George Mikan's Stunned Reaction: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Turns Down Lucrative Offer to Join ABA

Many enthusiasts remember the anticipation surrounding LeBron James, Zion Williamson, and Victor Wembanyama as they prepared to enter the professional ranks in the NBA. Everyone understood that these exceptional players had the potential to dramatically alter the trajectory of an entire team. However, few recognize just how eager every major basketball league was to secure their services. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar When he chose to join the professional ranks.

So much so that George Mikan The ABA director at that time extended an extraordinary proposal to the 7'2" center but was shocked when the New Yorker rejected it.

Mikan mentioned that Kareem rejected his $1 million proposal.

Considering that many top-tier NBA players in the '90s didn’t make even a million dollars per year at the peak of their careers, it highlights just how much less financially rewarding professional basketball used to be. Picture what this meant back in the '70s—it would have been hard to fathom anyone deserving such compensation. Despite these circumstances, “Cap” stood out as an exception.

Over his three-year tenure at UCLA, this 19-time All-Star dominated the league in both scoring and rebounding each year. He earned Player of the Year accolades during his sophomore and senior seasons. Even more notably, as he guided the Bruins to an unprecedented streak of three successive NCAA championships, his reputation as a champion was firmly established.

In the end, with the 7'2" center averaging 26.4 points and 15.5 rebounds per game during his college career, both the NBA and ABA were eager to provide him with any terms necessary to secure his entry into their leagues.

The intense focus was so overpowering that Abdul-Jabbar resolved to consider just one proposal from each league. Considering his wish to join a team located in either New York or California, "Mr. Basketball" got ready with an unmatched $1 million check aimed at attracting Kareem to the New York Nets.

When the New York native declined the invitation to play for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, George was utterly astonished.

A figure of one million was beyond anyone's imagination. Mikan said . It came as quite a surprise when he rejected our offer and headed for Milwaukee. We believed a million dollars was quite a substantial price back in 1968. "

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Kareem chose correctly.

As the commissioner of the ABA, Mikan was determined to get the best basketball talents to the league. After luring Rick Barry, he was hellbent on getting Kareem as well. However, for the UCLA alumnus, it was important to enter a stable league where he wouldn't have to adapt to a new team due to any external reasons.

This ultimately was one of the key reasons why KAJ led the Bucks to a title in his sophomore year and won the regular-season and Finals MVP honors.

Who knows, had Mikan secured to land the six-time MVP, the history and legacy of the ABA could have been entirely different. Ultimately, ABA and the NBA merged, and today, in 2025, the league's financials are never better due to the fact that the NBA has become a global brand.

Related: "All the hype left me thinking that this was mine to screw up" - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on how he dealt with rookie season jitters