OCDE — WATCH: NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar helps launch Skyhook Foundation partnership with OCDE’s Inside the Outdoors
For 20 professional seasons, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had one of the most unstoppable moves in basketball, unleashing his patented sky hook to drop more than 38,000 points before retiring as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
Now, through his Skyhook Foundation, he’s helping young people get their own shot — starting with hands-on lessons in science, technology and nature.
On Wednesday, Nov. 19, the NBA icon and former Los Angeles Laker visited Thomas Edison Elementary School in Anaheim to announce a new collaboration between the Skyhook Foundation and Inside the Outdoors — the long-running environmental education program operated by the Orange County Department of Education — and its philanthropic partner, the Inside the Outdoors Foundation. The initiative will expand outdoor STEM learning opportunities for students across Orange County.
To mark the occasion, more than 3,000 pairs of brand-new Adidas shoes and backpacks were donated to students in the Anaheim Elementary School District, thanks to Skyhook’s partnership with Adidas. All Edison students received gear, along with fourth- through sixth-grade students from six additional AESD campuses. Principals from each of the participating schools were in attendance.
The celebration began on the school’s blacktop, where rows of students faced the stage under a bright, powder blue sky — one that happened to match Abdul-Jabbar’s UCLA-colored Adidas warm-up jacket. As he made his entrance, the crowd erupted, with students waving purple and gold pom-poms and many wearing Lakers jerseys to welcome the towering basketball legend.
