Sports Analyst Dubbed Trade For 6-Time Champ As One Of Worst In NBA History

The Milwaukee Bucks traded Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley to the Lakers for Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Junior Bridgeman and Dave Meyers. The move went down because Abdul-Jabbar, who led the Bucks to a title in 1971, want to play for the Lakers or the New York Knicks.

The trade changed the NBA landscape in the 1980s. Abdul-Jabbar teamed with Magic Johnson to form the "Showtime" Lakers. They made the Finals eight times during the decade. During that time, the Bucks never made it past the Eastern Conference finals.

Abdul-Jabbar became the NBA's career scoring record with 38,387 points. The record stood for 39 years before LeBron James broke it in 2023. Wesley only played one game (seven minutes) with the Lakers before retiring. Smith had two solid seasons with the Bucks before he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bridgeman was decent but he is known more for becoming a billionaire businessman after his playing days ended.

Winters was a two-time All-Star in Milwaukee and Meyers was a serviceable big man, but neither had the impact of Abdul-Jabbar.

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