How tall is Kareem Abdul Jabbar
A giant in stature, college basketball, the NBA and more
How tall is Kareem Abdul Jabbar? The official NBA website lists the iconic Bruin alumnus and NBA legend’s height as 7 feet and 2 inches.
Abdul Jabbar was always tall for his age, even as a child. How tall is Kareem Abdul Jabbar as a child? According to an NCAA article, he was 6 feet tall by the time he was 11 years old. And how tall is Kareem Abdul Jabbar at UCLA? By the time he came to UCLA, Abdul Jabbar was 7 feet and 1 inch tall.
Not only did Abdul Jabbar have a large stature, but he had a large presence on the court; he dominated intercollegiate basketball during his time with the Bruins from the beginning. In his first year, he led the freshman team to victory in UCLA's annual varsity-freshman exhibition game with a score of 75-60. It was the first time a freshman team had beaten the UCLA varsity team.
During Abdul Jabbar’s time as a UCLA varsity player, the Bruins lost only two of 90 total games. As of the 2019–2020 UCLA Men's Basketball team season, he still holds or shares a number of individual records at UCLA. According to Abdul Jabbar’s Wikipedia page, some of his records include:
Highest career scoring average: 26.4
Most career field goals: 943 — tied with Don MacLean
Most points in a season: 870 (1967)
Immediately after graduating from UCLA in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts in history and three consecutive NCAA titles, Abdul Jabbar entered the NBA. He was the top draft pick of the Milwaukee Bucks and shortly became the league's leading scorer, earning his first MVP title after leading the Bucks to their first championship in 1971. The same year, he legally changed his name from Lew Alcinor to his Muslim name, Kareem Abdul Jabbar. In 1974, Abdul Jabbar was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and played there for 14 seasons.
By the end of his 20-year NBA career in 1989, he was the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points (24.6 ppg), 17,440 rebounds (11.2 rpg), 3,189 blocks and a 0.559 field-goal percentage. He scored in double figures in 787 straight games. Abdul Jabbar was also a highly decorated player; he was a six-time playoff MVP, two-time NBA Finals MVP and 19-time All-Star with six NBA titles.
After retiring from the NBA, Abdul-Jabbar wrote several books, which became New York Times bestsellers. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in recognition of his advocacy for civil rights, cancer research, science education and social justice.
How tall is Kareem Abdul Jabbar? Seven feet and 2 inches. His uniquely large stature has aided him in an extraordinary basketball career, but his contributions to the NBA and larger society go far beyond his height.
