| | CHICAGO -- Midway through the third quarter, Los Angeles
Clippers center Michael Olowokandi moved through heavy traffic on
the court and put up a beautiful baby sky hook.
|  | | The NBA's newest assistant coach, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, shouts instructions from the Clippers' bench. |
A lesson from his new coach, perhaps?
"We just got poor Kareem in today ... and he was already
helpful tonight," Clippers coach Jim Todd said.
Yes, that would be Kareem as in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's
career scoring leader -- and the Clippers newest assistant coach.
The six-time MVP made his NBA coaching debut Saturday, flying to
Chicago to meet the Clippers a day after he was hired. As the
Clippers walked into the United Center, a few of them couldn't help
but sneak peaks at the big man hanging out in the hallway outside
their locker room.
"Definitely you step back and you say, 'Wow,"' Olowokandi
said. "Any time you have an addition such as Kareem, who's been
there and who's experienced with what it takes to win and win
championships, that's always a good thing."
Abdul-Jabbar has long wanted to be a coach, even taking a job
for five months -- and a $1 salary -- last year as an assistant at an
Apache high school in Arizona. While the 7-foot-2 Abdul-Jabbar's
primary responsibilities will be teaching fundamentals and working
work with the Clippers' two big men, Olowokandi (7-0) and Keith
Closs (7-3), he's willing to do just about anything Todd asks.
"I feel I have knowledge that's not really being transferred
across the generations," he said. "The game really isn't being
taught very well at this point and time, and a lot of things that I
know seem to be going by the wayside. I felt I could do something
about that."
And Todd is glad to have him. The Clippers have been struggling
defensively almost as long as they've been in existence -- only
Dallas and Detroit are giving up more points a game -- and Todd
hopes Abdul-Jabbar can help. Todd also hired former NBA great
Dennis Johnson, a member of three championship teams, as an
assistant.
"We're hoping with him and DJ -- we've got two of the top
defensive guys of the NBA of all time -- that some of that stuff is
going to rub off," Todd said.
Since Abdul-Jabbar is so new to the job -- he met with Olowokandi
and Closs before the game to get up to speed on the rules changes
in the 11 years since he retired -- he's not quite sure what kind of
a coach he'll be. A screamer? A stomper? The silent type?
He was quiet for much of Saturday's game, sitting next to Todd
with his head towering above everyone else's. But when Tyrone Nesby
managed to call a timeout while falling out of bounds, Abdul-Jabbar
jumped up, nodding his head and walked over to Nesby to slap hands.
"I think that's something that will evolve," Abdul-Jabbar said of his coaching style, smiling. "But my role model in all of this is John Wooden. I hope to be able to do some of the things he did."
Abdul-Jabbar retired after the 1988-89 season with 38,387 points
in a record 57,446 minutes. The 52-year-old Hall of Famer averaged
24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in his 20-season career
-- six with the Milwaukee Bucks and 14 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
He played on six championship teams -- the first with Milwaukee in 1971, and the final five with the Lakers in the 1980s. He also led UCLA to three NCAA championships and an 88-2 overall record in the late 1960s.
Unlike Magic Johnson, who took a role in the Lakers' front
office when he retired, and Michael Jordan, who only took a year
off before buying part of the Washington Wizards franchise,
Abdul-Jabbar was out of the game for years before he even thought
about going back.
"I didn't necessarily miss being in the NBA," he said. "But
as time went on, I saw that I had some knowledge that could help
people in the NBA. I don't see the game being coached very well at
the most basic levels of the game, grade school and high school and
sometimes even college."
Though he's best known for his 14 years with the Lakers -- who
could ever forget Abdul-Jabbar in his purple shorts and goggles,
using the most delicate of touches on his sky hook? -- he said it
won't be that strange to make the transition to Los Angeles' other
team.
Or will it?
"It's kind of odd, but a couple of my friends ended up in the
same position. Norm Nixon and Jamaal Wilkes ended up playing for
the Lakers," he said. "I mean the Clippers."
| |
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