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CHAMPION

Ed Laroche Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

A Graphic Novel

In this stunningly illustrated graphic novel, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's life as a social justice advocate comes to life through the story of a high school student whose promising basketball career is in jeopardy.
Monk Travers is the star basketball player on his high school team. Confident about his future as an NBA player, he doesn't see the point in caring much about school, let alone his community. But his world is about to changebig time!

After getting caught graffitiing his team's rival school, Monk comes to the awful realization that his actions have put his place on the teamand his futurein jeopardy. He's taken by surprise when his coach offers him an unorthodox way to atone: completing a report on the life of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Monk is ecstatic. He knows all Kareem's records and stats. He smugly announces that the project will be a snap, but his excitement is short-lived when Coach tells him that the project is not about Kareem's basketball careerit's about his life as an advocate for change.

As Monk grudgingly begins his research, he discovers a history of struggles, conflicts, frustrations, and violence that he'd never been aware of, awakening a passion for social justice that rivals Kareem's own.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a huge Holmesian--7'2" tall, basketball's all-time leading scorer, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (our nation's highest civilian honor) which was awarded from President Obama. He writes extensively, for The Hollywood Reporter & The Guardian Newspaper and has published 15 books; Giant Steps (biography), Kareem (last year in NBA), What Color is My World (children's), Profiles in Black Courage, Brothers in Arms (military history), On the Shoulders of Giants (black history), Coach Wooden & Me (our 50-year friendship and Becoming Kareem On and Off the Court (YA). His first novel Mycroft Holmes, starring Sherlock Holmes lesser well known but far more talented older brother, was published in 2015. The Mycroft trilogy is now complete and available online.
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Published 2025-09-02 by Ten Speed Press

Comments

A book from the mind of a polymath like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could never be less than a half-dozen different things, and CHAMPION manages them all with deft and grace. It's a coming-of-age story about basketball, getting in (and out) trouble, and falling in (and out) of love. It's a mini-history of the Civil Rights movement, an object lesson in discovering and embracing Blackness, the burdens of talent, and the responsibilities we carry to ourselves, our teams, our families, and our communities... it even manages to be a biography of Kareem himself and the awakening of his social conscience. Kareem, Raymond, and Ed's book has made my worldand the world of comicsbigger and brighter indeed.

Visually inventive, cleverly written and brimming with knowledge and joy, this passionate and funny book is a rare pleasure.