Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shot to national prominence some fifty years ago as a standout center at Power Memorial high school, before moving on to be a championship-earning legend at UCLA, with the Milwaukee Bucks, and most famously with the Los Angeles Lakers. He still stands as the NBA’s leading scorer, but he also retired nearly a quarter-century ago, and no NBA team has seen fit to sit him on the sidelines as an assistant coach for more than a year at a time.
With the game moving farther and farther away from the pivot, valuing perimeter play and shots directly at the goal as opposed to low post play, it might be debatable as to what role Kareem could play in teaching what he knows best to a current player that needs it the most.
Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert, however, truly needs it the most. He is the last of the NBA’s true giants, an old school center that mixes fits of domination with instances of acting as the worst player on the court, a man out of time in a league that has already dashed past half-court.
This is why Hibbert is studying with Abdul-Jabbar this summer, in a last chance diner’s attempt at serving up some semblance of an offensive game befitting of Hibbert’s 7-4 frame and (seriously) soft hands.
Certainly can't hurt.
