After the 1966-67 college basketball season, the rules committee outlawed the dunk.
John Wooden, then coach of UCLA supported it because he didn’t think that shot was good for the game. However, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar disagreed. He thought the rule change was aimed directly at him. Kareem would no longer able to stuff the ball without being penalized, and he was unhappy.
Coach Wooden told him, “Lewis (Kareem was then know as Lewis Alcindor) , this will make you a better player. You’ll have to work harder developing your hook shot, the little short shots off the boards, and the shots around the basket. There is no way this will do anything but make you a much better ballplayer.”
He nodded. And then Coach Wooden added, “Lewis, remember when you get to the pros, you won’t have forgotten how to dunk.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would go to become one of the greatest NBA players of all time. He retired as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season MVP Awards.
When Kareem became a professional, one of his most feared shots was the skyhook, a shot he had developed and perfected after the rule change. He had faced a challenge and used it to strengthen himself. Adversity can do that, but it needs your assistance.
Source: John Wooden Book – Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and Off the Court
