When Kareem abandoned a franchise. 

People need to understand. NBC *postponed the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson* in order to make this announcement. Kareem was really something else, man.

As a lifelong bucks fan I understand why he left. I live in Wisconsin and know it’s not LA or New York but he had reasons that couldn’t be fulfilled here at the time. It’s sad but there wasn’t many other cultures here besides native Americans, white polish/ Germans and the small black communities that existed. It’s much different now than it was back then. And now fully understanding what happened I don’t blame him for leaving and I’m glad he helped us win a chip and franchise history. Chips here matter way more than building super teams in big markets!!!

Kareem stated in his 2nd memoir that he would often drive some 90 miles from Milwaukee to Chicago to hang with friends and listen to jazz. This is a good perspective on the trade, well done

As a life long Bucks fan and longtime Wisconsin resident, I don't begrudge Kareem a bit for requesting a trade. He brought a championship to the Bucks, and his reasoning for wanting a trade makes sense even today. I really appreciate his contribution to Buck's history.

As a New Yorker who had Puerto Rican family only in NY and NJ, Kareem's concerns are relatable. When I moved to Maryland it was a culture shock. Everything closes so early, there's more hostility towards Latinos, and its main city in Baltimore is a nightmare of crime in comparison to even the Bronx.

Correction: Magic Johnson was the Finals MVP in 1980 (though many feel Kareem should have been). Kareem did win a second Finals MVP with the Lakers, but it was in 1985 against the Celtics.

Reading his book, Kareem said that when he went back to play against Milwaukee, after being in LA for years, he said he suddenly 'realized how much he loved and missed the place and especially the people.'

Kareem valued aesthetics, not just salary, in ways that almost no other NBA star did. That’s admirable. I always wished he could have been drafted by the Bulls, so that he could have played in a city obviously more suited to his eclectic ways, yet still in the Great Lakes region.

You're beating around the bush Kareem had the same problem black players had in Green Bay playing for the Packers then they felt alone there wasn't enough other Black people around to make them feel comfortable players they always felt like they were on display in public walking around in Green Bay John Jefferson, James Lofton and others would say they had to drive an hour or more just to get a haircut there wasn't any black barbershops in Green Bay or surrounding areas..

A kick in the pants being a Bùcks fan/madisonian. The man knew what he wanted. Had the stones to go get it. Cant argue with this. Its admirable. We should all be so bold. This should apply even if your the best basketball player in the world.

Kareem, as a Buck, was arguably the MVP of all time (he declined in his Laker years). He gave everything he had to the franchise. But he's a painfully shy person who has a hard time making friends. Thus he was extremely lonely in a city that didn't have a lot of citizens who shared his eclectic interests. So he gave the team six phenomenal seasons and then felt it fair to ask them to cut him loose. Fair deal.

Some really good clips of a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in this video. Stuff that I haven't seen before, and I've watched a lot of video of Kareem.

Kareem was the MVP of the 1980 final through the first 5 games but he was injured during the 6th game and Magic won the MVP for that finals. Kareem did get his 2nd finals MVP in 1985 in the win over Boston, the first time the Lakers would beat Boston in the finals after losing the previous 8 against Boston. Bill Russell won 7 of his 11 titles vs the Lakers.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar...the original diva

I was 13 and loved him and couldn't understand why he didn't like us. Broke my heart

Lew/Kareem gave em six. In retrospect, that's a lot! He also gave them his best, at his absolute prime, in the '74 Finals... His play in those playoffs went way beyond. His game six 15-foot baseline hook in Boston is one of the NBA's shot of shots, on the order of Jerry West's 1970 Finals 65-foot bomb. I rooted hard for the Bucks because of Lew/Kareem and The Big O.

Milwaukee waited for Giannis for another Title

Milwaukee is still one of the most segregated city in America, so just imagine was it was like in the 60's 70's It wasn't about the team why he left, it was the city and state

I loved all the old footage you managed to get for this, really great video

This article worked very hard to stay clear of the hard truth even avoiding any reference to his race and the Black culture.. His requesting a trade had everything to do with Milwaukee being a overwhelmingly white city figuratively and culturally. Kareem was a sophisticated Black Muslim male who needed to be amongst more people like him.

Oh yeah this is going places

Great Video

keep posting i loved this video!!

awesome channel!!! your content is very high-quality, look forward to more

Kareem is my fellow jazzhead!

He was simply the best center i ever saw play. My dad said Wilt. But i was huge Celtics fan but Kareem was always my favorite individual player.. the single most beautiful unstoppable shot of all time. That great sky hook. He could rebound and play defense as well as a pretty damn good free throw shooter too! Miss you Kareem

Can’t blame him for wanting to work and live in a place that he was more comfortable!!!!

Who came back to this video after Giannis possibly leaving?

Milwaukee was just.....too white...for Kareem....Him saying that he did not fit in culturally was a nice way of saying this.

New favourite channel

Not even considered a top 3 laker to most fans. Shows how much the city appreciated his greatness

Im looking forward to the next video you do, you have a good commentator's voice lol Keep it up !!!!!

Your Channel is gonna boom, glad I found it early. I’m officially one of the first 1k subs

Your ability to get an hour worth of info into 8 min is to be commended 👏

Great vid!

Nice video to help understand him

True to his faith. Can't hold that against anyone.

Not one of the greatest but The Greatest. Check out this man's resume from high school, through college and the N B A. No other player can match it or even come close. Yes, Bron, M J and others were and are great but Kareem is the greatest of them all - A basketball fan, not a personality fan, from the beautiful, tranquil Islands of The Bahamas 🏝️🌅🏖️🇧🇸. Peace, love, life and blessings ❤️🙏

You made a mistake. Magic was the 1980 NBA Finals MVP, not Kareem. Kareem was finals MVP in 1971 and 1985. That is actually very impressive - 14 year gap! I really enjoyed the video.

As a Bad Boys Pistons fan who hated seeing the phantom foul that robbed a championship, i disliked the manhandling of an old man Kareem on his retirement tour even more. Not that he didn’t bang down low with the best of em, but having to deal with Mahorn pulling the chair or Laimbeer plain stiff as a board straight as an arrow arms and hand in perfect position to defend his hookshot, but having to deal with hardcore boxing out and no cheap layups without being jacked to pieces…. Okay, I didn’t really hate it. I wish he retired earlier.

Props to Kareem for doing those. I like the Bucks but understand. If a team can’t win and your doing all you can then go. I still wish Don Nelson would have said ‘yes’ to that Marques Johnson-Jamaal Wilkes trade. Marques would be in the hall!

A great Man! An original

Bucks ended up getting Brian Winters who became a 2x Allstar with Bucks and Junior Bridgeman great player played 10 years for Bucks and traded other assets from this trade for 2 first round picks. Bucks were an amazing squad in 80's never had a single losing season that decade. I grew up in the 80's and felt betrayed I never got to see Kareem in a Bucks uniform. Thank the good lord Giannis is the superstar the city loves that the superstar loves back.

To think that Kareem requested to be traded to either the Lakers or the Knicks is mind boggling. Older Knicks fans can only imagine how dominant the Knicks could have been with Kareem, at his peak, in their lineup.

They literally interrupted network television to announce this trade.

Kareem and the Lakers beating The Celtics in the finals were my introduction into basketball. My Dad would watch the games and of course I would join him, asking questions when something happened that I didn’t understand. I remember my Dad telling me to pay attention to Kareem and his sky hook. For its time it was a thing of beauty! I really am glad I got to watch the Showtime Lakers, then Michael and Da Bulls (the only time I “cheated” on The Lakers ha ha!), and of course Kobe. For me, today’s game just isn’t the same. I still watch, don’t get me wrong, but it just doesn’t have the same vibe as it used to for whatever reason. Again, that’s just ME and MY OPINION! I don’t expect anybody to agree. If you do, cool. If not, I’m actually glad you either just started watching like I did all those years ago, or you still love the game as it’s played today!

Oh yeah can't wait for more videos

Gonna be a great channel

Kareem, wilt and shaq had a similar story of leaving a weaker market and going to a super market in Los Angeles and getting a super team or powerful duo. Shaq got Kobe and glen rice, kareem got magic and worthy, wilt got west and Baylor but Baylor fell apart: I think you can add Dwight, Anthony Davis but Dwight failed with Kobe and Davis and lebron won a ring. These super teams and leaving franchises isn’t new.

Interesting that at the end of it all it was Junior Bridgeman whose the richest of all these men... probably richer then them all combined.

The Big Guy won a title and leaves. At least he got a title. Kareem with the Bucks is like Napoleon on Italy if the stories ends there will already be a great history

the edits tough!

Milwaukee was and is RACIST. Heck they recently beat up a Bucks player a few years back if y'all can recall. And simply because he was parked in a wrong spot returning a Redbox movie at Walgreens. They profiled and when they found out he was a bucks player it was an oops. Then they did pay him quietly.

I acknowledge you.

More plz

May i have some more videos sir...💯👌🙏

I am from Milwaukee and don't blame him for leaving. However, I do kind of blame the Bucks for bringing him back to Milwaukee a few years ago for events and to help promote the team. It's like dude you didn't like it here and couldn't wait to be traded don't act like you have so much love for the city now. It was so phony.

Lew Alcindor is a legend by any metric and whatever you choose to call him. A very young Kevin Garnett played him in a movie against Earl 'the goat' Manigault. Kareem shattered all records, except for rebounds. Still a top 5 player. Of All Time.

Honestly who doesn't want out of Wisconsin in the winter lol

That makes sense, Totally understand that, Kareem leaving Milwaukee.

Had the Bucks let Kareem play out his contract, he would have been a free agent but subject to compensation as per the rules of the time. The Bucks did well to trade him when they did and got a much better return than had they waited until he hit free agency. I remember the Knicks were one of the teams frequently mentioned as a potential landing spot (Kareem was from New York), but they had very little to offer in terms of the young talent the Bucks were seeking. The Lakers actually had players who could help Milwaukee's team.

Heavy. New York Knicks missed out when they passed on a trade for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Peace to Gil Scott

Dude, the NBA was almost dead at that time. Games were aired on delay. Grive me a break.

I wanna see a video on how the Lakers landed Mikan, because the story itself is fucking wild.

Took us 50 years to get another one, but I don't begrudge Kareem for leaving. He had to do right by himself and Milwaukee wasn't right for him at the time.

What do you call it when a team trades or cuts a player. Do we say the team abandoned a player.

to be COMPLETELY honest i did do and/or PROBABLY will SOMEWHAT like the bucks because i did do and/or PROBABLY will really LOVE legend kareem abdul-jabbar

Someone please tell me how the Knicks did not land the hometown hero???

I hope the bucks don't lose Giannis in a similar way. Media and fans in Wisconsin have a tendency to annoy our stars

The former Lew Alcindor is already a proven commodity entering the NBA, a generational talent. And inasmuch this feature gives a clear reason why he left the Bucks, there are eventual talents who stayed amidst the city's atmosphere and culture. And for this, I appreciate Michael Jordan. Perhaps he and Chicago complemented each other at the right time and situation. MJ turned a franchise into a viable and respectable commodity and still is quarter a century after playing his final game. MJ was intensely loyal, while the Bulls were so foolish and full of themselves they can redo the glorious era shortly after "The Last Dance." And there's Tim Duncan. Since his close signing with Orlando (yeah, another what if for the Magic), TD stayed there for good and still his home upon retirement. Kudos for the Bucks owners and management for keeping the team in Milwaukee. They lost Kareem in 1975. 23 years later, they traded Dirk Nowitzki on draft night (another what if, the second time). They smarten a bit by keeping Giannis.

Weird seeing young Marv Albert 😂😂😂

The interrupted Carson to announce the trade to the Lakers. Wow.

Imagine living in Wisconsin as a Muslim in 1974! Poor guy

What is that jazz song ?

When Kareem on the thumbnail looks like Danny Green 🤣

Maybe one day some people will write how Durant, Kyrie, Harden abandoned multiple franchises. LeBron, too.

Kareem never wanted to play for Milwaukie he hated the weather and playing in the city he was from New York and played in Los Angeles at UCLA and the main reason was he was a Muslim in a city where their weren't many.

Lew Alcindor was a Milwaukee Buck. Kareem Abdul Jabar was a Laker.

It's cool that back in the day they let you wear jewelry during the game.

The way he was treated by the league and Wisconsin he should have left

Kareem famous is Los Angeles Lakers than Milwaukee I was inspire on his story but I respect his decision moving in Los Angeles or New York were his comfable.

The Lakers have a long list of present and future Hall of Famers they didn't draft: Wilt Chamberlain Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Shaquille O'Neal Steve Nash Kobe Bryant (traded from Charlotte) LeBron James Carmelo Anthony Anthony Davis Dwight Howard Karl Malone Gary Payton The Suns also have an extensive list of this nature: Dennis Johnson Charles Barkley Shaquille O'Neal Chris Paul Grant Hill Jason Kidd I apologize for any I've left out, but here's my point: What is it about these two markets that's so attractive to some of the best players of all time? I am just a little surprised there's no videos like that here, at least that I can find. The fact that the Lakers have 17 titles while the Suns have none is secondary as far as I can tell. I'm not a diehard fan of either of these teams btw.

Wow, look at young Marv Albert? Who knew THAT guy once existed? Dude's as old as Methuselah.

I Wonder Today Do Black Players on the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City Feel Like Kareem in 1970s Milwaukee, WI?

Excuse me, but the NBA made history in 1980 when A Rookie named Magic Johnson won the NBA Playoff MVP Award.

The Fonze and Richie and Laverne and Shirley loved Milwaukee.

He didn't leave the Bucks. They left him when they forced Oscar Robertson to retire in 1974.

Go Sonics!

U got something here pimp 🫡

Mr Abdul Jabbar has been a man of integrity from the beginning. One of a kind!

Young Kareem looks like Gianni's A the other M Bucks superstar 🤯🤯

So when a team cuts a player, do we say that team abandoned the player

Milwaukee and Wisconsin are very Catholic. I can imagine how he might have felt in Milwaukee as a Muslim.

He hated the east coast he left the east and literally never came back. Never showed New York no love where he was born and raised. Hell of a basketball player but never likes how he abandoned the east like that.

The Bucks went after the Knicks first offering Kareem. Why would the Knicks say no to a potential superstar is still beyond me. So when the Bucks came to Los Angeles offering Kareem, Jack Kent Cooke jumped at the chance offering Brian Winters and numerous draft picks the Bucks used to get Marques Johnson and Junior Bridgeman. Before Magic Johnson came to town, Kareem was the glue that kept the Lakers going.

As a Wisconsinite I think we failed Kareem from an off-the-court perspective. There was not a lot of tolerance for Muslims in the 1970s unfortunately.

Don’t worry folks, Giannis won’t be too far away from doing the same exact thing soon This trade didn’t stop there, many many years later, Dirk Nowitzki was traded from Milwaukee to Dallas for the rights to some guy name tractor trailer

bs KAREEM WAS GREAT BUT WILT HANDLED HIM HIS FIRST YEAR AFTER THAT NO ONE COULD

By a huge margin, MIL was the most successful franchise ‘70-‘74. 5 yrs at 74%. 4 Conference Finals. 2 Finals. 78-18 Championship season. “Abandoned a franchise.” Terrible title.

Besides L.A where he went to college and New York where he grew up, he shoukd have came here to the Baltimore/Washington area