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Milwaukee Bucks: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pledges 900 safety goggles to UCLA

By Jordan Treske

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - OCTOBER 26: NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar looks on during the game between the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks at the Fiserv Forum on October 26, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - OCTOBER 26: NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar looks on during the game between the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks at the Fiserv Forum on October 26, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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Milwaukee Bucks legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the latest NBA legend to donate to the ongoing fight to the coronavirus outbreak.

Milwaukee Bucks legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the latest NBA legend to make a contribution to fight off the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak around the globe.

On Tuesday afternoon, the NBA’s all-time scoring leader announced that he would be donating 900 safety goggles to the UCLA Health Center in Los Angeles, for which he also stands as their health ambassador.

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It’s a nod to Abdul-Jabbar’s iconic look, his pair of goggles, which he wore the majority of his legendary 20-year career. The origins of Abdul-Jabbar donning the goggles stemmed from an incident before the start of the 1974-75 season.

Given his position and the endless amount of contact he endured playing down low and in the post against fellow centers, Abdul-Jabbar suffered plenty of eye injuries over his early career, most notably a scratched cornea during his junior year at UCLA.

It was during an exhibition game before Abdul-Jabbar’s sixth and final season in Milwaukee where, after going up for a rebound, he came down with the ball and a severely scratched left eyeball from an opposing player as Sports Illustrated’s Pat Putnam detailed in December of 1974:

"Then, during an exhibition game, Abdul-Jabbar went up for a ball and came down with a severely scratched left eyeball. Outraged at that, he slugged the backboard post and broke his right hand. Bucks Trainer Bill Bates winced.“How could I have done anything so stupid?” Abdul-Jabbar asked him.“Why do 10 million people kick waste baskets?” replied Bates."

The injury forced Abdul-Jabbar to miss the first 16 games of the Bucks’ season and the team suffered as a result as they were 3-13 before Abdul-Jabbar returned back to the fold in what ended up being a 90-72 victory over the New York Knicks back on November 23, 1974.

Even after he left Milwaukee the following summer in 1975, Abdul-Jabbar committed to his use of the goggles and suffered from recurring corneal erosion syndrome throughout the rest of his playing career.

The Hall of Fame center’s donation will certainly go a long way and joins the long line of NBA players and legends that have helped and done their part to contribute to relief funds designed to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

And for it to come on the 51st anniversary of when the Bucks selected Abdul-Jabbar in the 1969 NBA Draft is a nice distinction in Bucks history, something that Abdul-Jabbar recognized and commented on via his Twitter profile.

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For more information about COVID-19, visit the website for the CDC, WHO, or the website for your state’s Department of Health.

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