“That’s where I learned to play the game” – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reflected on his New York playground roots

Before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and one of basketball’s most accomplished players, he was just another kid battling for respect on the playground courts of New York City.

Those unforgiving games on the asphalt court helped mold every aspect of his development long before he arrived at UCLA and the NBA. Even though he had already achieved nearly every feat a player could imagine, for Kareem, New York’s playgrounds were more than just places to hoop.

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They were his first laboratories.

“That’s where I learned to play the game,” Abdul-Jabbar told Fox Sports in 2020.

Coach Wooden’s system felt familiar to Kareem

That kind of environment turned out to be the ideal place for a young player who would eventually rise to the top at every level of the game. Abdul-Jabbar would become known around the world for his unstoppable skyhook, but long before that shot became his trademark, the playgrounds were teaching him things he couldn’t learn from a coach’s playbook.

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Kareem was developing his instincts and timing, learning to read both ends of the floor, improving his spatial skills and gaining a natural feel for the game.

At first glance, the jump from the fast and formless basketball of New York’s playgrounds to Coach John Wooden’s highly disciplined system at UCLA might seem like a major adjustment. However, “Lew” didn’t look at it that way. To Abdul-Jabbar, Wooden’s structure wasn’t a complete change from what he already knew.

“You know it didn’t really change my game that much,” Abdul-Jabbar revealed. “Walt Hazzard was the captain of Wooden’s very first NCAA championship team, and he was from Philly. He played that Philly game, which was quite similar to the way we played in the City. So there were elements of east coast basketball in Wooden’s more successful teams because he recruited from all over the country.”

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Instead of leaving behind the skills and imagination he had honed in New York, Abdul-Jabbar brought…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/thats-where-learned-play-game-202000321.html

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Publish date : 2026-08-30 20:20:00

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