Kareem's New Court

After years of wandering in the coaching wilderness, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been hired as an assistant coach for the Lakers. Abdul-Jabbar's primary responsibility will be to work with first round draft pick Andrew Bynum, as well as big men Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm.

This represents another stop on what has been a long journey for Kareem. He has been so desperate for a coaching job that he once took a position as a volunteer assistant for a high school team on an Arizona Indian reservation. He applied for one coaching job after another, including at Columbia University, a job that ultimately went to Joe Jones.

We've heard that Kareem lacks the interpersonal skills to be a head coach, but LAist still has trouble imagining he's that bad. At the very least, we're surprised that virtually every NBA team has rejected him for an assistant coaching position. Kareem is a very intelligent man, who has written several books, and has learned from great coaches like John Wooden and Pat Riley. He has a tremendous amount of knowlesge to pass on to whomever wants to listen. We would think that any team would be lucky to have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on board.

Jim Murray once wrote "No man is an Island, but Kareem gave it a shot." LAist hopes that Bynum, Brown, Mihm, and the rest of the Lakers bring Kareem ashore to the mainland. This is a no-lose propostion for the Lakers, with only a lot to gain.