Kareem Abdul Jabbar Research Paper

674 Words2 Pages

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

NBA's all-time leader in points scored (38,387)
6-time NBA Champion
6-time NBA All Star Player

Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. was raised up in a Roman Catholic family. He changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he converted to Islam. Abdul-Jabbar’s family was brought to America by colonist. Abdul-Jabbar wanted to follow his heritage, as many African slaves were Muslims back then. Abdul-Jabbar was known not only being the best player in the history of NBA, but also stay on the that top level for his 30 pro career years.
Abdul-Jabbar stated it is Islam that guides and supports him for 30 years. Islam makes his player career more like part of lifelong spiritual journey. He gradually learned to stay peaceful and made …show more content…

He won back-to-back champion in Houston and was the only player to have NBA MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP awards in the same season.
Hakeem Olajuwon was raised as Muslim, and he is a lifelong pious Muslim. Olajuwon spent a lot of time going back to Jordan, where he and his family pursue Islamic studies. Olajuwon strictly follow Ramadan, and that custom has not affect on him. He was even noted playing better during the month of Ramadan. An interesting thing in his life is that he only pays cash for commodity, because it is against Islamic law to pay interest.
Hakeem Olajuwon continues to help out the people. He opened the big man camp, where he teaches young frontcourt player to become better. He runs the camp for free. Olajuwon also served as the NBA ambassador of Africa. He devoted a lot of his post career time helping African people building up hospital and introducing basketball.

Quote:
"I studied the Qur'an every day. At home, at the mosque...I would read it in airplanes, before games and after them. I was soaking up the faith and learning new meanings each time I turned a page. I didn't dabble in the faith, I gave myself over to

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Kareem Abdul Jabbar Research Paper

The Philanthropy of Magic Johnson