LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s names usually come up together when debating a combination of longevity and legacy in the NBA. The two legends are not exactly on the best of terms, and after Dwight Howard’s Hall of Fame speech, there may be a little more fuel added to the fire.
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On stage, Howard confidently declared Abdul-Jabbar the GOAT. The only problem was that James was in attendance. He did not react much, but the cameras quickly cut to him as he was seen gently stroking his beard.
Naturally, the moment came up during a recent episode of Howard’s podcast, Above the Rim with DH12, where the former Los Angeles Laker insisted he did not mean it as a slight toward The King. Still, he could not resist making a sly remark about what James would need to do to reach Kareem’s level.
“I would say LeBron is the GOAT, now, if he changes his name like Kareem did in college, like Kareem did, and play another 20 years, I say, you’re the GOAT,” Howard joked, with a smile on his face.
Before converting to Islam in 1971, Abdul-Jabbar was raised in a Catholic household and was born as Lew Alcindor. It was under this name that colleges across the country took notice of him, and it was also the name he carried when he joined the Milwaukee Bucks and won Rookie of the Year in 1970. He followed that up the next year by winning the NBA title and the MVP, firmly cementing the ‘Alcindor’ name in the history books.
Then, he became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and achieved even more on NBA hardwood. With the Los Angeles Lakers, he won five more NBA championships, five MVPS, and retired as the NBA’s leading scorer of all time. It was only until 2023 that the record was broken, by none other than James.
For Howard, however, Abdul-Jabbar’s two-name career is the reason why he will be above LeBron. “He literally had two Hall of Fame names and careers,” the former No. 1 Draft pick continued. “Lew Alcindor was killing it in college and could have gone to the basketball Hall of Fame with that alone. Then, you talking about what he did in the NBA,” Howard added.
“So, hell, I might have to change my name and come back,” Howard hilariously added, before concluding that he would go from Dwight Howard to ‘DM Motivator’.
It’s certainly a unique reason for putting Abdul-Jabbar ahead of James. Just because the Cap has two names doesn’t make him better than James, who has enjoyed a longer career than most in NBA history and is still performing at a high level at the age of 40.
