5 greatest games by Los Angeles Lakers stars against their former team
By Jason Reed
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Milwaukee Bucks at Los Angeles Lakers, January 28, 1979
- Box score: 40 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks
Before becoming a Los Angeles Lakers legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was an MVP and championship-winner with the Milwaukee Bucks. For many Laker fans, there was a pipe dream that history would repeat itself with Giannis Antetokounmpo following in Kareem’s footsteps, but that has been put on hold.
The Lakers got the backend of Kareem’s prime and won five championships with arguably the best basketball player of all-time. While Magic Johnson was the Finals MVP in four of those series, the Showtime Lakers are not created without Kareem.
Kareem reminded the Bucks just how good he was on January 28, 1979 — Kareem’s fourth season with the Lakers in Los Angeles.
Kareem also had four legs of the five-by-five but was unable to record any steals. However, he did drop 40 points with 16 rebounds and four blocks, a stat line that was all-too-common for Kareem in his prime.
This was one of 34 40-point, 15-rebound games for Kareem in his career. That is the third-most all-time, trailing just Elgin Baylor (62) and Wilt Chamberlain (264). Wilt had 264 40-point, 15-rebound games! That is insane!