Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Statue Unveiling
The basketball world has been waiting for this for a very long time and at last, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s statue was unveiled on November 16, 2012 at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. I was lucky to be one of the witnesses of this historic moment in sports history. I didn’t see him play as I was not born yet during his prime and I was only three years old when he retired but I’ve always known about his legacy. Basketball is the most popular sport in my country, the Philippines, and his name is known by everyone from the old timers who have been fans since the short shorts era to the young ones who are just learning about basketball. Connected to his name, of course, is the word “skyhook,” a move he popularized (and mastered) that was greatly imitated by professional and amateur hoopsters alike.
Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA‘s all time leading scorer and has won numerous championship and MVP awards but not only that, he’s also popular in the showbiz world as he has appeared in various movies and TV shows. My most favorite is Airplane! and of course, who would forget about this scene with Bruce Lee in The Game of Death…
Now here are the photos from the event:
“Welcome to Staples Center. Today, you’ll be witnessing the unveiling of the statue of the greatest of all time…“
NBA Legends started to arrive and the one that made me jump for joy was this man:
“Dr. J” Julius Erving
Errrvviiinnnggg!!! Could there be any better time to relive the moments and see this man fly once again? Watch with me!
Then there’s UCLA alumnus and Two-time NBA Champion, Bill Walton.
Other guests were Kurt Rambis, A.C. Green, Michael Cooper, Norm Nixon, Jamaal Wilkes, Bill Sharman, and Louis Gossett, Jr.
But it will never be complete without the Lakers‘ legendary fan, Jack Nicholson.
Heeeere’s Johnny! And he’s looking for his seat.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR!!!
The speakers:
President of AEG, which owns the LA Kings, LA Galaxy, and part of the LA Lakers, Tim Leiweke.
Current President of the Miami Heat and Former Coach of the Showtime Lakers, regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time, Pat Riley.
Human rights activist, Dr. Richard Lapchick.
Broadcaster Eddie Doucette, the man who coined the term, “skyhook.”
The NBA Logo himself, Mr. Clutch, Jerry West!
“Big Game James”, James Worthy.
Last but not the least, winner of 5 NBA titles, all won with Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin “Magic” Johnson!
NBA Commisioner David Stern, Former US President Bill Clinton and Kareem’s son, Amir sent recorded videos as well to congratulate him.
Let’s unveil the statue!
Kareem himself was the one who pulled cord…
“I’m glad we got here before the pigeons got to it,” he said in his speech. Of course he said a lot more stuff but that’s the most important part of it. I think. Nah. He thanked his parents, his UCLA Coach John Wooden, his teammates, his fans and other special people in his life. He also apologized for the things he said before against the Los Angeles Lakers organization for not erecting his statue sooner.
The event wrapped up with all the NBA legends being asked to step up the stage and take group photos. The media then swarmed him for interviews. At 7’2″, no matter how many people were surrounding him, you can still see him! The night didn’t end there for the fans as the Lakers went on to battle the Phoenix Suns later where they won 114-102.
Congratulations, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar!
Javier Bardem Gets A Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame
Congratulations to Señor Javier Bardem for receiving the 2,484th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! We have an international cast for this induction ceremony: We have Mr. Bardem who is from Spain; director of Skyfall and guest speaker Sam Mendes is from England; then the two new Bond Girls in attendance are Berenice Marlohe from France and Naomie Harris from England. I was kinda hoping to see Javier’s wife and fellow Spaniard, Penelope Cruz as well but it was said that she was busy filming during this event. One more person I wanted to see: Daniel Craig! It’s a long shot but hey, they’re promoting Skyfall at the same time so who knows?
The first one to arrive was Skyfall Director, Sam Mendes. He went on to sign some autograph for the fans.
And then there was Naomie Harris.
Her face looked familiar even if I’ve never seen or heard about her before. Then I realized she was Tia Dalma from Pirates of the Caribbean, one of my favorite movies of all time! Wow, I’m an idiot haha. She sure looked different without the dreadlocks and the black lips!
Berenice Marlohe then came at the same time as Javier Bardem. I gotta say, this new Bond Girl stole the show! She was so GORGEOUS in person! I think I’m in love!
It’s funny because I saw some photographers taking more pictures of her than Javier Bardem. It’s like, “Ah I already got my shot of him, I’ll now focus on the things that interest me.”
And in this photo, all she did was hold on to that post and smile and voila! An instant high fashion shoot for the photographers!
The ceremony started and Sam Mendes took the stage. Part of the speech was about Javier dyeing his hair blonde for the new Bond movie, then entering the set and nobody recognizing him. I checked the trailer again today, he does look different! I think I dig the darker hair though. What do you think?
The guys then shared a big hug.
Javier Bardem Time!
Here’s his speech courtesy of Hollwood Walk of Fame:
The star was unveiled and then photo op galore again!
Berenice Marlohe, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Sam Mendes
Haha look at that. Sam Mendes looks like he’s saying “oooh yeah I’m touching Naomie’s tummy!”
At this point I just badly wanted to have a picture with the super beautiful Berenice Marlohe. I was worried I wasn’t going to get one because she was on the other side but then she got closer and closer until she was on our side! Woohoo! Some stupid guy from the press with his iPad kept blocking my sight of her (for Christ’s sake, please don’t shoot with your iPad when you got people behind you!) but then when I called her she did respond and I finally got a picture with her!
She asked me if my camera was working because it didn’t flash. I said, “hmm let me see…” then I checked the LCD and yup it worked just fine and I showed it to her. We smiled together. Aww. We shared a moment. An even bigger story is that our faces were literally five inches away while we were exchanging words. In my fantasy we were already French kissing haha. I wish it happened in real life!
She got back to me after some time and we had another photo. This time, I had my flash on.
One photo means it’s a photo op, two photos means we’re close. Now we’re close. I’ll call her Berber from now on.
And finally, the man of the hour went to my side and there ya go, a new movie poster for 007:
James Bond, get read for us!
For those of you who would like to visit Javier Bardem‘s star, it’s located at 6834 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028, right in front of the El Capitan Theatre.
HOLLYWOOD STARGAZER 