Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been a household name in the basketball world. He was loved by many but not too many knew about him. In his documentary, he let’s us in his life.
With the way social media is set up these days, people tend to overshare and the public knows a little more than it should. Documentaries serve a different purpose. They give the individual an opportunity to tell the story his or her way instead of how others perceive it. With that said, Kareem Adbul-Jabbar’s Kareem: Minority of One is a perfect example of how a very popular athlete may have been misunderstood but he wanted to set some things straight.
Who is your favorite basketball player? Chances are, you’ll say a popular player that’s currently playing and that’s okay. But if you dig deeper and depending on who you talk to, some may say Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. His documentary took us through a journey in which he persevered through a lot of obstacles. He also grew up during a rough time for America since he was raised right when the Civil Rights movement was going on.
How he developed his infamous hook will blow your mind. His name change was even discussed and his journey with Islam was illustrated in a great way. It showed us how he connected with religion and wanted a new identity.
In collaboration with HBO Sports, Kareem: Minority of One took a closer at Jabbar. They went beyond the court and even touched base on those huge losses. For all you basketball fans, there was plenty of basketball in it. For you Celtic fans-you guys were included in this too.
Jabbar’s records may never be broken. Some may get close though. He holds the record for the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points. He’s also a six-time NBA MVP and has an illustrious six NBA championship rings. To top it off, he has three straight national titles with UCLA. It’s been close to three decades since he retired in case you didn’t know. Feel free to feel old but more importantly, hats off to the man and his wonderful achievements.
Kareem: Minority of One missed a few details. We wanted to know what happened with Wilt Chamberlain? How was Jabbar’s battle against leukemia? That may be something left for another documentary.
Kareem: Minority of One premieres on HBO on Tuesday November 3 at 10 pm.
