He was born to Cora and Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor in Harlem, New York City, in 1947, and was raised as a Catholic. From an early age he began his record-breaking basketball accomplishments. In high school, he led Power Memorial Academy to three straight New York City Catholic championships, a 71-game winning streak, and a 96–6 overall record. College Heavily sought by collegiate basketball programs, he played for the UCLA Bruins from 1966 to 1969 under coach John Wooden, contributing to the team's three-year record of 88 wins and only two losses (it must be noted that in his day, freshmen were not eligible for varsity athletics). During his college career, he was twice named Player of the Year (1967, 1969), was a three-time First Team All-American (1967-69), played on three NCAA Basketball champion teams (1967, 1968, 1969), was honored as the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament (1967, 1968, 1969), and became the first-ever Naismith College Player of the Year in 1969. Alcindor graduated with a B.A. in History from UCLA in 1969. While playing for UCLA, he suffered a scratched left cornea and subsequently he usually played wearing goggles. Also during his studies at UCLA, Abdul-Jabbar, then still-known as Lew Alcindor, converted to Islam. He was converted by a Turkish imam of the Hanafi school of thought, and later denied accusations of a connection to the Nation of Islam.

Kareem in a photo-shoot The Harlem Globetrotters offered him $1 million to play for them, but he declined, and became the number one pick in the 1969 NBA Draft. The winner of the coin-flip for first pick between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks was the Bucks, only in their second season, and they made Alcindor the first overall choice in the 1969 NBA Draft. Jabbar's entry into the NBA was timely, as center Bill Russell had just left the Boston Celtics, and Wilt Chamberlain, though still effective, was almost 35 years old. Alcindor's presence enabled the 1969-70 Bucks to claim second place in the NBA's Eastern Division with a 56-26 record, and he was an instant star, placing second in the league in scoring (28.8 ppg) and third in rebounding (14.5 rpg), handily becoming the NBA Rookie of the Year. With the addition of Oscar Robertson, Milwaukee recorded a league-best 66 victories in 1970-71, including a record 20 straight wins, and Alcindor was awarded his first of several NBA Most Valuable Player Award, along with his first scoring title (31.7 ppg). Alcindor would play in Milwaukee for five seasons, adopting his Arabic name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, meaning "noble, powerful servant," in 1971, in a public announcement on May 1 of that year, one day after the triumphant Bucks completed a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals. Jabbar remained a dominant force for Milwaukee, repeating as scoring champion (34.8 ppg) and NBA Most Valuable Player, the following year, and helping the Bucks to repeat as division leaders for four straight years. In 1973 Abdul-Jabbar won his third MVP Award in five years in the league and was in the top five NBA players in scoring (27.0 ppg, third), rebounding (14.5 rpg, fourth), blocked shots (283, second), and field-goal percentage (.539, second). While remaining virtually injury-free during his NBA career, Abdul-Jabbar twice broke his hand. The first time was during a pre-season game in 1974. He was bumped hard and got his eye scratched which angered him enough to punch the basket support stanchion. When he returned, after missing the first 16 games of the season, he started wearing protective goggles. After a few seasons in Milwaukee under the new name, Kareem felt that the city didn't fit his cultural needs and requested a trade to either the New York Knicks or the Los Angeles Lakers. In 1975, the Bucks traded him and reserve center Walt Wesley to the Los Angeles Lakers, in exchange for center Elmore Smith, guard Brian Winters and rookie "blue chippers" Dave Myers and Junior Bridgeman. The trade paved the way for a second Abdul-Jabbar dynasty as the Lakers went on to become one of the most dominant teams of the subsequent decade. The second time he broke his hand was in the opening game of the 1977-78 season. Two minutes into the game, Abdul-Jabbar punched Milwaukee's Kent Benson in retaliation for an overly aggressive elbow. He was out for two months. While in LA, he started doing yoga in 1976 to improve his flexibility, and was notable for his physical fitness regimen. He was also a pupil of the kung fu master Bruce Lee, and studied Lee's Jeet Kune Do style. Film career Playing for the Lakers allowed Jabbar to try his hand at acting. In 1980, he played co-pilot Roger Murdock in David Zucker's comedy, Airplane!(known as Flyin' High in Australia). He had numerous other TV and film roles, often playing himself, such as in the hit Chevy Chase movie Fletch and the ABC sitcom Full House, also appeared in Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air in Nickelodeon's late night block, Nick At Nite.. Other notable roles include 1978's Game of Death, where his character Hakim fought Bruce Lee's character Billy Lo, and in Stephen King's telemovie version of The Stand. He also played himself in Slam Dunk Ernest starring Jim Varney and made a brief non-speaking cameo appearance in another David Zucker comedy, 1998's BASEketball. In addition, Abdul-Jabbar was co-executive producer of the 1994 TV movie, The Vernon Johns Story. Retirement On June 28, 1989, after a record-setting twenty professional seasons, Jabbar announced his retirement. Coaching Abdul-Jabbar had been interested in coaching since his retirement, and given the influence he has had on the league, he had presumed those chances would come easily. However, during his playing years, he had developed a reputation of being introverted and sullen, often refusing to speak to the press, leading to the impression that he had nothing to say. This reputation contributed greatly to his lack of coaching opportunities. Since he began lobbying for a coaching position in 1995, he had only been able to work as an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Seattle SuperSonics, helping mentor their young centers, Michael Olowokandi and Jerome James, respectively. He was the head coach in 2002 of the Oklahoma Storm of the USBL, but failed in a bid to get the head coach position for Columbia University a year later. He then worked as a scout for the New York Knicks. Finally, on September 2, 2005, Abdul-Jabbar returned to the Lakers as a special assistant to Phil Jackson to help develop the team's young center Andrew Bynum. He has also served as a volunteer coach at Alchesay High School on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Whiteriver, Arizona since 1998.