Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reflected on how he forced his way out of Milwaukee in the summer of 1975 and how one can draw comparison to the departure of LeBron James last summer.

"Well you know, when I left Milwaukee, Milwaukee was at a point where they did not have a team that could be a contender," Abdul-Jabbar told WFNY. "And you know, it was not the best professional environment for me, I wanted to go some place where at least I had the opportunity to vie for the world championship."

Abdul-Jabbar wanted to be traded to the Knicks or Lakers.

"I had free agency coming up, and I let the team know that I wouldn't be staying around, and we were able to work it out where I got to go where I wanted to go and they got to replenish their team," he said.