All these years later, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar set the record straight.
No, his idol, Jackie Robinson, never made a surprise visit to his home to recruit him for his alma mater, UCLA.
"But Jackie did write me a letter telling me that he thought I would get a great education at UCLA," said Abdul-Jabbar, who grew up a rabid Brooklyn Dodger fan and still gets excited talking about the '55 World Series victory over the Yankees. "But he didn't come to my house."
Talking about his decision to attend UCLA after making a name for himself at Power Memorial, Abdul-Jabbar recalled that it was pretty much a toss-up with St. John's until Joe Lapchick was forced to retire.
"If Joe Lapchick was still the coach when I left high school, it would have been a much tougher decision for me," he said after appearing at Bill Gallo's "Gallo's Geezers" luncheon Monday in Manhattan to promote "On the Shoulders of Giants," a film about the Harlem Rens, the legendary black basketball team of the 20's and 30's.
St. John's fans can only imagine how basketball history would have changed had Lapchick not been moved out at the school's mandatory retirement age of 65, and if Abdul-Jabbar had decided to stay home and play for the Redmen.
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