Shop Fantasy Central Golf Guide Email Travel Subscribe SI About Us
Sportsman of the Year 2000 Wayne Gretzky Bonnie Blair Tiger Woods Roger Bannister Jack Nicklaus Michael Jordan Chris Evert Sandy Koufax Muhammad Ali Joe Montana Sportsman of the Year CNNSI
 

Features
Rick Reilly
Leigh Montville
Jack McCallum
Jaime Diaz
Alan Shipnuck
Gary Van Sickle
John Garrity
Tiger Scrapbook
Tiger Photo Gallery
Tiger: Sportsman 1996
Sportsman 2000 Tevevision Special

Complete year by year archive


Sportswoman of the Year



Artwork by Larry Rivers

"For a decade and a half, Abdul-Jabbar was so effortlessly talented and tall that nothing he did on a basketball court could really impress us. Then age made him seem human and every skyhook became a fresh wonder. He had defied the mechanism of buildup and teardown through which America feeds its celebrities. Warm ovations greeted him; like a plant too long deprived of light, Abdul-Jabbar relished this late-autumn sunshine."

Text by Gary Smith
Issue Date: December 23, 1985


Los Angeles Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led his team to the 1984-85 NBA Championship. He dominated the last five games of the six-game series against the Boston Celtics, averaging 25.7 points and nine rebounds per game. At age 38, Abdul-Jabbar won the playoff MVP award for the second time.




CNNSI Copyright © 2001
CNN/Sports Illustrated
An AOL Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.