Kareem - 38/11/6/7 vs. Sonics (1980 WCF - Game 5)

[@Skoshi33]

Kareem has an NBA record 6 league MVP's. I think that speaks to his greatness. Nuff Said...

[@sportsfanatic1936]

Skoshi33 Should have 3 finals mvps as well

[@jovanvidojevic2555]

@ Cowens - no way near Jabbar greatness, but Mcdoo in middle 70's was beast, in his prime one of the best players of all time.

Jovan Vidojevic All time ? McAdoo never even lead a team to a deep playoff run. How can he be an all timer ?

[@GOOD-oc9kk]

@ He won one which should have gone to Tiny Archibald who lead the league in scoring and assists.

[@GOOD-oc9kk]

@ Probably the only time someone has lead both categories. He was the most valuable that year regardless if he did not have the supporting cast around him.

[@arkansoul]

"This" Kareem with the fro attached to his beard was the G.O.A.T.

[@mja91352]

The GOAT is named Bill Russell.

[@smokeyjoe795]

It's these type of game I think when I talk about Kareem being in the GOAT conversation. He was probably a shade past his physical prime even here 1980. He dominated this series on both ends of the floor. 7 blocks in this one as well as 7 assists.

[@smokeyjoe795]

@@mja91352 People try to sell that. Russell is certainly one of the top 10 greatest players but when you look a little closer at it he wasn't the threat at both ends of the floor that Jabbar, Jordan, West, Olajawon etc. Bill wasn't a bad offensive player but he could delegate to his teammates. Russell shooting % was in the low to mid 40s. I dont think he ever shot 50% from the floor. His free throw shooting was as bad as Wilt. For that reason Russell doesn't compare to Kareem.

[@mrboo3049]

​@@smokeyjoe795 Prime KAREEM from 1974-1982 was untouchable. Especially the Afro side burned Kareem In 1976-1980. MONSTER

[@thorntonwilliams3851]

​@@smokeyjoe795most likely past his prime, going against defending champs.

[@buicklincoln]

Sikma...Hall of Famer, but Kareem went thru him like a hot knife thru butter. SuperSonics were the defending champions with all their pieces together, but the Lakers, with the addition of Magic steamrolled them.

[@patrickcolon8809]

This was a rematch of the previous season's Western Conference Semifinals, which the SuperSonics won in 5 games. This time, the Lakers turned the tables on their perennial rival from that era.

[@the_Sage71]

Kareem dominated on both ends. His shotblocking was scary in this game. He rejected 7 Sonic shots and altered a few others.

[@ericwright2594]

Rip Dennis Johnson

[@margarinetaintedgreen8140]

Cap in 15 playoff games for ‘80 ring: 32 PPG, 57 FG%, 79 FT% (try to find FTs like that w/Wilt, Shaq, Russell, Giannis) 12 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 3.9 BPG (try to find BPG like that w/Jokic, Shaq, Embiid, Giannis) He went more scoring-dominant in the playoffs that year (he went from 17 FGA/G to 23 FGA/G). He was still a great passer, a very underrated passer. In all 82 reg. season games, he averaged 4.5 APG (his 11-yr career average at that point). If you played him straight-up you were at the mercy of the most unstoppable shot in the history of b-ball. Dum-dums in the media refer to Cap as a “one shot wonder.” For one, even if that is true (which it very much isn’t), he still perfected the most unstoppable shot in the history of the sport of b-ball, and he still avg 28.5 PPG on 55.5 FG%, reg. season + playoffs combined, 857 combined games for a decade ‘71-‘80. For two, he wasn’t a one-shot wonder. All you have to do is watch him in his prime and see mid-range jumpers, turn-around fadeaways off the glass, turn-and-scoop, finger-rolls and sky hooks. Any time you watch game film from, the broadcasters often mention how he’s one of the best passing bigs they’d ever seen. You were at his mercy straight-up, you couldn’t play Hack-a-Cap, and he burned you if you doubled him with his excellent passing. Then, on the other end, he averaged 3.5 BPG OFFICIALLY for 7 years ‘74-‘80, but likely averaged 3.5 BPG over the 11-yr span ‘70-‘80 while also averaging 1.2 SPG and 15 RPG.

[@hectorlopez1069]

Magic in his first NBA playoffs with the lakers.

[@LarryJoeBest_BCN]

3:30 Three blocks in a row to Cooper in the same play… 😅🤦🏻‍♂️

[@dolphingoosby7195]

Kareem Abdul Jabbar is the most unappreciated superstar in the history of sports! His body of work speaks for itself.

[@mja91352]

The wird is spelled "unappreciated."

[@anthonytaylor7928]

Are u high with that dumb comment

[@j.w.4514]

​@@mja91352the word is spelled the word

[@j.w.4514]

​@@mja91352the word is spelled the word

[@jackkitchen737]

I was 13 years old and stayed up late watching this from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. What an awesome performance. I still have the Sports Illustrated from that week. "Kareem to Earth: Duck!"

[@dubbrown5594]

This Kareem in his prime and he was unstoppable

[@keithclark8799]

the 3 point shot was introduced in the NBA for the 1979-80 season (Magic and Bird's rookie year )

[@marqueswatts7489]

Kareem is the greatest player to dominate on each level!

[@alexmiri70]

Kareem had the will and talent to win a Championship earlier with the Lakers, the problem was the backcourt in crunch time, you can see when they lost to the Blazers in 77 and the Sonics in 78 and 79, Magic was the missing piece. he was a winner like Kareem, that's what happens when two winners get to play with each other, and also the coming alone from Norm Nixon and Michael Cooper, put them over the hump. It's beautiful to see Kareem at 33 how he still had is athleticism, he still rebounded in a more consistent basis, at least in double figures, and still was a defensive force, he was all over the place blocking shoots. That year he won the season MVP, he's 6th, and last of he's career. That year also he had a great playoff run, was the last time he average over 30 ppg in the playoffs, he had great statistical playoffs also: 79-80 15 games, 12.1 RPG, 3.1 AST, 3.9 BLK, 31.9 PPG at 57.2 FG% From thous 15 game, in only 4 of them he did not scored at least 30 points, they lost 3 of thous games (25 only game they lost to Suns, 26 only game they lost to Sonic's, 25 Lakers beat Sonics and 23 against Sixers they lost that game). That it's how important he was to he's team to win a full series. He still had very good playoff series after that, specially the 1985 series against de Celtics at age 38, probably he's career most meaningful accomplishment, to beat Celtics at Boston for the first time on Lakers history.

[@elwin38]

the sonics were just as good this year as their championship yr(79) but magic was too much for them...DJ and john johnson did all they could to guard him but this was magic before his knees were bothering him and he was 20yrs old and already in his prime. he actually had some hops then too.

[@mja91352]

Duh

[@madcapper6]

@@mja91352 You must be great at parties.

[@smokeyjoe795]

Magic played well though he was still a rookie. He turned the ball over quite a bit but he help them on the boards and generally the team spirit. He made run and want to run at all times. In the Half court Jabbar was the #1 option and would foe the next 6 seasons. Make no mistake Kareem was the hub of the wheel of that team.

[@dispassionateobserver]

Young Kareem was so much more active and dominant. I wish more people recognized how great he was on both ends of the floor.

[@mja91352]

Anyone who knows hoops already knows. Second greatest center ever.

[@anthonytaylor7928]

Dumb comment

[@thorntonwilliams3851]

This isn't young Kareem.

[@MerkinMuffly]

No one had a more automatic pet-shot than Kareem, the sky hook was unstoppable and partly the reason he didn't have monster rebound numbers. 1, he hit is most of the time and didn't have to get a rebound, 2 it is a shot that takes you away from the basket, so he never had much of a chance for offensive boards. I'll take the greatest shot in history over a couple of rebounds any day.

[@shirle7343]

MerkinMuffly I just got schooled,thanks.

[@mja91352]

Nonsense. Kareem was great rebounder for most of his career, until the 80s. It had nothing to do with hitting the skyhook; most rebounds are DEFENSIVE rebounds

[@ckobo84]

He's only a bad rebounder when compared to Wilt and Russell pulling down 25 per game.

[@Defender80s]

Pure "Skill" and All Around Game by the Master of the Skyhook

[@joeldalangin2427]

Kareem could run like no ones business around then. So dominant

[@veerchasm1]

Total dominance

[@elwin38]

oh yeah, the sonics had just went through a tough,tough, physical series with the milwaukee bucks(the bucks should've won), but the sonics barely won in 7 games.

[@arkansoul]

Great points. And people hassle Kareem but don't really understand the game from the angles.

[@arkansoul]

Back in 1971, the Atlantic and Central division was considered the Eastern Conf. while the Midwest and Pacific was the Western Conf. Milwaukee was in the Midwest. When the ABA merged with the NBA in 1976 it took 4 teams. San Antonio was placed in the Central Division making them an Eastern Conf. team. It was kinda mixed up until the 80-81 season.

[@Survivor87]

Dennis Johnson seemed to have a lot of those half court buzzer beaters..lol

[@fatal9ish]

@Survivor87 it's crazy. him and magic might have made more of those than anybody.

[@DetroitLove4U]

The socks!!!

[@arkansoul]

NBA action is fantastic!!! Kareem didn't have alot of 40-50 pt games but he had enough 25-38 pt games. This was my NBA. It was cool how players could still wear gold chains on the court(until Dawkins got carried away and was Mr. T before Mr. T) Remember, the Sonics were the defending champs at this time and were no slouches...they were loaded.

[@JAWrightonline]

The 1978-80 Sonics were the forerunners to the 1988-90 Pistons.

[@Skoshi33]

Kareem has an NBA record 6 league MVP's. I think that speaks to his greatness. Nuff Said...

[@hectorlopez1069]

6 championships with 2 teams

[@jaysongaston7976]

Magic had mad hops when he was young

[@wilrobles9824]

That Kareen was a fair country player.

[@arkansoul]

People forget that the Bucks were in the West and the Spurs were in the East during this time.

[@douglaslowe5]

That's true. Bulls were in West also.

[@aminurrrr0621]

Magic on the Lakers had an unbelievable impact and made the difference in this series as opposed to when these two teams met the year before. So many things changed for Seattle after this game and this series. If they had gotten by L.A. again, I think they would've handled The Doctor and Philly in the 80 Finals easily! The Sonics had the deepest bench/roster in the league that season and were one of the best defensive teams. Who knows, with two titles in a row won, maybe Lenny changes his mind and doesn't trade DJ for Westphal. And Gus Williams probably gets paid what he's worth. And that nucleus stays intact at least until 86.

[@smokeyjoe795]

Magic helped them with his enthusiasm and will to push the ball up the floor. Nixon was an elite point guard who was even faster up the floor than Johnson. They had the fastbreak as a weapon. That means they had some balance. Kareem dominated these playoffs in 1980 like few ever have. This series he was the MVP and he was also the actual MVP of the finals as well for his dominance in the first 5 games against Philly. Magic and Kareem played together perfectly. Neither cared who scored as long as they won. Unlike Kobe and Shaq these guys did it right. It's a shame they weren't both in their primes together. With a 27 years old Abdul-jabbar this team might never have lost a game.

[@FuShengAlex]

@@smokeyjoe795 it wasn't fair to the rest of the West to have to face such a stacked team annually and with the addition of Worthy it made things even more lopsided and uninteresting in the conference. Only Houston stood up to them in the 80s out West

[@teofemo7000]

​@@FuShengAlexSan Antonio gave them a helluva series in 1983. They were stacked too. The IceMan, Artis Gilmore at center, a killer small forward named Mike Mitchell who LA could not stop.

[@Majuuub]

Bruh it's like they don't know what a jumper is other than forcing contested layups. Except for kareem of course. I can see why the center dominated.

[@anthonytaylor7928]

It's called running an offense for a high percentage shot also good defense dum dum

[@Majuuub]

@@anthonytaylor7928 It's literally not high percentage if you're taking smothered layups or close shots. You're just feeding the big. You gotta be dumb if you can't realize this.

[@casheasy]

Incredible performance! The King ruled that year, winning his sixth MVP.

[@jaxezyo9850]

The lakers beat the SuperSonics

[@youtuber3328]

please tell me how you feel about me asking what if jeff van gundy lenny wilkens larry brown don nelson phil jackson and/or red auerbach being the head coaches of the legendary kareem abdul-jabbar

[@Jiltedin2007]

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ate Jack Sikma for lunch throughout the entire Western Conference Finals!

[@AKADEMENTED]

can you explain how that was ? i was born in 87....so im in the dark milwaukee bucks ? west coast? san antonio east coast ? or did i get something wrong

[@master-kq3nw]

Bravo kareem

[@upicku]

Man like I'm watchin Vlade Divac playin.

[@AKADEMENTED]

hey thx 4 explaining

[@arkansoul]

No problem.

[@arkansoul]

@ 4:38 Vinnie "the Microwave" Johnson

[@luismanuelcd]

Is Dennis Johnson ( Rip).

[@hectorlopez1069]

​@@luismanuelcd he won a title with Seattle in 79.

[@TheRafaelBond]

Funny how down 5 with 30 seconds to go they are like "and its all over, were gonna have a new western conference champion.." that REALLY tells you EVERYTHING about the 3 point shot that time around, today, thats definately still a ball game, the 3 pter is a great equalizer, surely a team can still win by hitting some and getting a break or so on their end. Here, by what they are saying, you can see how rarely the 3pt shot it was used, and how it wasnt really developed and mastered yet to use it effectively, like you could have done here.

[@derrololson5966]

I agree definitely for the most part. The closest thing to a legit 3 point specialist that year was actually "Downtown" Fred Brown of the Sonics and he actually utilized it as a weapon in Game 1 of this series against the Lakers by hitting 4 of them, I think 2 of which were in the last 3 minutes. But even when it happened I remember everyone was just blown away that a guy could actually hit four 3-pointers in a game. Nowadays someone does it just about every night. I guess it took a while for the typical NBA skillset to evolve around using the 3 point shot on a consistent basis.

[@TheRafaelBond]

Thanks for the input, wasn't aware of that as I wasn't alive back then lol..

[@mja91352]

Wow, you really know nothing about basketball

[@mja91352]

@@derrololson5966 The Celtics made great use of the three-pointer as soon as it came into the game.

[@madcapper6]

@@mja91352 They only averaged around 2 treys made per game. That was pretty good for 1980 but wasn't even close to being a key factor in their offensive game. Every team in the league these days has at least one individual player that averages more makes per game than that. The league as a whole only averaged 0.8 makes per game so the league hadn't yet adapted to it. Contrast that to the modern game where teams average about 12 makes per game. So what I said before stands. A player hitting 4 threes in a game was highly unusual.

[@Es74256]

2:18 shouldn’t have been a charge