Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Changed the Rules for Black Athletes | National Endowment for the Humanities

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made an appearance at Dodger Stadium this Tuesday to honor the late Jackie Robinson.

Abdul-Jabbar showed up to the Dodgers game in his very own No. 42 jersey. It was a nice gesture from the six-time NBA champion. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to walk around the ballpark the entire time.

A video of Abdul-Jabbar being pushed in a blue wheelchair surfaced on social media on Tuesday night. While fans were happy to see him honor Jackie Robinson Day, they were quite devastated that he needed assistance getting around Dodger Stadium.

To be fair, Abdul-Jabbar is less than two years removed from hip surgery. He suffered a fracture in 2023 after falling at a concert in Los Angeles.

Former Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar looks on.

LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Los Angeles Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar attends the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies basketball game at Staples Center on February 21, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork S. Djansezian/Getty Images)

Even though we haven’t received any negative updates on Abdul-Jabbar’s health, sports fans are genuinely worried about him.

“This broke my heart,” one fan tweeted.

“Sometimes it’s tough to see your idols get older,” a second fan said.

“One of the goats. wish they could just give him new knees and make him able to move again – hate seeing the big fella who played into his 40s being fragile,” another fan wrote.

“Tough to see the big fella in rough shape but glad he’s still with us,” a social media user commented.

While outside of Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night, Abdul-Jabbar delivered a classy speech about Robinson’s impact on sports.

“People who were interested in that knew that one significant aspect of segregation had just been eliminated, and Black Americans were proud of,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “My mom didn’t know much about the game. But because of all the attention that Jackie got, we started listening to the games on the radio when I was about 2 years old. And it was very important to me that Jackie’s team won.”

Abdul-Jabbar and the rest of the Dodgers’ fan base were treated to a 6-2 victory over the Rockies.