Former Milwaukee Bucks star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the all-time leading scorer in NBA history and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, will be featured in a live one-on-one on stage conversation at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Milwaukee at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 7.
In the conversation with sportscaster Bill Michaels, Abdul-Jabbar will talk about his basketball career and his life experiences from his childhood in New York, college days at UCLA, NBA career and political activism. Abdul-Jabbar, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, is also a best-selling author. The Marcus Center event, Becoming Kareem, is based on his best-selling book of the same name.
Abdul-Jabbar played for the Bucks from 1969-75. He led the Bucks to their only championship in 1971, and was a six-time NBA MVP, winning the award as a member of the Bucks in 1971, 1972 and 1974.
The Bucks won their 1971 championship in only their third season of existence, which Abdul-Jabbar said he remains proud of.
“The Bucks still have the record for the shortest amount of time to (get to) the top,” he said. “The (Las Vegas) Golden Knights (of the NHL), they came close. But the Bucks still hold that record, that’s pretty neat.”
Abdul-Jabbar requested a trade and was dealt by the Bucks in 1975 to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that brought Brian Winters and Junior Bridgeman to the Bucks.
In recent years he has returned to Milwaukee more often for Bucks-related appearances.
“(The Bucks owners) are from New York. We have a lot in common in that sense,” Abdul-Jabbar said in an interview with BizTimes Milwaukee. “The Bucks keep trying to get to the top. It’s good to see. There’s a great fan base here.”
Abdul-Jabbar has also been involved with Milwaukee’s pitch to attract the 2020 Democratic National Convention to the city. He recently made an appearance at the Democratic National Committee’s annual summer meeting in Chicago to help push for Milwaukee’s selection.
“I was happy to do it,” Abdul-Jabbar. “I spoke at the Democratic convention in ’16.”
Tickets for the Becoming Kareem event are still available. The event will begin at 8 p.m. at Uihlein Hall at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts and will last about 90 minutes.
