To Kareem, One Ring Is Much Like Any Other

It was in Milwaukee in the fall of 1971 that 24-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tried on his first National Basketball Assn. championship ring. Magic Johnson was 12 years old, and James Worthy was 10.

Fourteen years later, Abdul-Jabbar will get his fourth NBA championship ring tonight in a special pregame ceremony at the Forum. He will get one and so will the rest of the Lakers who played on the team that defeated Boston in six games in the championship series last spring.

Abdul-Jabbar said that much has changed since that first championship season in Milwaukee. His name, for one thing, plus, he’s 38 now. His beard is gone and so is a lot of his hair. But some things just don’t change. The fourth ring is special, Abdul-Jabbar admitted, but the ceremony is something that he must handle in his own way, which means he won’t get all misty over it.

“If you get all upset and excited over each event, you’re on an emotional roller coaster,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “That’s not good for your longevity and that’s not good for your presence of mind.”

Oscar Robertson, who played on the Bucks’ title team with Abdul-Jabbar, anticipated such a reaction. Robertson said his former teammate hasn’t really changed that much at all from the first ring to the last one.

“I remember when Kareem got that ring,” Robertson said. “He acted the same way then as he does now. He was sort of stoic, a laid-back guy. He didn’t jump up and down and do any flips.”

Throughout his professional career, which is now in its 17th season, Abdul-Jabbar has seldom been demonstrative in times of triumph or defeat. It’s just his way, he said, something that he learned from Coach John Wooden at UCLA.

“He didn’t like to have his team all emotionally pumped up,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “He wanted to have them mentally prepared and physical prepared and focused. That’s something that takes you through life. It’s a very efficient way because you don’t waste a lot of energy.”

After the 1970-71 championship with the Bucks, Abdul-Jabbar waited eight years for another. It and Johnson arrived together. Johnson was like Robertson in the sense that Abdul-Jabbar needed another star player to make his team a champion.

Great players like Abdul-Jabbar, Robertson said, are so accustomed to success that very often they do not show their emotions, even if they are feeling it inside.

“He’s like the chairman of the board of a company,” Robertson said. “You go on results. It doesn’t matter if a guy wins five, six or seven championships, you just don’t allow yourself the feeling of certain situations. It’s just a mental thing.

“But he’s got to feel pretty good about this new ring,” Robertson said. “He’s such a smart, mature ballplayer now and he’s lasted 17 years. I know the pay is good, but I don’t think people understand the physical abuse he’s taken on the court, and the star is always the target. That’s something you don’t worry about if you’re not a star. Kareem gets pounded a lot .”

Abdul-Jabbar does not get excited about a lot, though. When the game was stopped after he had broken Wilt Chamberlain’s scoring record in 1984, Abdul-Jabbar took a microphone and spoke only briefly. In a game at Boston in which he became the NBA’s all-time field-goal leader, he raised his hands in a short salute. And on opening night this season in San Antonio, Abdul-Jabbar only nodded when it was announced to the crowd that he was playing in a record 17th season.

The reason why he acts this way, Abdul-Jabbar explained, is a simple one: “I don’t dwell on my career.

“I tend to focus on what’s ahead of me and just take for granted what has already passed, unless it becomes overwhelmingly important. I don’t suppress my ego. I don’t think I have a big ego. I enjoy the rewards, I always have, but I don’t dwell on my importance to the fabric of American life, or anything like that.”

It is not always possible for Abdul-Jabbar to avoid being reminded of his successes and the championship rings he has earned, but he doesn’t always want to, either. After the Lakers’ title series with Boston, Abdul-Jabbar played with the Hollywood Stars in a baseball game at Dodger Stadium when Danny Kaye put the season and the ring into perspective for him.

“He said that after the year we had, whatever happens, no matter when I retire, I can live the rest of my life and savor the season,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “I kinda had to agree with him. It was really an uplifting experience. We worked very hard for it. We had to overcome a lot to win it, so it’s pretty special in that respect.”

When Abdul-Jabbar receives his fourth ring tonight, he will put it with the three others in a safe at his home.

But what about the ceremony tonight?

“It’s going to be a nice evening,” he said.