“Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wish I Had Legs Like That”: How Wilt Chamberlain Complimented the Captain During Their First Meeting

In his book called Becoming Kareem, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar noted the compliment that Wilt Chamberlain gave him during their first encounter.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain are commonly viewed as the 2 greatest players at the center position of all time. But they had differing styles of play.

Wilt was a more vertical athlete who imposed his will using his incredible physique and his tank-like build. He also had a great amount of skill, but his physical dominance was more of a factor in his success.

Like Wilt, Kareem was also 7’2″, but his frame was nothing like that of the Big Dipper. Tall but gangling, Abdul-Jabbar relied more on his smooth footwork and his veritably unblockable skyhook shot as a scorer.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar details his first meeting with Wilt Chamberlain in his book

Growing up in Harlem, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar attended high school at the Power Memorial Academy. This school, which last operated in 1984, was a powerhouse that produced other talents like Hall of Famer Chris Mullin.

When Kareem (going by Lew Alcindor at that time) reached the 10th grade, he attended the famous Rucker Tournament before the start of his school year. The main draw at this event was the appearance of Wilt Chamberlain, who’d scored 100 points in an NBA game in the previous season.

Kareem recalls how star-struck he was when Wilt changed from his street clothes to his basketball uniform. He also developed cold feet when his friend proposed that they should go and holler at the superstar. But as his friend walked over to Wilt, Kareem tagged along as well.

As he introduced himself to the legend, Wilt took Kareem by surprise by acknowledging that he knew of him. After that, Wilt commented, “You’ve got good legs. I wish I had legs like that.”

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This was quite a surprise for the then-6’10” high school sophomore. It also gave him confidence in the years to come about his own game.

Kareem and Wilt didn’t see eye-to-eye for a long time

Wilt seemed to nurse a resentment about Kareem for a long time during the latter’s career. When Kareem overtook his idol’s points tally in the regular season in 1984, Wilt did not pay any compliments to the Lakers legend.

Wilt took continual potshots at Kareem throughout the length of the latter’s 20-year career. Abdul-Jabbar never responded publicly to those statements during his playing time. But once retired, he tore into Wilt with a scathing open letter, calling him Wilt Chumperlame.

Also Read – “Wilt Chamberlain? More like Wilt Chumperlame”: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote an open letter after retiring from the Lakers, detailing how Bill Russell dominated the mythical big man