Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a former professional NBA player, author, and activist. Born Ferdinand Lewis “Lew” Alcindor in 1947 in Harlem, New York, he was raised in Manhattan, where he attended Power Memorial Catholic School before beginning his career as a college athlete at UCLA. Abdul-Jabbar was among the most famous NBA players in the 1970s and 1980s, and he is still considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and six MVP awards. By the end of his basketball career, he had set numerous records, including the most points scored and being the winner of the most MVP awards. His memoir, Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court, reveals his journey of growing up and coming of age as an athlete, Black American, Muslim, and activist during the 1960s. In this memoir, Abdul-Jabbar reveals that he was motivated to write down his experiences to inspire the younger generation as they, too, create their own identities and values.

Ferdinand Alcindor was Abdul-Jabbar’s father. He was a transit police officer and amateur musician and singer in New York City. The author characterizes his father as an extremely withdrawn and unhappy person who did not engage with him very much while he was growing up.