“Sky-Hook or Jump Shot From Three?”: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Answers How He’d Adapt to Current-Day NBA

The last couple of days have been quite eventful for the NBA, as well as for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. On February 7, 2023, LeBron James scored the 38,388th point of his regular-season NBA career. With a fadeaway jumper, LeBron skyrocketed past Kareem for the NBA’s All-Time Leading Scorer.

With this bucket, LeBron broke an NBA record that had stood for nearly 39 years. Ahead of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks last night, the NBA chose to hold a ceremony for Bron as he became the #ScoringKing.

Kareem attended the ceremony as well. After the game ended, he was also a part of the media session, where he talked to the reporters for quite some time.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar chooses between sky-hook or jump shot

In today’s NBA, the three-point shot has become a necessary part of every team’s arsenal. So far this season, teams are averaging 34.1 threes a game. Making or missing threes often becomes the gap between winning or losing games. However, the case wasn’t the same when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was in the NBA.

In his 20-year NBA career, Kareem attempted a grand total of 18 threes. Out of those 18 attempts, the Cap only made one. Kareem’s career three-point attempts are barely half of what the teams attempt in a single game nowadays.

Talking about the same, a reporter asked Jabbar how he’d adapt to the current-day NBA, and whether he’d take Sky-Hooks as 3-pointers or regular jump shots.

Kareem replied and said,

“No I’d get as close to the basket and shoot a high-percentage shot. That’s the way to win a game as far as I know.”

Even though the game has moved forward, dominating in the paint is a skill that will never go out of style, and Kareem knows a thing or two about the same.

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How many more points would Kareem have had if he had attempted more threes?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in an era of the NBA where the league-wide average of three-point attempts was less than seven threes a game. However, Kareem himself had never attempted three threes in a season.

Had the number been higher, and if Kareem actually made an effort to improve his three-point shooting, maybe the number Bron had to chase wouldn’t have been 38,387. It could have been even in the 40,000s.

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