Good Morning POU! Let’s talk about that time the NCAA tried to ban dunking to stop Kareem, only to motivate him into developing one of the most legendary shots in history.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Destroyed NCAA’s No-Dunking Rule With an Even Better Weapon
The NCAA wanted to stop Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). He spent his first season with the UCLA varsity team dunking on anyone and everyone. In the short term, it was successful. Then known as Lew Alcindor, the two-time National Player of the Year didn’t dunk during his final two varsity seasons. But what the NCAA’s ban on dunking did was force Abdul-Jabbar to develop one of the most unstoppable moves in basketball history.
In 1967, basketball was moving above the rim. The powers-that-be in the NCAA felt the 7-foot-2 Alcindor had an unfair advantage. After the Bruins demolished Dayton for the 1967 national title, the NCAA declared the dunk dead in college hoops. The young superstar was angry about the decision but found a new way to dominate the game.
Alcindor was dominant on arrival to the Bruins varsity team. He averaged 29.0 points and 15.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore (at the time, freshmen were not allowed to play so he had to wait a year.)
Meanwhile, the Bruins were 88–2 with Abdul-Jabbar on campus. They won the first three of their record seven straight national championships. However, a ban on dunking imposed in 1966 forced the big man to get creative with his offensive repertoire.
As unimaginable as it seems today, there was no dunking in college basketball for 10 seasons. From 1967–77, high-flying players soared above the rim before gently dropping the ball into the goal.
Per The Undefeated, Kareem saw racial overtones behind the decision. The interview was originally given to the now-defunct Chicago Defender.
“To me, the new ‘no-dunk’ rule smacks a little of discrimination. When you look at it … most of the people who dunk are Black athletes.”
In response to the ban, Abdul-Jabbar brought back a tool he learned as a kid. Wooden hesitated to turn his star loose with the infamous skyhook, per Lakers Nation, but Kareem’s proficiency won the coach over.
“I think he just saw that I could put it in regularly. It was a high-percentage shot. He just told me to adjust where I shot it on the court so that I could be in a good position on the court. Take advantage of other bigs,” Abdul-Jabbar explained.
He traced the origins of his signature move to elementary school, doing what was known as a George Mikan drill: “It’s a drill where you work in front of the basket, you shoot the ball off the glass with either hand, and you get the footwork down. You work on your ambidexterity, and you learn how to use the glass. It’s a really good drill.”
And it paid off in a really good way for Abdul-Jabbar.
Armed with the nearly unblockable weapon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became a legend.
While Kareem Abdul-Jabbar learned the fundamentals of the skyhook as a child, would it have become his dominant weapon without the NCAA seeking to limit his influence? That’s a question for another day.