Each NBA team’s most clutch player of all-time

Most clutch player in Milwaukee Bucks history: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The leading scorer in NBA history, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did not begin his career on the Los Angeles Lakers team with which he would dominate the league for nearly two decades. First, he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks, leading them twice to the Finals in his six years with the team.

Abdul-Jabbar had a signature shot that may have been the most unguardable shot in NBA history, the sky hook. He could unleash it from any angle around the hoop, and his height and the trajectory of the shot meant that defenders could never block it, and rarely even influence it. The only hope against Kareem was preventing him from getting the ball in the first place.

Key Moment: The Bucks played the Boston Celtics in the 1974 NBA Finals, led by John Havlicek and Dave Cowens. Down 3-2 in the series Oscar Robertson and Abdul-Jabbar battled the Celtics throughout Game 6, eventually pushing the game into two overtime periods. Both times the Bucks tried to put the Celtics away Havlicek responded with big shots to keep the game going.

In double overtime, it was Boston who had the upper hand, up one with only a handful of seconds remaining. Kareem caught the ball on the left elbow, sized up the defense, and drove baseline to line up his shot. He flicked up a gorgeous sky hook that arced into the air and dropped into the net, giving the Bucks the win in Boston, a rare feat in those days. While the Celtics would eventually prevail in seven games it was a high moment for Milwaukee.