, a scholar, a thinker, an author, an advocate, a spokesman, and an icon, a son, a father, a teammate, a citizen, and an ambassador. And as you will see if you read these books, he is a deeply devoted, loving, intelligent human who will warm your soul, challenge your expectations and conceptions, and make you a better person, too.

Peace, Love, and Blessings to the Greatest of All Time,
Jim