Kareem Abdul Jabbar AKA Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.
[April 16, 1947-]
Former professional basketball player and New York City native, Jabbar was a controversial figure throughout his career. After converting to Islam in his early 20's, Jabbar studied self-defense extensively with martial arts master and actor Bruce Lee [1]. While in college, Jabbar, a rumored Black Panther party member, boycotted the 1968 Olympics over the treatment of African Americans. Through his career, Jabbar suffered from debilitating migraines, leading him to wear dark tinted goggles [2] on the court.
- ↑ Jabbar went on to co-star in 1972's Game of Death, Lee's final film. Left incomplete at the time of Lee's passing, footage from the film was later rediscovered in the Golden Harvest archives, only to be subsequently lost again.
- ↑ Migraines unresponsive to "conventional" treatments other than cannabis, leading Jabbar to become an early advocate for the legalization of marijuanaand other "street" drugs for medicinal purposes.