It would probably amaze a lot of people to know that the dunk was outlawed for some time in NCAA basketball. Basketball without the dunk? Seems impossible.
The ban started in 1967 and was lifted in 1976. And why was it banned?
One player: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor, simply couldn’t be stopped around the basket.
In his later years in the NBA, Kareem still had a very reliable weapon in the skyhook, but a lot of people remember him, if they are old enough, for that and not too much else.
As a young player, as you’ll see here, he was incredibly lithe and bouncy.