Chapter 33: Going Solo

The Lakers' dominance in the '80s was significantly attributed to Jabbar's evergreen vitality.

And the important reason for Jabbar's perpetual youthfulness was that, aside from providing extremely stable output on offense, no centers from the middle or new generation could consistently outplay Jabbar one-on-one on defense.

This was crucial for the Lakers' offensive and defensive system.

It could be said that Jabbar not being a defensive sieve, was even more important than his reliable hook shot.

In his youth, Jabbar was first-rate on defense, with both individual and help defense abilities at the top of the League.

As he aged, Jabbar's deficiencies in protecting the backcourt rebounds, limited mobility, and aversion to physical play grew more apparent.

So, in his matchups with Moses Malone, he suffered somewhat, struggling in their encounters from '81 to '83.