The former spouse of Kareem Abdul Jabbar altered her name following his conversion to Islam. Jabbar, an American ex-professional basketball player, had a 20-season career in the National Basketball Association, playing for the Los Angeles and Milwaukee Bucks.
Abdul Jabbar, a six-time NBA Most Valuable Player, met Habiba through his friend Cliff Anderson while she was still in high school and dating Anderson. When he learned about their breakup, he took the opportunity to invite her to watch him play at UCLA.
In an interview, he mentioned that “I invited her to come watch UCLA play and she agreed,” and after her first visit, he began pursuing her.
His marriage to Janice Brown lasted from 1971 to 1978. They initially met at a Los Angeles game when Abdul Jabbar was playing for UCLA.
In 1971, Kareem Abdul Jabbar embraced Islam, which influenced his wife Janice to do the same. Consequently, she changed her birth name, given by her Catholic parents, to Habiba Abdul-Jabbar, to align with her husband’s name change from Lew Alcindor to Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
Their three children are Habiba Abdul Jabbar, Sultana Abdur Jabbar, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar Jr. The couple divorced in 1978, as Kareem was also parenting two other children named Adam and Amir with his ex-partner Cheryl Pistono.
Adam had a role in an episode of the television show “Full House” and was sentenced to six months in prison for a stabbing incident in 2021.
Who Broke Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s Record?
Last night on Tuesday 7, 2023, in a basketball match between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James surpassed the all-time points record of the beloved American basketball player Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
James has now become the NBA’s all-time points record holder by surpassing Abdul Jabbar’s total score of 38,387, which Jabbar accumulated over twenty seasons.
What Occurred When Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s Ex-wife Embraced Islam?
Habiba Abdul Jabbar’s parents, who resided in New York, only had one child named Janice Brown, who changed her name to Habiba Abdul Jabbar in 1971.
Being brought up as a Christian, her parents had difficulty accepting her acceptance of Islam. Her marriage ceremony took place at a Masjid in Washington, but her parents, due to their Catholic faith, were denied entry.
Her parents traveled from New York to Washington in an attempt to intervene, which resulted in a strained situation.
