When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Pawned Iconic Goggles For $25,000 to Send Kids to STEM Camp

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was an amazing basketball player during his playing days. However, his work off the court is arguably greater than his NBA career. In an act of selflessness, the six-time champion put a lot of his game-worn memorabilia for auction to send kids to STEM camp.

In an episode of ‘Pawn Stars,‘ Abdul-Jabbar gave a large portion of his memorabilia to auction. The items included some of Kareem’s greatest achievements. His 1975-76 NBA MVP trophy, game-worn 1979 All-Star game jersey, iconic goggles, and 1987-88 championship ring were among the items.

Rick Harrison from ‘Pawn Stars’ displayed intrigue in all the items, specifically the goggles. The initial asking price for the same was $40,000. During the negotiation, they dwindled the price to $25,000 under the agreement that Rick could attend a Lakers game with Kareem.

Abdul-Jabbar decided to auction his memorabilia in 2019. In a statement regarding his decision, he revealed it wasn’t a hard conclusion to come to. He said,

“When it comes to choosing between storing a championship ring or trophy in a room or providing kids with an opportunity to change their lives, the choice is pretty simple: Sell it all.”

Kareem planned to take the earnings from the auction to enroll children in STEM camp. STEM abbreviates four closely connected areas of study: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

As a result, he auctioned a total of 234 lots of memorabilia. Kareem’s Skyhook Foundation was able to net nearly $3 Million in earnings from the auction.

Kareem revealed the jaw-dropping story about his memorabilia

During the ‘Pawn Stars’ episode, Abdul-Jabbar made an appearance to authenticate the items himself. During the process, he revealed the story behind his legendary memorabilia.

Kareem’s accolades are far and plenty. However, he never stored any of the items in his own house. Instead, they were with his mom. He said,

“It was all in the basement of my mom’s house in Queens. The NBA offices are in New York so if I got an award, I just say send it to my mom’s house. They knew my mom real well. Then I had a fire, my house burned down, but I managed to keep all my stuff.”

Abdul-Jabbar’s decision to keep his memorabilia with his mom proved to be the right choice. If he had kept them himself, he would have none left due to the house fire he experienced. The outcome would have stripped many children of the opportunity to study STEM.