Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Episode notes

(Photo: Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of the greatest basketball players of all time: an NBA Hall of Famer, six-time MVP, 19-time All-Star, the master of the skyhook shot and a key part of the Showtime era Lakers. He spent 14 seasons in LA and retired from basketball in 1989 at age 42.

Since retiring from basketball, Abdul-Jabbar has written books, columns and even worked as a writer for Veronica Mars. When we talked with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar last year, he’d just narrated a documentary: Fight the Power: The Movements That Changed America.

Abdul-Jabbar talked with us about the documentary, playing alongside Magic Johnson, his roller disco days and much more.

A version of this interview originally aired in June of 2021.

In this episode...

Jesse Thorn

Host

Kevin Ferguson

Senior Producer

Jesus Ambrosio

Producer

Richard Robey

Producer

Daniel Arón Speer

Video Editor

Guests

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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