Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. With 6 MVP awards, over 38k career points, and 6 NBA championships, he earned himself a boatload of cash throughout his career. Yet, Kareem still had financial troubles due to his house burning down in 1983 from a freak accident.
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90% of Kareem’s $3 million home burned down in January of 1983. Six people were in his house at the time, and somehow they all made it out without injury. One of the worst things lost in the fire was his collection of 3000 vinyl jazz music albums that he cherished.
Following the fire, Kareem decided he needed to sign with an agent, but reluctantly. Enter Leonard Armato.
“He told my guy that he was in desperate straits. And so he said, ‘Well, my partner is a sports lawyer, he can help you.’ So, that’s how I got my first client: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,” Armato detailed on the Grammys & Heismans podcast.
What’s the saying? It’s not about what you know, it’s who you know. Because of his connections, Armato’s first client as a sports agent was with the biggest NBA player in the league at the time. He must have been shocked.
But for years, Armato said Kareem never looked him in the eyes when they were together. Not out of disrespect, but because the big man was simply fed up with life at that point. And it carried over to his play on the court.
By 1987, Kareem was getting older, but he still could turn back the clock when he needed to most nights. That’s why, on the verge of a title, Jerry West implored Armato to incentivize his client.
“Jerry West calls me on the phone and says, ‘Look, the series is tied 1-1 and I think we can win this series, but Kareem has to step up and he’s got to play monster basketball.’ He said, ‘If he does, I’ll give him the biggest contract in the history of the NBA. I talked to our owner, Jerry Buss, and he said if Kareem steps up the rest of the series, we will give him the biggest contract anyone’s ever been awarded in NBA history,’” Armato said.
The conversation caught Kareem’s agent off guard. He soon realized he had to call his client immediately to tell him what was up. After rushing over to his house, he was excited to share the news.
But Kareem still refused to look Armato in the eye at the time. It wasn’t long before his agent would look him face-to-face for the first time after he shared the contract incentive.
“Guess what he did? He looked up and smiled at me, looked me in the eye for the first time. He goes, ‘Yeah?’ and I said, ‘Yeah!’” Armato exclaimed. “All of a sudden, I knew I had him… Don’t let Robert Parish push you out of the paint! Get low!” he told Kareem at the time.
After that, Kareem used the words as motivation to double his efforts in the Finals. He finished with 38 points and 16 rebounds in one game, then 30 points and 10 rebounds in another. The Lakers won in six games over the Celtics, and the team rewarded Kareem with a 2-year, $5 million contract, making him the highest-paid player in history at the time.
One of, if not the best, motivations in life is money. And this story perfectly articulates how one can use incentives at the right time to raise an NBA player’s game. The Lakers needed Kareem to step up in the Finals, so they called his agent and came up with a plan. In the end, it worked, and more importantly, they followed through and rewarded the star.
