Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a longtime history buff. The Hall of Famer is working on a book (his fifth), due out next May, about the U.S. Army's 761st Tank Battalion, the first all-black armored unit to enter combat. The 761st, one of the most decorated battalions during World War II, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, blitzed through six countries in 183 consecutive days of fighting and helped liberate several concentration camps, including Buchenwald and Dachau. There's also a film about the 761st in the works. "A guy in the unit was a cop with my dad," Abdul-Jabbar, 56, said last week from his home in Los Angeles. "I had no idea he was a war hero."

These days, Abdul-Jabbar's interest in the past is trumped only by his befuddlement over a bit of recent history -- his continued inability to land an NBA coaching gig. He's especially puzzled after a dizzying offseason during which there were 55 coaching changes in the league. Ten new head coaches were hired, more in one sweep than most longtime hoopheads can remember. All told, 22 of 29 teams made at least one coaching move. Yet when the merry-go-round ground to a halt, the architect of perhaps the only unstoppable shot in the game -- the sky hook -- remained on the sidelines.

Abdul-Jabbar is not the only former NBA player looking -- without success -- to get back in the game. "There are numerous Hall of Fame players who would like an opportunity to work in the NBA," says league commissioner David Stern, "and hundreds more who are not in the Hall of Fame. We field calls, meet with many of them and sometimes even hire them in our coaching camps to expose them to teams. In the end, the marketplace takes care of itself."

All of which makes Abdul-Jabbar's continued unemployment all the more intriguing. He says he made specific inquiries during the offseason about openings with the Nuggets, Pacers, Sonics, Knicks, Wizards and Clippers, and sent resumes to every NBA team. But he did not get a single interview. In fact, he says, team executives wouldn't even call him back. "It's impossible for me to figure out," he says. "I can see if people talked to me and felt I didn't have anything to offer. But not even talking to me? It's a tough thing to deal with."

The former Lakers center's lament is not new. Five years ago, he said he felt "all dressed up and [had] nowhere to go," after failing to land an NBA job following more than a year of lobbying (Sports Illustrated, Nov. 30, 1998). That year, he addressed one major knock against him (no coaching experience) by becoming an assistant coach at Alchesay High in Whiteriver, Ariz., on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. In 2000, he joined the Clippers as an assistant for the remainder of the NBA season, but was not re-hired. He has had short stints coaching big men for the Sonics and Pacers, and coached prospective draftees during an NBA pre-draft camp. In 2002, Abdul-Jabbar coached the USBL's Oklahoma Storm.

So what's the problem? While no one in the league would speak for attribution (Heck, three coaches wouldn't even return my calls to discuss Kareem) the consensus seems to be simple: Abdul-Jabbar is still paying for his own troubled history. "I'm not gonna tell you he's been black-balled," said one longtime league executive, "but his personality has been a problem for him. All that s---'s coming back to him. I would not hire him. I would not talk to him about a job."

Abdul-Jabbar knows he has been dismissed as uncommunicative and uncooperative, and concedes that he has not always been the most personable legend in the room. All of these are attributes that could get someone stricken from any "coaching candidates" list. "I try to get by with a minimum of words," he admits. "But people don't know if I can teach the game. I know I can. My experience in Oklahoma was positive. It opened my eyes to how the game is played -- the interaction among players, fans and media, how all that works. You have to know about the business of the game and how the actions of players and coaches affect the business. I think I have it down now."

That may be, but it seems as if Abdul-Jabbar still must overcome another stigma, one he fueled years ago when he admitted that he smoked marijuana to deal with migraines. At a time when all pro leagues are preaching against illegal drug and steroid use, hiring a confessed drug user won't exactly jump-start your new marketing campaign.

Abdul-Jabbar does not deny his past in this regard, though he now says that he has not smoked marijuana in two years. "It is not an issue in my life any more," he said. "I just tried to eliminate all the dissipating stuff and focus on being professional."

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Abdul-Jabbar's saga is a cautionary tale for today's athletes. There can be an "afterlife" for jocks. But if you want to land on the sideline, in the front office or in the broadcast booth after your playing days are done, it is not enough to merely compete on the court. The other game -- I call it the "End Game" -- must be played with the same intelligence, work ethic and passion as the on-court game. The NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball are rife with End Game all-pros. Doc Rivers, Joe Dumars, Larry Bird, Rick Carlisle, Wayne Cooper, Maurice Cheeks and Byron Scott are among many former NBA players who are now respected coaches, GMs or other front-office types.

Abdul-Jabbar was named one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1996. But when it comes to the End Game, he's at the end of the bench.

In time, his lot may change. Other players -- Bill Russell comes quickly to mind -- gained acceptance after years of being shunned as "outsiders" because of the bitterness they engendered among peers and management during their careers. Abdul-Jabbar "meant a lot to the game," says Stern. "Maybe he's learning how much it means to him."

Roy S. Johnson is an assistant managing editor for Sports Illustrated. His "Pass the Word" column appears on SI.com every Friday. Catch Johnson on CNN Headline News every Thursday at 3:40 p.m. ET.