"Kareem - Minority of One" (2015 release; 90 min.) is a documentary about the life and times of Karem Abdul Jabbar up to 1989. As the movie opens, we are "April 28, 1989", when Kareem steps onto the court at the LA Forum one last time. We then go back in time to his upbringing (as Lewis Alcindor) in New York. "I dunked for the first time in 8th grade". Comments someone else: "He was a misfit, literally, due to his height." He decides to attended New York HS power house Power Memorial, and soon finds himself the most coveted college recruit ever... At this point we are 10 min. into the film.
Couple of comments: this film is a presentation of HBO Sports. Sadly, and uncharacteristically, HBO decided that it needed to stick to sports only. Hence this is a straightforward and hence dreadfully boring life at the rich basketball career of of Kareem Abdul Jabbar at Power Memorial, then UCLA, then the Milwaukee Bucks, and then the LA Lakers. Yes, there are a few moments devoted to his decision to convert to Muslim and hence changing his name to Kareem Abdul Jabbar. So the documentary ends where it began 90 minutes earlier, at the LA Forum on April 28, 1989. There is literally this one-sentence reference: "He became a writer, commentator and activist later in life." Fade to black. Say what?!? You negate in its entirety the next 25-30 years of this guy's life and accomplishments? Holy cow. Yes, Adbul Jabbar took up many things after his basketball career, including well-respected social commentary but also things like being a writer on the 2019 revival of "Veronica Mars", among many many other things.
"Kareem - Minority of One" premiered on HBO in 2015, and I stumbled on it recently on HBO On Demand. Considering that Kareem Abdul Jabbar retired over 30 years ago, I couldn't help by be incredibly disappointed that this documentary completely overlooked his post-basketball career and accomplishments during these 3 decades. It's simply inexcusable.
