HoopsHype.com Rumors

Janis Carr: Wow. @Dave McMenamin Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on SportsCenter about Andrew Bynum: "He needs to calm down his ego" Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Andrew Bynum, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

In the final week of his ninth regular season, James has emerged as a strong contender to win his third Most Valuable Player Award. If he wins, he would be just the eighth player in history to win it three times. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the only player to win three at a younger age than James, who turned 27 in December. James is fully aware of this historical context. "It would mean a lot, honestly, it would mean a lot," James said. "If I'm able to win it this year it would be very humbling knowing the caliber of guys who have won it three times." "I remember me being a little, scrawny guy from Akron, Ohio, and watching so many greats either watching live or watching games, knowing and loving the history of the game and seeing the guys who have paved the way for myself. I've always respected that. I've always respected the talent that came before me." ESPN.com

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a wise man who commands respect much like a Supreme Court justice. With that in mind, let Abdul-Jabbar give the majority opinion on who should be the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this season. “I think that this year’s MVP award will end up in the hands of Kevin Durant,’’ Abdul-Jabbar said of the Oklahoma City forward. “Durant is my choice as front-runner due to the success of his team. Yes, he is on a young and talented team, but his presence has been the catalyst for their recent dominance.’’ FOXSports Florida

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won five of his six NBA titles with the Showtime Lakers, worked with Bynum as the Lakers' special assistant coach from 2005 to 2011. But he hardly knows what to make of Bynum's recent transgressions. "There's a lot of talk about it, but I really don't know what's happening with him personally," Abdul-Jabbar told The Times in an interview that centered on his appearance Tuesday on Fox's "New Girl." "I can't comment because I'm coming from a place where I'm totally in the dark." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Andrew Bynum, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Still, Abdul-Jabbar showed concern about Bynum's recent ejections. "That's something he has to deal with because they need him on the court," Abdul-Jabbar said. "He needs to figure out a way to stay out there." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Andrew Bynum, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Bryant noted Sunday night after the Lakers' victory in Minnesota that there is a little something more to holding franchise records with the Lakers than for some other NBA teams. Bryant, 33, added to his portfolio by passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most career field goals with the Lakers. On Saturday, he passed Jerry West for most career free throws with the Lakers, though the Lakers lost that game in Milwaukee. Bryant already had set Lakers franchise records for points, games, minutes, field-goal attempts, 3-pointers made and 3-pointers attempted. He ranks second in steals and free-throw attempts, third in assists. Bryant scored 35 points Sunday to reach 28,503 points for his career — 91 behind Shaquille O'Neal for fifth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Minnesota's Kevin Love said about Bryant: "He hit big shots. There's no getting past that. ... That is why he is the best player in the game." Orange County Register

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: In Salvador, Brazil today on my first Cultural Ambassador trip with @statedept and the key themes are #education and to #engageyouth. Twitter

Brazil, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

The Lakers (10-6) visit the Orlando Magic on Friday at Amway Center in a game that features a matchup of Bynum and Dwight Howard, who leads NBA centers in points (20.1) and rebounds (15.6) per game. Abdul-Jabbar was reluctant to say which player the Lakers should covet more ahead of the league's trade deadline March 15. "That's hard for me to call," Abdul-Jabbar said Friday in a phone interview with The Times. "I've never seen Dwight Howard play in person. I've only worked with Andrew. I've never seen Dwight up close for a period of time to have a good assessment of him. But the statistics don't lie. He's one of the best in the league and is a very valuable commodity." Abdul-Jabbar raved equally about Bynum and Howard, whom he described as "two great young centers." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Andrew Bynum, Dwight Howard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

"He has to be aware of where guys are on the perimeter that will take pressure off of him," Abdul-Jabbar said. "After he gets double-teamed, he has to find guys on the perimeter and they need to knock down those shots. That would really present a problem for the teams playing us. That was more or less the scheme we used when I was playing. Luckily I had guys like Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon and Byron Scott to pass out to the perimeter. They would knock down those shots and make it miserable for the people trying to double-team me." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Andrew Bynum, Dwight Howard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

"The rest of the league has caught up to the Lakers in terms of talent," Abdul-Jabbar said. "There are a number of teams now that have an ability to challenge the Lakers. I think their experience in the playoffs last year was a shock to everybody. The other teams are not sitting still. There's a lot of really good teams that will be out there making their lives miserable for the Lakers. They have their work cut out for them if they're going to be one of the top teams in the league." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Andrew Bynum, Dwight Howard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Abdul-Jabbar, who won five of his six NBA titles with the Showtime Lakers, worked exclusively with Bynum from 2005 to 2011. His duties decreased the last two seasons in part because of Bynum's development and in part because Abdul-Jabbar was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in November 2009. Abdul-Jabbar has since kept his distance from the Lakers after publicly criticizing them last spring for their failure to construct a statue of him. But he says "every day is a blessing" for his health and his role as a cultural ambassador. "My health is great," Abdul-Jabbar said. "I'm doing what the doctors tell me to do. I got to go and get my blood checked regularly and take my meds. If I do that and try to live a healthy lifestyle, the leukemia is not going to keep me from doing most of the things I've done my whole life." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s All-Time Leading Scorer, to discuss his new role as a global Cultural Ambassador. sportstalknetwork.tv

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

The NBA's all-time scoring leader is now a global cultural ambassador. The State Department announced Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's appointment Wednesday. Ann Stock, assistant secretary of state for education and cultural affairs, says Abdul-Jabbar will travel the world to engage a generation of young people to help promote diplomacy. Stock says the appointment is part of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's vision of "Smart Power" that combines diplomacy, defense and development to "bridge the gap in a tense world through young people." ESPN.com

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Check out my passion for guns, gold & glory. I love their history! http://www.heritagemagazine.com get a copy at Barnes & Noble or Books a Million Twitter

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Considering Bill Sharman is 85, and two stars from that team (Wilt Chamberlain, Happy Hairston) are deceased, while two others (LeRoy Ellis, Flynn Robinson) are battling cancer — and taking into account the team’s impressive imprint — you would think David Stern would have headed lickety-split to the appropriate location and personally unlocked the league’s film archives. Every living player on the team was interviewed, Joyce Sharman said. Many others, such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (whose Bucks squad convincingly shattered the streak on national TV on a Sunday afternoon), Bill Russell and Phil Jackson, also provided insight. Lakers players figured 33 games without a loss would earn them some type of reward from infamously frugal owner Jack Kent Cooke, maybe a Hawaiian vacation or a monetary gratitude for a job spectacularly done. New York Post

Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Phil Jackson, David Stern, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was in New York this week to receive the Double Helix Medal, a prestigious award for the work he's done raising awareness for cancer research. Abdul-Jabbar joined us on American Morning to talk about his fight against cancer and shares his thoughts on the current NBA lockout. CNN.com

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

O'Neal also takes issues with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The two may share lineage in a line of great Laker centers, but in Shaq's eyes, the elder center was reluctant to share any advice or tips. "Kareem was never around. And, whenever I did see him, he usually ignored me. The disappointing thing to me was, being in L.A. all those years and trying to fill those shoes, I would have liked to have a conversation with him ... "He'd say hello, but I was looking for, 'Hey, do this' or 'Watch out for that.' He knew everyone was comparing me to him. He knew better than anyone what I was up against, but he gave me nothing." ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Abdul-Jabbar responded to these criticisms with a post on his personal Facebook page. "I went down to LSU and worked with Shaq on the fundamentals of the Skyhook as a favor to Coach Dale Brown. I spent time with Shaq in the gym and gave him some drills he could use to develop the hook shot. But when I followed up with his Coach, Dale Brown, I was told that Shaq's father told his son he didn't need to develop a hook shot and all he needed to ... do was smash everything into the basket. Shaq's fathers felt that he was so overpowering physically that he should just dunk everything and not worry about developing a finesse shot like the Skyhook," he wrote. ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Abdul-Jabbar says he went to Louisiana State and spent time with O'Neal to teach him the skyhook as a favor to Coach Dale Brown. But Brown later told Abdul-Jabbar that O'Neal's father had instructed his son to concentrate on powering his way to the basket. "As a pro I never approached Shaq because I thought he was pretty successful dunking everything and I assumed he didn't want my help," Abdul-Jabbar said. "Additionally, I was never on the coaching staff of any of his teams. I was never unfriendly to him and I would talk to him, but Shaq was enjoying his success, doing it his way. He never asked me of what I thought he should be doing and he never tried to reach out to me for any instruction and I respected that decision." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: I went down to LSU and worked with Shaq on the fundamentals of the Skyhook as a favor to Coach Dale Brown. I spent time with Shaq in the gym and gave him some drills he could use to develop the hook shot. But when I followed up with his Coach, Dale Brown, I was told that Shaq's father told his son he didn't need to develop a hook shot and all he needed to do was smash everything into the basket. Shaq's fathers felt that he was so overpowering physically that he should just dunk everything and not worry about developing a finesse shot like the Skyhook. Facebook.com

Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar