Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not a basketball player.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ( born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. ; April 16 , 1947 ) is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers . During his career as a center , Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player ( MVP ) , a record 19-time NBA All-Star , a 15-time All-NBA selection , and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member . NBA coach Pat Riley and players Isiah Thomas and Julius Erving have called him the greatest basketball player of all time . After winning 71 consecutive basketball games on his high school team in New York City , Alcindor attended college at UCLA , where he played for coach John Wooden on three consecutive national championship basketball teams and was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA Tournament . In 2007 , ESPN voted him the greatest center of all time , in 2008 , they named him the `` greatest player in college basketball history '' , and in 2016 , they named him the second best player in NBA history ( behind Michael Jordan ) .