Thanks to Kareem and His Unbroken Line ««E "^
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2 S THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 1985 VIEWS OF SPORT S\ Thanks to Kareem and His Unbroken Line ««e "^ ed, a little musclebound. It was really more have flashed in the N.B.A. during basket By LANCE COMPA his build and his gait; Chamberlain was a ball's past 16 years — Charlie Scott, Spencer great athlete. His dominant image, then, was Haywood, Rick Mount, Dave Co wens, Mar I OR those of us who are Donald Trump's Abdul-Jabbar, class one of deliberate strength and bulk. This kid vin Barnes, Pete Maravich, Bill Walton, age, there is a special pleasure in Ka Alcindor loped and shot like a skinny six-foot David Thompson and others. But Kareem reem Abdul-Jabbar's 16th season in the er. has been the North Star, pulling rebounds, National Basketball Association. Scoring, re of '69, one of our own, When we were seniors in high school I met posting down low, drop-passing an assist, bounding, passing off, Kareem is leading the him. I was visiting my future college room turning for the great sky hook, always lead Los Angeles Lakers to another division is still a star in Michael mate, Frank McLaughlin, a star guard at ing his team to the playoffs. championship and playoff appearance. Fordham Prep and later captain of Ford- I always thought the sky hook was mis- " There's nothing new about that. More impor Jordan's game. ham's 1969 N.I.T. team. Frank and I went named. To me a hook shot implies a sweeping tant now is the unbroken line to our youth that from his Bronx home base to The New York arc, like Cliff Hagan's specialty (if that name Kareem represents. I was upset when the Post for him to be photographed with the 1965 means nothing, you're missing nay point). Rochester Royals left my hometown, but get all-city basketball team. He introduced me to Kareem's move is straight up with a slight this: A guy my age is still starring in the lean, like a long, narrow rectangle trans N.B.A.! I was a 5-foot-S-inch playmaking guard for forming itself into a tilted parallelogram Abdul-Jabbar is the only N.B.A. player McQuaid Jesuit High School, the diocesan poised on one point. Then, a gentle detent as who finished college before 1970. That means championship team in Rochester in 1964 and Mi • the shot is released. a lot to the tens of thousands of us who were 1965. Like most high school athletes, I got It is as skilled a shot as Julius Erving's high school jocks in the early 1960's. I can winnowed out in college and moved on to looping, under-the-basket reverse layups. name the starters and recount the comeback other things. But I stayed a fan, kept playing It's sweeter than the slam dunks of all the of the Loyola of Chicago team that shocked pickup ball, and now, although I can still turn "human highlight films." Kareem's sky hook Paul Hogue and Cincinnati for the N.C.A.A. an occasional nice move like a driving, dou is a craftsman's shot, the fruit of genius and championship in 1963. I recall necking with a ble-pump, hand-switching layup, 1 mostly experience. As much as sheer physical condi girlfriend on Sunday afternoons, guarding settle for perimeter jump shots. It is clear tioning, this foul-proof move has helped Ka my celibacy by watching Bill Russell and the why professionals have had it in their late reem survive 16 years among the N.B.A.'s Joneses on television at the same time. 30*s: the idea is still there, but the legs fail to musclemen. answer. And yet, there's Kareem, a guy my age, still turning it on in the N.B.A.. It's not just a matter of age. Kareem and I At this point in our contemporaries' lives— are part of the genuine 60's generation: high at least, those of us who prefer a good pickup The New York Times school from 1961 to 1965, college from 1965 to basketball game to an hour on the squash Pros: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and 1969. He and a handful of others went on to ca court — such a joining of excellence and sur reers as pro athletes. The rest of us went on to vival is the most attractive part of Kareem's his classic sky hook. the great, anonymous middle class, content game. In our late 30's we reach the top of our to quietly build families and working lives. own crafts in the working world — writing We are the front cohort of the post-World briefs, analyzing balance sheets, drafting personality, too, none of Magic Johnson's War II baby boom. Pretenders like Gary policies, presenting proposals, managing bubbly innocence or Moses Malone's impas- Hart and Jerry Rubin are going to have to get operations and the like. We still need some siveness. Kareem grimaces at bad breaks, out of the way. The Yuppie twits and Reagan- years of seasoning for judgment, but we've yells at refs for bad calls, jaws at Dr. J and ite clones of the 70's generation are going to learned to get to the heart of a problem and Larry Bird. have to wait. We're first in line for a broad, skip the unnecessary. That is the essence of Despite his consistent stardom, Kareem's generational movement into positions of in Kareem's game now. N.B.A. teams have won only three champion stitutional power. But hey, what's the rush As for many of us, Kareem's success did ships. He can never equal Bill Russell's 12 while one of our own is still astride the old not come trouble-free, even with his natural championship seasons. But Kareem's teams game? advantages. He didn't complain when he was have always been at or near the top. That's drafted by lowly Milwaukee in 1969. He could good enough for us who have learned that we The New Yoric Times have forced a move to Los Angeles or New can't win them all. It must have been late in my sophomore York to give the N.B.A. a media boost. In The N.B.A.'s newest sensation is Michael year of high school — I was just brought up to College: An early version of his stead, he went to Milwaukee and led them to Jordan of Chicago. He was only 2 when Ka the varsity for spot duty on steals and assists shot during tenure at U.C.L.A. a championship in two years. (He did move to reem and I got out of high school. Will Jordan — when we picked up talk of a seven-foot Los Angeles later, of course, in a concession still be at the top of bis game in the year 2000, sophomore in New York City named Lew Al- Alcindor there. The big guy enveloped my to economic reality that we all make at some as Kareem has accomplished? I doubt he can cindor. Word of mouth made legends then hand in a shake, we talked shop for a few point.) sustain those aerobatics for 16 seasons. But among high school ballplayers, and the word minutes, and that was that. Since then, I've Kareem has played through broken noses bald Kareem, class of '69, one of our own, is still a star in Michael Jordan's game. was out about the big fellow in New York only seen Kareem on television, sometimes and poked eyes (he has to use goggles now, who'd be taller than Wilt Chamberlain. in Sunday games — and always at playoff like a hockey goalie). He has suffered per "Check out the moves, watch the shot—no time. sonal woes—a failed marriage, lives lost in a way these guys are over the hill," says Ka Maybe a year later I finally saw a grainy, bizarre shooting incident in a Muslim com reem in his autobiography, speaking of a black-and-white film clip from a Power Me I haven't been particularly a Lakers fan. I was in New York and New England in the munity home he owned; his possessions de pickup game with his old high school buddies morial game. Alcindor's height was the first early 70's for great Knicks and Celtics teams. stroyed in a mysterious fire. a couple of years ago. He's talking to a lot of thing that hit me, until he started moving. In the late 70's I moved to Washington, where He has been shoved around by bulkier cen us. Even though I know better, I like to think, At that time Wilt was the seven-foot stand remembering that handshake when we were The Mew YorK Times we had a championship Bullets team. It's ters, with the fouling overlooked by referees ard. Nicknamed "the Stilt," he seemed stilt- only lately that I have begun to realize what who figure, rightly, that Kareem can take 18, that a molecule of mine is still caught on School: As Lew Alcindor, going Lance Compa plays basketball Wednesday Abdul-Jabbar is accomplishing. care of himself when push comes to position Kareem's fingertip, helping guide the sky for tip-in at Power Memorial. nights in Takoma Park, Md. Many shooting stars younger than Kareem for a shot or a rebound.