This was an absolutely devastating weapon for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and it worked flawlessly for 20 NBA seasons.
There has never been a more effective offensive weapon in basketball than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Skyhook. It was an elegant move, and he could shoot it either left-handed or right and in his twenty-year career, only a handful of players ever blocked it. Bill Walton got it once, but he got it from behind. Robert Parish got one as we highlighted recently. Bill “Poodles” Willoughby, who had a 47” vertical, got it once but it was ruled a goaltender. He still got it from the front though and near the apex.
It was really rare that anyone stopped it though. Bill Russell, the greatest defender in NBA history, was asked what he would do and he said that he knew he couldn't stop it, so he’d try and force Kareem slightly farther out so that his percentage would be lesser.
That’s probably the best idea anyone had.
In this video, which was posted for Kareem’s 70th birthday, we see 70 Skyhooks over various NBA players, almost all of whom seem helpless to stop it. Watch the efforts of Wilt Chamberlain, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Brad Daughtery, Nate Thurmond, Darryl Dawkins, Patrick Ewing, Moses Malone, Jack Sikma, the hapless Bill Laimbeer, Caldwell Jones, Bob Lanier, Willis Reed, Bill Walton and even the 7-7 Manute Bol can’t touch it.
The greatest mystery about the greatest weapon in basketball history is simple: why doesn’t anyone else try it?
Kareem made refinements to the shot and took it to a different level, but it’s not a difficult shot to learn.
Still, the only guy we’ve seen shoot it lately is former Michigan guard Zavier Simpson and he’s just 6-0. However, he too showed it can be a kill shot.
Kareem speculates that the three point shot killed the hook, which makes sense, but for a big guy it can still be a beautiful, lethal weapon.
And while Duke freshman Khaman Maluach is a self-motivated young big who doesn’t need our advice, what would it do for his game if he added a Skyhook? Well, like Kareem, he’s a slim 7-2 big, only with longer arms. He might be able to get that shot off 11 feet up and that’s not counting the arc that would take it up 13-15 feet, minimum. There’s no one who could stop that.
