“Wilt Chamberlain once threw a punch at me during a Lakers game”: How Kareem Abdul-Jabbar almost didn’t lend the Lakers’ 33 game winning streak unscathed

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reveals that Wilt Chamberlain had actually tried to throw a punch at him during a Lakers-Bucks game. 

Prior to the Chicago Bulls posting up a 72-10 regular season record, Wilt Chamberlain and the Los Angeles Lakers held the record for most wins in the regular season at 69. They did this while also holding the record for most consecutive wins at a whopping 33. They could’ve extended the streak if not for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Bucks. 

The Bucks were the reigning NBA champions as they won the championship in 1971, led by Oscar Robertson and of course, Kareem. The 24-year old would go on to lead his Bucks to the Western Conference Finals once again but would go on to face off against a man who he idolized, Wilt Chamberlain.

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As history would dictate, the Los Angeles Lakers would go on to best the Bucks in this series, eventually winning the 1972 NBA Finals as well. 

Though Wilt Chamberlain got the last laugh over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that season, the latter did put an end to one of the most historic runs the league has ever seen. 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar claims Wilt Chamberlain almost punched him during a game. 

It’s no secret that Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had their ups and downs during their time together in the NBA. Wilt wasn’t all too fond of the way Kareem was treated in relation to how he was treated by fans and the eventual 6x champ did not like the way Wilt treated others around him. 

During a game on January 9th, 1972, the Lakers travelled to face off against the Bucks, looking to notch their 34th straight win. Considering that this was the defending champs, it wasn’t going to be an easy bout.

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The Bucks would go on to win 120-104 with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar notching an incredible 39 point and 20 rebound double-double. En route to this monster performance, he almost suffered quite the injury as he claims Wilt Chamberlain nearly punched him in the face. 

“Once during a game, he threw a punch at me. I’d been boxing him out and during the tussle, our arms got tangled up. He jerked free and threw a half-hearted punch, which didn’t connect.”  

“I don’t think he intended to hit me, but his anger in the moment brought out his latent hostility toward me. The refs didn’t see it and I wasn’t mad at him. We just continued play as if nothing had happened.”