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Reader-Response Essay Partial Draft
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Basketball Player, and his Basketball Legacy
The source that I used, “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography” by Biography.com no authors are listed is a great source that gave me a lot of information that will help me with my reader response essay. I came across this website by entering my search question into Google. After looking through a dozen of articles “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography” had the most detailed information of all the links. This article gave me a lot of information that will be correlating to my search question which is this: What major influences did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have in his basketball career? The “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography” article had three sections that broke
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down his basketball legacy. First, came his information on how he was originally being born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. it also talks about his early years in high school basketball and college basketball with UCLA. Secondly, there was his start in the professional league with the Milwaukee Bucks and the information on how he converted to Islam and changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar which translates to “noble, powerful servant.” after the 1971 NBA finals. Lastly, there was his final years with Kareem not being happy in Milwaukee and getting traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. With these three different sections, this will give me enough detailed information to support my search question. First, being born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. was already showing prospect in basketball due to his height. In the article, it states that he was at least 6’8” and already dunking. The biography states “At the age of 9 he stood an impressive 5'8", and by the time he hit eighth grade, he'd grown another full foot and could already dunk a basketball” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). This quote gives us a reason that Ferdinand was already a good basketball player due to his height. The biography states a major accomplishment that Alcindor had in his high school basketball career was that he set a New York City record with most points, rebounds, and also winning 71 straight games and winning three city titles. The section states “He set New York City school records in scoring and rebounds, while simultaneously leading his team to an astonishing 71 consecutive wins and three straight city titles” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). This being said, Kareem was an amazing basketball player in his high school career holding the record in NYC for the most points and rebounds and with that being said this also gives support to my search question. Lastly, when he reached college Kareem was dominating the game in the NCAA. The article states that he led UCLA to three national championships and was also named the most outstanding player. The biography states “Alcindor led the Bruins to three national championships from 1967 to 1969 and was named the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament's Most Outstanding Player for those years” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). This quote gives concrete detail on how good of a basketball player Kareem was in college winning three national titles and also being named the most outstanding player as well. With all this information, just only in the first section, it gave me a lot of support and detail on how he was an amazing basketball player from his youth through his college career. Secondly, after he graduated from UCLA Alcindor was drafted to the Milwaukee Bucks with being chosen the first overall pick in the NBA draft.
In the article, it states that in the spring of 1969 the Bucks with only two years of existence choose Alcindor as their first overall NBA pick. The biography states “In the spring of 1969 the Milwaukee Bucks, in only their second year of existence, selected Alcindor with the first overall pick in the NBA draft” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). With this statement being said Ferdinand was an amazing basketball player to be chosen as the first overall pick in the NBA draft not a lot of athletes can say that in the professional league. After only being with the Bucks for only a year Alcindor was making great progress! He finished second in the league with most points, third in rebounds, and also being named the league rookie of the year he quickly adjusted to the game you can say. The article states “He finished second in the league in scoring and third in rebounding, and was named Rookie of the Year” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). This being said Alcindor made a big impact his first year in the NBA. After making a few adjustments to the Bucks rooster the following years and adding a well needed player Oscar Robertson in 1971 the Bucks finished their regular season 66 wins and 16 loses and the success did not stop there. They finished the season strong by sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in the 1971 NBA finals which means they won the series 4-0 and Alcindor played a big role in this. The biography states “The following season the Bucks, having added future Hall of Fame guard Oscar Robertson to their roster, made another huge leap. The team finished the regular season 66-16 and then steamrolled through the playoffs, sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in the 1971 NBA finals” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). In conclusion to the statement with Alcindor and Oscar in the team it made a big difference which lead the Bucks to win
a NBA final. Shortly after the season had ended Alcindor converted to Islam and also adopting the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar which translated to noble, powerful servant. The biography states “Shortly after the season ended, Alcindor converted to Islam and adopted the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, which translates into ‘noble, powerful servant’” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). This being said Alcindor made the change to convert to Islam and also change his name as well. With all this information in the second section we are given more information about his amazing career with the Milwaukee Bucks and also how he converted to Islam and how he changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Lastly, this section covers his last years with the Milwaukee Bucks and not being happy with them and getting traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. After having all this success with the Bucks, Kareem did not feel happy off the court in Milwaukee. Kareem talks about how he is only in Milwaukee because of the sport nothing else and how the city was not for his best interest. The article states “Even with all his on-the-court success as a Buck, Abdul-Jabbar struggled to find happiness off the court in his life in Milwaukee. ‘Live in Milwaukee?’ he said in an early magazine interview. ‘No, I guess you could say I exist in Milwaukee. I am a soldier hired for service and I will perform that service well. Basketball has given me a good life, but this town has nothing to do with my roots. There's no common ground’” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). What the article is stating that Kareem was not happy in Milwaukee and also that deep down that there is nothing there for him. At the end of the 1975 season Kareem demanded a trade to either New York or Los Angeles. He eventually ended up getting what he wanted and moved to Los Angeles to play for the Lakers. For the next 15 years Kareem played for the Lakers and it was meant to be. He was paired with the legendary Magic Johnson in the 1979-80 season which gave the Lakers a boost to win five NBA titles. The biography states “Over the next 15 seasons Abdul-Jabbar turned Los Angeles into a perennial winner. Beginning with the 1979-80 season, when he was paired with rookie point guard Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, the dominant center propelled the Lakers to five league titles” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). By the time, Kareem retired in 1989 he was the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points, first player in the NBA to play 20 seasons, 17,440 rebounds, 3,189 blocks and played 1,560 games. The article states “When Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989, he was the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points, and became the first NBA player to play for 20 seasons. His career totals included 17,440 rebounds, 3, 189 blocks and 1,560 games” (“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography”). In conclusion to this quote Kareem was a phenomenal basketball player with all these amazing stats and records. Work Cited “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography.” Biography.com 13 Feb. 2017. Web. 10 April 2017 .
It was not until the year 2002 that the NBA was able to find someone to match Jordan’s dazzling acrobatic style of play. His name is Lebron James. Lebron, who plays shooting guard and small forward, stands at an athletic six-eight. James, however, never played in the NCAA. He was drafted straight out of high school in the 2003-04 season, by the Cleveland Cavaliers. James is already on the road to success by achieving co-rookie of the year, and he appeared in the Olympics. James is expected to be a champion, but he may not have what it takes to become a real champion such as Michael Jordan was. Before Jordan or James can be categorized as a champion, they have to be able to handle pressure, fame, and maintain a positive relationship with their team. When comparing Jordan and James’ clutch capabilities, or their ab...
The NBA is well known for the number of amazing professional athletes it has had over the years. Some of the most gifted and talented individuals come through the NBA and one of the better-known superstars is none other than Kobe Bryant. For years people have wondered what makes Bryant so successful. The main contributors that lead to Kobe Bryant’s success is his hard work and dedication, his mindset, his natural ability’s and talent, and the people that have helped him throughout his life. Kobe Bryant was very successful in the NBA because of the amount of hard work he has put in, the people in his life, his relentless determination and his god given natural abilities.
He wasn’t just the best at basketball, but also very good at baseball. Michael had ended up returning back to the game of basketball because it didn’t feel right playing baseball. Obviously that was the right choice to do, because he had went on to do bigger and better things like make it into the Hall of Fame. Now who wouldn’t want to do that? Anyways, Michael was listed as one of the greatest players in all time NBA history, and I think by everything I’ve told you in this essay is some pretty good proof of why he is known as a so called legend. If you had watched one of his games in his prime time, you would know why he is now known as the G.O.A.T. Even though he had a hard life with his dad dying and other worries, he has done some great things. It doesn’t matter what happened in your life, because you can still accomplish many things, but it is up to you to choose how hard you will work. So, what will you
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Thesis Statement: Michael Jordan set records and has set the example of what the greatest basketball player can accomplish and really set the standards of what a hall of famer basketball player looks like.
When we were asked to start thinking of our topics for our research papers Michael Jordan had just announced his retirement from basketball. There were all of these specials on the sports channels and the news so I had to find out what all the commotion was about. This is why I chose Michael Jordan to be the topic of my research paper. I hoped to find out how he became to be considered the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. I learned about a lot about Michael during the first week of my search since he was getting so much attention from the media at the time.
First to do that in UCLA history. Also in 1941 Jackie had to drop out of UCLA just short of
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