LEW ALCINDOR

LEW ALCINDOR

When I was in the 8th grade at my Catholic elementary school, I distinctly remember an article in a monthly news letter that we received about a remarkable 6th grade kid in New York City. I think the news letter was called National Scholastic. In any case, it was a Catholic publication that went all over the country. Four years later, I heard more about this kid. His name was Lew Alcindor. He went to Power Memorial Academy. As a sophmore, he had led his team to the New York City Catholic League championship. Later, he led them to two more championships on his way to a 96-6 overall high school record.

This kid ended up going to college at UCLA. Freshmen weren't allowed to play varsity back then. In his three years playing on the varsity there for John Wooden, his team was 88-2 and won three NCAA National Championships.

During his time at UCLA, he converted to Islam and took the name of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. That's when my fascination with him ended.