Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has achieved a plethora of milestones in his remarkable basketball career, but his journey wasn’t perfect.
If there’s one dent he has in his resume, at least according to The Cap himself, it’s being swept by the Detroit “Bad Boy” Pistons in the 1989 NBA Finals. Abdul-Jabbar frowns upon that memory because it was a championship he feels the Lakers gave away due to circumstances out of their control.
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“The problem we had with the Pistons was that when the series started, Magic Johnson got hurt and Byron Scott got hurt, and we had to play that series without our starting backcourt, so we got swept. Nothing you can do about that, but I didn’t want people to see me go out on a bum note, so I gave it my best effort,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
The Lakers made their own bad luck
The 1989 NBA Finals also left a bitter taste in Kareem’s mouth because it happened during his last year in the league. He was no longer the same player, as evidenced by the 12.5 points and 5.0 rebounds he averaged across those four games. Still, he had an elite support system as the Lakers rolled through the regular season and were undefeated in the playoffs before the NBA Finals.
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But the plot twist happened in the midst of preparing for the NBA Finals. Since the Lakers had swept the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference, head coach Pat Riley didn’t want the team to take a long break before the finals to the point that it would affect their momentum. So the Godfather organized a three-day mini-camp and spiritual retreat in Santa Barbara, which the consensus believed played a role in the hamstring injuries of Scott and Johnson.
“Technically, Pat has to take the blame; he had the reins. He’s not responsible for the guys getting hurt, but is it possible that he trained us past the point where guys could make it through the playoffs without getting hurt? I’m not throwing stones at Pat; he had to call it as he saw it,” said Abdul-Jabbar years after.
A horrible send-off
To this day, the six-time NBA champion doesn’t hold back when he admits that he wishes his career had ended differently. Besides capping off an illustrious 20-year career on a bitter note, Abdul-Jabbar said he made a ton of sacrifices in his last season, which didn’t pay off because it didn’t lead to a title. One of those sacrifices was accepting a reduced role because he knew it was time to give way to those who were going to be on the team for years to come.
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“I’m on a team with a lot of superstars and stars who deserve to have the ball. I’m being phased out this year. Sometimes it’s tough on me. I’d like to have the ball, but I’m pushed to the other side. I don’t always like it, but there’s no problem,” Abdul-Jabbar told the New York Times before the 1988-89 season started.
To be fair to KAJ, his sacrifices paid dividends for most of the season, as he was on pace to end his career with a championship. Unfortunately, destiny had other plans. Abdul-Jabbar wasn’t meant to be a seven-time champion by the time his career wrapped up.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.