The Story Behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Unstoppable Skyhook | Ball the Right Moves | The Ringer 

Kareem being the only player to master the skyhook is like if only one player in baseball history was ever able to throw a curveball. It's completely insane that a move so effective was never replicated.

Spectacular video. Loved the story of Wooden and Kareem refining the shot. There's a "missing link" element to the Sky Hook that you filled in here, which explains why it's so different (and difficult to emulate).

Just had a dream about Kareem telling me how to do the sky hook and now this

Everyone always talks about Kareem's skyhook but no one talks about Kareem's right hook 5:52

He also was secretly an airline pilot as he played for the Lakers.

Somehow the man with the most MVPs in NBA history is massively underrated. I love to see him get some love.

Actually, if you said 'George Gervin' I'd probably say 'Ice Man'.

In Magic Johnson's Fundamentals of Basketball , Kareem said he shot 500 hooks a day - 100 in close , 100 at the 12ft mark and 300 in the middle at about 8ft.

The thing that blows my mind is kareem went to the top of the nba scoreboards without a 3 point shot, AND he spent a full 4 at college. The absolute goat His social work is icing on the cake. He risked it all and came out on top.

My dad was at UW in late ‘60s. UCLA b-ball was in town. He went to the gym and saw Kareem practicing the sky hook. His practice partner was on a ladder with a broom, swatting back shots, yelling, “not enough arc!” Later, my dad was walking out of a bathroom and found a torso in his face. My dad craned his neck back, looked up, realized what had happened and muttered, “excuse me, Mr. Alcindor.”

Did he just say a 6’6” 10-year-old...?

An unfortunate result of his amazing hook, is people dont realise just how good his post game was overall

Kareem with good positioning. Magic with a pass. Kareem dribbles now. Swings left. Shoots right. Swish!

Crazy, I just watched "Minority of One" a couple days ago, now this. Kareem has an underrated case as the GOAT.

What we've all been waiting for. What this series was made for.

Can we agree that there is not one, but several NBA Goats?

Shout out to all the other people who still warm-up with Mikan drill.

Because of his prickly personality, might be the most underrated superstar ever.

These are by far the best videos put out by the Ringer. This guy is so good.

Watching this again years after and Walton's commentary regarding Kareem's body type resonates well with why he could develop that sky hook to that level. I don't think we've seen another NBA player who has that Scottie Pippen/Dr. J athletic mold in a 7'2" long frame. We've seen guys who try come close but they certainly aren't as coordinated or have that strength, balance and touch around from 12~15 feet away from the rim like Kareem had. Truly a unique icon of the NBA that still stands today.

Image if Tacko Fall developed the skyhook? With his 7'5" height and 8'4" wingspan it would be unblockable.

This series has become one of my favorite videos to watch. Keep them coming! I would love to see a discussion on the evolution of the attacking Guard (I.e. Kevin Johnson)

Hell yeah, some of the best bball content around

The most graceful athlete I’ve ever watched

When I was kid back in Kenya, I watched clips of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar along with Wilt Chamberlain, and I model my game after them. Most important, I learn the sky-hook and I shot it just like the master. I am currently working on a documentary of how to shoot the sky-hook shot like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. When I was learning the shoot, I notice three the following things that made the hook shot a sky-hook: the hop and step keeping shoulders pointed to the basketball jumping off one foot extending the shooting up and out above the shoulder As I was your video on the skyhook, I noticed a lot of things that I have covered in my intended documentary and I would love the share notes, and possibly collaborate in the documentary. I am not just bragging about my ability to do a documentary on the hook shot, I can shoot it like the master - check out for pivot skyhook options and I am sure you will agree with me. The hook shot has not followers today because nobody can teach it right.

This was a great video. Super informative and shines the light on a player that is strangely overlooked.

The skyhook can’t be matched because Kareem is legit the only person who could’ve shot it that way.

Thank you for another awesomely entertaining video Kyle! I look forward to every episode!

These are the best breakdown vids out there!

The video doesn't emphasize Kareem's athletic superiority to most players - maybe they just weren't very good at it. Kareem's apex-hesitation-flick skyhook requires so much physical coordination that very few players are even capable of approaching it. As Magic said, "so beautiful."

Amazing piece of content well done all involved.

I came to RU-vid wanting a doc on the skyhook while I eat, perfect.

Yes this is what I wanted! Thank you.

I love this! Kareem is definitely 1 of 1.

You will always be dime drop to me. New York Knicks " Misery" I'd say Spike Lee.. But after what they did to him and the crap Dolan has been doing during this pandemic and blm.. He might support the one close by....

Great video. Thanks! 👍

Love that wild Conan cameo

This is beautiful!

Fist time I’ve seen this channel - quality video mate

Two years later and this is such a great and thoughtful essay. Well done, J. Kyle.

One of the best Kareem videos I've seen

I LOVED the Mikan drill!! Except the times I’d get dizzy...

I do hope one day someone will bring the Skyhook back, man to that would be something to watch!!!

Great video. Nice research👌

I'm glad he's finally getting the respect he deserves. The media used to bully him because he was always so serious. Finally with his headline appearances in the political sphere recently he might be the most covered retired player at this point, and people are starting to do a bit of simple research to learn his shot was as old and as effective as the game wills it.

i tracked over 40 games specifically for the hook, Kareem was 150/247 on the right handed skyhook (60.7%) mainly between 1975-85

Awesome video bro,subscribed

1:19 that caught me off guard 😂 . But yeah I wish there were more NBA players doing skyhooks

This is an outstanding video

First time i saw Kareem was against artis gilmore, saw him do a skyhook and just fell in love with the shoot. Became a Laker fan because of him

Yooo... this intro was excellent! 5:54 - 6:00... yep, THAT sums up KAJ vs. the competition!

Love kareem and this content, nice work

That Shaq quote was really eye opening tho. Just goes to show that everyone does wish they could shoot a really nice J than be a dunker/paint scorer

I never knew Wooden helped him perfect it. J......you've done it again

The Mikan Drill can really expand your mind/game if you are doing it right. Kind of like how musicians practice scales; if you don’t think scales are interesting, practice them until they are.

Some say Jordan, others say Lebron. But for me, Kareem = GOAT

Great timing with Kareem in the news today

@The Ringer could you do a video about Rick Barry's underhand free throw shot

I just started using it and it works for me

8:42 It could be effective for guards if you add a bit of a fadeaway to it, but you would need a lot of leg power for that to work. However, since the game is much faster today you would need to set it up with a crossover or a "Dream Shake."

The Skyhook, Dream Shake, and Dirk-leg are just the coolest things ever

I fucking LOVE these hoop breakdowns. Im a sucker for any details about hooping, i am the definition of basketball head I'll go watch my local community college just cuz😂😂

The GOAT!

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell are greater than Michael Jordan and LeBron James. 🐐

1:18 When mom pulls out the cookie jar

Everyone underrates Kareem, his sky hook is the best move their is. It doesn't matter if it's old school or if its not cool. Everyone these days just wants to shoot 3s. I'm the only one in my school that actually practices the sky hook. Thanks again for the vid.

Those who are practicing sky hook the key to the sky hook is fading the direction of shoulder from where you are realeasing the ball not like a fade away but just a little instead of going directly vertical try to mix it with a fade it will make your shot more accurate.

Great vid! I have a few points to make, based on my study of the move and other post moves: 1. All post players become effective scorers because of a go-to move. That move is their bread and butter, and the mere threat of a go-to move that can get consistent buckets allows the post player to get his defender in the air or at least on his toes. 2. Most post players prefer their go-to moves to go towards the center of the lane This allows them room to make a countermove the other way (towards the baseline) if needed. So for rightys, they would prefer to post up in the left block so they could make their move to the right towards the lane. And for leftys, they would prefer to post on the right block so they could make their move to the left towards the lane. 3. Kareem's skyhook is unique in that he was a righty, and preferred to shoot the skyhook from the right block turning towards the baseline. So he basically committed himself to shooting the shot with basically no room to make a countermove. 4. Basically, every time he moseyed down and planted himself into the right block, he was almost definitely always going to shoot a skyhook going towards the right baseline. He knew it, and his defenders knew it. 5. So how did Kareem always get his go-to shot, even though his defenders knew it was coming? This was something that took me years to figure out, mostly because of my own stubbornness when playing basketball (I also use the skyhook, or something close to it). Kareem uses the threat of the pass to a potential cutter running down the lane. His defenders didn't quite know if he is merely faking a pass (which was frequently the case) or if there was an actual cutter slicing through the lane. By using the pass threat, he sows doubt in his defenders mind. 6. So he only needs that mere doubt of a pass threat to a cutter to open up enough space to cleanly shoot the skyhook. Remember that an open layup is an even higher % shot than the skyhook. It's a "pick your poison" situation. And because Kareem worked with Coach Wooden to refine his skyhook so that it could be shot with virtually no windup (as stated in this video), he basically needs very little open space to get it off. 7. This same technique (using the threat of a pass to open up space for your post-up game) should be taught to all aspiring post players and big men from day one. My beloved Knicks have employed a bunch of witless big men over the years who still don't know this lesson. Instead, we've had guys like Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, and Kevin Seraphim who fall in love with their post games even though they're no Kevin McHales. So when they commit to their moves, it's either an easy double team to strip the ball, or the defender holds his ground because the defender knows the post player isn't making a high percentage move and is unlikely to pass. 8. Meanwhile, a mere rookie, Zion Williamson, understands this technique extremely well at such a young age. Zion isn't a post menace merely because he's a strong bull with quick hops and nice touch. It's because he is always a threat to make a sharp pass to a cutter or a 3-pt threat on the Pelicans. That opens up space for Zion to make his move against a single (usually) overwhelmed defender. Or, if he attracts the double team, he makes good on the pass threat.

Best player ever

All time greatest move. Plenty of guys have a crossover. Some have amazing fadeaway turnaround jumpers. Nobody but Kareem has the Sky Hook.

This is dope. And I agree =)

1:19 with the lmao 🤣🤣🤣🤣

The skyhook everything

best ringer man right here

The GOAT

this is really interesting. i'm gonna put this in my game even though i'm a point guard lol

If this video was exactly the same, but consisted of you reading the phone book I’d still have enjoyed it. Mans voice is sooooooothing.

Oh I agree

I wanna see modern players incorporate the skyhook into their game, guys like Siakam and Embiid can probably do it with regularity if they practiced it.

What’s the song used in the very beginning? It’s so good.

During the rise of Jordan, coaches also started aggressively double-teaming the post in the late 80s. This neutralized the separation that the hook created. Think what it could do now in an era of jump shooters.

More of this

the real goat.

The move is the man. Ying Kareem Yang Skyhook. Its almost sacrilege to do Abdul-Jabbar signature move.

I can understand the set shot and underhanded free throws seeming lame, but I don't understand why the sky hook was seen that way. Even today, after internalizing so much modern basketball, the sky hook looks extremely graceful and not at all old-fashioned or clunky.

This was my favorite move when I learned basketball. Sadly basketball isn't just for me.

"Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes!"

I used it in the late 90s in middle school.. No one ever stopped it.. I don't care if it look dated....I had the fadeaway too if they started to talk shit...And arching my shot for the tall freaks

Zavier Simpson uses a version of the hook shot..point guard at Michigan, check him out!

Man I never thought about that. Kareem is a skilled Rudy gobert

He had a perfect technique

Obv Kareem is the best basketballplayer of all time(In consideration of points over an career). Tho he was underappreciated by the fans cause he was practical instead of fancy.

Thank you Ringer for this video👍🏽 KAJ33 = 🐐 💜💛💜💛💜💛 New sub because Lakers4Life

🐐

The move himself is not the killer. It's the phisique of Karim that make it impossible to defend. Ho do you suppose to extend and try to reach the ball when it start to leave his hand? He has the wingspan of a 747.... It's the same thing of the finger roll. This shot techniques leave the ball wide open to be steal if you are not very tall and with long arms.

Contrary to shaq and Wilt, Kareem was good at the ft line, he would be averaging 38 18 with 70% fg or something crazy like that lol

Dime drop video = instant like

I once read that Kareem was so fast that even if he were only 6 Ft he’d still be an all star player

When I was 6 years old learning how to get the ball in the hoop, I was able to get a hook shot in before a traditional shot... Hey, if the NBA all time points leader uses it, there must be a reason!

I hate when people call a dumbass running hook a sky hook. Completely different shot. Kareem is the only player I've seen do the sky hook.