Kareem Abdul-Jabbar closed the Los Angeles Lakers’ decade of dominance with a fifth championship on June 21, 1988, raising his career total to six NBA titles.
A Game 7 that tested everything
The Lakers met the Detroit Pistons at the Great Western Forum for the first Finals Game 7 since 1984. Detroit carried a narrow halftime lead behind an injured Isiah Thomas, who played through a twisted ankle.
In the third quarter, the Lakers ignited. Finals MVP James Worthy and Byron Scott combined to flip the game, building a 10-point advantage. Detroit surged back late, cutting the gap to two points, but Los Angeles held firm to win 108–105.
One foul, two free throws, a season saved
The path to that Game 7 had nearly closed in Game 6. With 14 seconds left, Abdul-Jabbar drew a foul on Bill Laimbeer as he wheeled into his skyhook along the right baseline.
He stepped to the line and sank both free throws. The Lakers won by a point. Pat Riley later recalled that Abdul-Jabbar “didn’t choke. He made them.”
The oldest Finals MVP in history
Three years earlier, in 1985, Abdul-Jabbar turned a humbling opening loss to Boston into his defining Lakers moment. After apologising to every teammate, he delivered 30 points and 17 rebounds in Game 2, then 36 more in a pivotal Game 5.
At 38 years old, he was voted Finals MVP — the oldest player ever to earn the honour — as the Lakers finally beat Boston on its own floor. That title, together with 1980, 1982, 1987 and 1988, formed a run matched on those rosters only by Magic Johnson and Michael Cooper.
Six crowns, one quiet exclamation point
The victory made the Lakers the first team in two decades to repeat as champions. It also marked a franchise first: a Finals Game 7 win since moving to Los Angeles in 1960, after five prior failures.
The skyhook master, already a record six-time NBA MVP and the league’s all-time scoring leader, had now won with Milwaukee once and with Los Angeles five times. The 1988 championship would be the last of the Showtime era.