Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

Kareem Learns from Adversity

When the rules committee outlawed the dunk after the 1966–67 season, I supported it because I didn’t think that shot was good for the game. I still feel that way. However, Kareem disagreed. He thought the rule change was aimed directly at him.

In fact, though I don’t know if this was true, I felt the change was directed at the Houston players. They would frequently hang on the rim, actually bend it, during the warm-up. When we played them in ‘67, crews had to come out with ladders to straighten it out before our game got under way.

Whatever the source of the rules change, Kareem would no longer able to stuff the ball without being penalized, and he was unhappy.

I told him, “Lewis, this will make you a better player. ...