NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will have his first novel, “Mycroft Holmes,” published this fall. It features the older brother of Sherlock Holmes.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhook was a mystery to NBA defenders for 20 years, so it’s not a surprise that his first dip into fiction writing would spring from one of the world’s iconic mystery characters.
Abdul-Jabbar’s first novel, “Mycroft Holmes,” is set to be published this fall by Titan Books, according to The New York Times.
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Mycroft is the older brother of famed detective Sherlock Holmes and the story is set in England and Trinidad, in which Mycroft Holmes—a recent university graduate—works for the British Secretary of State for War.
Having learned of mysterious events in Trinidad that include mysterious disappearances, dead children and backward-facing footprints in the sand, Holmes goes to the Caribbean island to investigate.
According to the Times, Abdul-Jabbar began reading the works of Arthur Conan Doyle when he was an NBA rookie in 1969.
“I was fascinated by Holmes’ ability to see clues where other people saw nothing,” Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement through his publisher.
Anna Waterhouse, a screenwriter and producer, assisted in the writing of “Mycroft Holmes.”
Abdul-Jabbar found himself taken with the Mycroft Holmes character after reading the 1979 novel “Enter the Lion: A Posthumous Memoir of Mycroft Holmes” by Michael P. Hodel and Sean M. Wright.
“I realized more could be done with this ‘older, smarter’ character and his window onto the highest levels of British government—at a time when Britain was the most powerful country in the world,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
Abdul-Jabbar had his autobiography, “Giant Steps,” published in 1983 and has also written other nonfiction and children’s books.
Kareem has always struck me as a sensitive, intelligent character stuck in a setting—professional sports—where sensitivity and intelligence aren’t always valued.
Everything I read or heard about him as I was growing up (I was 3 when Abdul-Jabbar entered the NBA) used terms like “aloof,” “sullen” and “unapproachable.”
Abdul-Jabbar said in 1999 that he was portrayed that way by reporters because “they were self-serving” and “it sold papers,” per a Los Angeles Times report.
Perhaps the best summation of Abdul-Jabbar’s life and career came from host Dan Patrick when ESPN was running its SportsCentury series, summing up the top 50 North American athletes of the 20th century.
“He will be remembered more for his front-page tragedies, his broken relationships, his brushes with the law, his war with the press and his religious conversion” than what he accomplished on the court.
Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points and a member of six NBA championships teams with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers while also winning three titles in three varsity seasons at UCLA.
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