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InsideHoops.com NBA News

New York Knickerbockers President, Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas today announced that Hall-of-Famer and native-New Yorker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has joined the team's basketball operations staff. Abdul-Jabbar will handle a variety of duties on the basketball side, including scouting and player evaluation.

"Kareem set the standard of excellence in professional basketball, and it is a pleasure to be able to add him to our staff and bring him back to New York," Thomas said. "His knowledge of basketball will be invaluable to this franchise as we work our way back to the top of the NBA."

One of the most legendary figures in the history of American sports, Abdul-Jabbar spent his NBA career rewriting the record books following All-America careers at New York's Power Memorial High School and at UCLA. When he retired from the NBA as a player in 1989 at age 42, no NBA player had scored more points (38,387), blocked more shots (3,189), won more Most Valuable Player Awards (6), played in more NBA All-Star Games (19) or logged more seasons (20). His list of personal and team accomplishments is perhaps the most legendary in league history: NBA Rookie of the Year, member of six NBA championship teams, six-time NBA MVP, two-time NBA Finals MVP, 19-time NBA All-Star, two-time scoring champion, and selections on the NBA's 35th and 50th anniversary teams. He also owned eight playoff records and seven All-Star records, and was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

Since retiring, Abdul-Jabbar has worked in the entertainment business, served as a "basketball ambassador," working in various capacities such as a coach and broadcaster and has authored four books, as well as continuing his commitment to fight hunger and illiteracy.