Day One of Retirement Is No Time to Kick Back

The first day of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s retirement was hardly leisurely.

Retirement began at 4 a.m. Wednesday, when a limousine pulled up to Abdul-Jabbar’s Bel-Air home and took him to a studio for a live interview on CBS’ morning show.

Later, he met at the Forum with his former Laker teammates to determine playoff shares. He left carrying a large box of his personal effects, declining to stop and speak with reporters. By that time, most of Abdul-Jabbar’s day was shot. Soon, however, Abdul-Jabbar reportedly plans to relax for a while at his Hawaiian home before beginning a basketball tour of Southeast Asia in July with a band of other former NBA players.

Laker players said goodby after the meeting, and close friend Magic Johnson spoke with Abdul-Jabbar privately.

“It’s always been private between us,” Johnson said. “But it wasn’t goodby, because I’ll see him here and in Hawaii. It was more ‘Thank you and let’s get together and not forget about it.’ ”

Laker players, meanwhile, went on a souvenir spree after Tuesday night’s loss. Coach Pat Riley took Abdul-Jabbar’s jersey, Magic Johnson his warmup jacket, Byron Scott his shoes and public relations director Josh Rosenfeld his shorts.