Lakers Moments: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar makes it look easy

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Reach for the sky: Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pulls in a rebound as Magic Johnson looks on during an NBA Finals game against the Philadelphia 76ers on June 3, 1982.

Few, if any, players in basketball history have come close to replicating the perfect combination of power, size, style and grace that characterized Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s game during his stellar 20-year NBA career.

For 14 years he treated Lakers fans to an almost otherworldly display of basketball, helping the team win five NBA titles before retiring in 1989 as the league’s all-time leading scorer.

His ambidextrous sky hook was virtually unstoppable, his blocking and rebounding superb and his shooting showcased beauty and grit at the same time.

Magic Johnson once told Sports Illustrated, ‘He’s the most beautiful athlete in sports.’

Read more about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and where he ranks in the team’s career blocked shots in All Things Lakers, the L.A. Times’ interactive database of all things purple and gold.

Join the Lakers at L.A. Times Facebook page.

-- Austin Knoblauch