Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar opened up about the time he was introduced to movie star Bruce Lee and his wife Linda for the first time.
Advertisement
While we know Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was an unstoppable force on the court, a lesser-known fact about the star was that he loved to write, as well as study about martial arts. In fact, during his time at UCLA, 19x All-star even took up martial arts. At the time, Kareem was dominating the college basketball scene. In his first season at UCLA, Kareem had led the Bruins to the national title, going 30-0, and won the National Player of the Year award.
Meanwhile, Lee was nothing more than one of the hundred martial arts instructors in LA. However, they did have a mutual friend, who studied with Kareem in college, and recommended they meet each other after realizing their mutual love for acting and martial arts.
The year was 1967, when they first met, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recalls the incident that took place at their first meeting, and it involved Lee’s wife Linda and how it opened his eyes and changed his perspective. So, what exactly happened? Read on to find out…
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recalls first meeting and demonstration with Bruce Lee and his wife Linda.
Both Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar almost hit it off immediately following their mutual love for martial arts. During that first meeting, Bruce wanted to showcase just a glimpse of what he could potentially teach Kareem, so he did a demonstration, which his wife, Linda, also took part in. Kareem was supposed to hold a punching bag, and Linda was supposed to hit it to show her strength.
So, just like anyone, Kareem wondered how a woman, who is nowhere near the physical specimen the 7’2 big man is, could match up with him in terms in brute force and strength. However, he was wrong. In fact, the UCLA star felt the full effect of Linda’s kick as he soon felt it throughout his entire body. The Lakers star even talked about the whole incident –
“Bruce asked his wife, Linda, to assist him in a demonstration. He told me to brace myself behind the heavy punching bag that hung by a chain from the ceiling. The bag was as thick and heavy as a body. “Hold it as tight as you can,” he instructed me. Suddenly Linda fired off a kick straight into the bag. The impact rocked me backward a few feet, readjusted my spine, and possibly rearranged the order of my teeth. They stood there smiling at the shocked expression on my face. Okay,” I said, rubbing my chest. “Teach me that.”
Following that incident, Bruce Lee became the 6x MVP’s instructor and mentor in both martial arts and life. Over the years, they developed a strong bond and became best of friends. In fact, Kareem even starred in the movie “Game of Death” alongside Bruce.
In hindsight, it’s fascinating to think a simple demonstration from Linda was the pioneer for a friendship between two men who were at the top of their respective fields.
