If Lewis Alcindor had pursued the first sport he fell in love with, he would have been a baseball player.

The skinny boy with a mean fastball listened to all the Brooklyn Dodgers games on the radio and played baseball every chance he got.

But after a big growth spurt, he began looking more like a basketball player. Better yet, he could palm a basketball and touch the rim of the basket. And after going to a high school all-star game, "I was awestruck," he said in "Kareem," the 1990 autobiography he wrote with Mignon McCarthy.

"Baseball would remain close to my heart, but here was a game that was best played by individuals with my physical attributes," he wrote. "The possibilities seemed endless."

Alcindor, who changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after college, was a hard worker from a young age. Once he chose basketball, he sought to hone his skills.

In grammar school, he'd stay an extra hour or two at the gym after practice just to improve his shots. He practiced so many layups, he could soon make them with his left or right hand.

By the time he finished the seventh grade, Alcindor stood 6 feet, 6 inches. Catholic high schools offered him scholarships; the fact he'd made honor roll in grammar school made him a very attractive recruit.

He chose Power Memorial, which was a 20-minute subway ride from home. He really hit his stride during his sophomore year, at which point he was just over 7 feet tall. Power won 27 games in a row with Alcindor starting at center, and went on to win the New York City Catholic high school championship.

The school won the next two years as well. He averaged 26 points and 18 rebounds per game. He could've scored 60 points a game, but coach Jack Donohue focused on team play, not individual play.

Teamwork And Schoolwork

Throughout his career, Jabbar remained a true team player.

"The one thing he always had was this tremendous pride, which was the big difference between him and a lot of other kids," Donohue said in "Stand Tall: The Lew Alcindor Story," by Phil Pepe. "He didn't mind hard work and long hours of practice."

Nor did he neglect his schoolwork. Colleges didn't want to pass up his good grades and basketball talent. Scholarship offers poured in from all over the country.

Alcindor chose UCLA after meeting John Wooden, the Bruins' basketball coach, who emphasized the importance of working hard at the game as well as in class.

The Bruins in 1965 had just won their second straight national championship under Wooden's guidance. The team won three more titles with Alcindor at center. At the time, college athletes were eligible to play for varsity teams only starting their sophomore year.

His selflessness again helped make him a great asset at UCLA, as well as in the pros. Given his height and formidable talent, he could have easily hogged the ball to boost his individual stats.

"He was a very unselfish player, the best kind of player, one who put the welfare of the team ahead of his own personal glory," Wooden recalled in "Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court," the book he wrote with Steve Jamison.

"Kareem took his great ability to score and sublimated it for the greater good of the team," Wooden said. "He was willing to do that."

When faced with obstacles, Alcindor didn't give up. He searched for solutions. Before the start of his second college season, the NCAA outlawed his favorite shot, the dunk.

"I don't like it, but it's not going to hurt my game," he said in "Stand Tall." "I'll still get my points."

Though he led UCLA to the national championship in 1967 and averaged 29.7 points and 15.5 rebounds a game that sophomore season, he still felt he could improve his defense and learn how to set up a fast break, among other things.

And he had to find a way to score without dunking. Wooden told him the ban would make him a better player because he'd have to work on developing other shots.

"I worked twice as hard on banking my shots off the glass, on turnaround jump shots and on my hook," Abdul-Jabbar wrote in "Kareem." "It made me a better all-around player."

His coach was right. Alcindor led UCLA to two more national titles in 1968 and '69 without the dunk.

Then in the National Basketball Association, Jabbar's skyhook turned into his most effective weapon.

"He had faced a challenge and used it to strengthen himself," Wooden wrote. "Adversity can do that, but it needs your assistance."

From Wooden, Jabbar learned to stay on top of his game through constant drilling. The coach's message: If each player did his best, the win would take care of itself.

Pep talks weren't necessary as long as the team was ready. "He taught us that if you needed emotion to enable you to perform, then sooner or later you would be vulnerable emotionally and ultimately nonfunctioning," Jabbar wrote.

This mind-set helped prep him for his pro career. His first team was the Milwaukee Bucks, and he quickly led them to the 1971 NBA title. After six seasons, he moved to the Los Angeles Lakers and helped them capture five NBA crowns.

"Although much of the credit for his excellent play came from natural talent, Abdul-Jabbar also had a reputation as a hard worker," wrote Joanne Mattern in "Basketball Greats." "It was not unusual for him to arrive at the gym four hours early, just to practice his shots."

He also worked hard to stay in shape, since he felt that being in top condition helped him play his best. He watched what he ate, stretched, got cardiovascular exercise and later added weight training to his training regimen.

Big Points

When he retired in 1989 at 42 years of age, he made NBA history with his 38,387 points, a record he still owns today.

He also holds the record for the most field goals made, 15,837. His six Most Valuable Player awards still stand as the most won by any NBA player.

Since retiring, Jabbar, 59, has worked as an actor, author and coach. In 1995 he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

He's now back with the Lakers, who hired him in 2005 to work with center Andrew Bynum and the other big men on the team.

BY NANCY GONDO