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UCLA Basketball: The 25 Greatest Bruins of all time

By Mike Regalado

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 21: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar waves to fans as he arrive to attend the UCLA Bruins and Arizona Wildcats college basketball game at Pauley Pavilion on January 21, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Abdul-Jabbar was honored at half-time after recently receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, from President Barack Obama. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 21: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar waves to fans as he arrive to attend the UCLA Bruins and Arizona Wildcats college basketball game at Pauley Pavilion on January 21, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Abdul-Jabbar was honored at half-time after recently receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, from President Barack Obama. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /

1. Lew Alcindor, C (1966-69) – aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Why Alcindor is on this list:

Even before you started this list, you knew exactly who the greatest UCLA basketball player of all time was. Well here we are and you were right. Lew Alcindor. The Captain. The Greatest of all Time.

It says a lot about a player that comes into a program and leads the freshman team to a win over the Varsity team (which had just won a national championship the year before). Because of the “freshman rule” Alcindor only played three seasons for John Wooden’s Bruins but did more than what other average players could only hope to do in a lifetime.

Alcindor led the Bruins to an impressive 88-2 record in his time at UCLA. That included the Bruins’ 30-0 record in his first season and led to three consecutive NCAA Championships. Over those three seasons, he averaged 26.4 points per game, with an impressive 29.0 points per game in his first year. This led to him being named a consensus First Team All-American and National Player of the Year in all three seasons.

Alcindor left UCLA as their All-Time leading scorer, which has only been broken by Don MacLean.

UCLA Basketball - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the Greatest Of All Time. light. Read

UCLA Career Stats

  • FG%: .639
  • FT%: .628
  • Rebs/gm: 15.5
  • Total Rebs: 1367
  • Pts/gm: 26.4
  • Total Pts: 2325

Key Accomplishments

  • NCAA Championships: 1967, 1968, 1969
  • Pac-8 Champs: 1967, 1968, 1969
  • All-American: 1967, 1968, 1969
  • All-Pac-8: 1969, 1970
  • National Player of the Year: 1967, 1968, 1969
  • One of four members of the UCLA 2000 Points Club
  • Record for highest career scoring average: 26.4
  • Record for most field goals made: 943
  • UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame Member: 1984
  • #33 Jersey Retired: 1990
  • One of only 40 Players to Win an NCAA and NBA Championship

In 1969, he was the overall #1 pick by the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Draft. He played for them for five years, winning Rookie of the Year in 1970 and helping the Bucks to their only NBA Championship in 1971. The day after that win, Alcindor changed his name for religious purposes to the moniker he is now famous for, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

In 1975, Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and that is when his professional career really took off. In addition to winning multiple MVP awards, and being named to multiple All-NBA and All-Defensive teams, he won five titles with the Lakers (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988). On top of that, he is the NBA’s All-Time scoring leader (38,387). Alcindor/Abdul-Jabbar is one of three players to have his jersey retired by UCLA and the Lakers.

Abdul-Jabbar has also done a great many things after retiring from the NBA after a 20-year journey. He tackled Hollywood as an actor playing opposite of Bruce Lee in 1972’s Game of Death and making a hilarious cameo in the 1980 comedy Airplane!, just to name a few. The GOAT is also an accomplished author and activist. This man continues to do it all.