Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Hibbert, RFRA and the Final Four

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar never took off his coat. Around him, the merrymakers of March Madness drank and ate in lush suites high above the hardwood at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Michigan State-Duke semifinal game was going on and those squeezing into Upper Suite 38A – the highly adorned members of the U.S. Armed Forces and the corporate kingpins – spent some time watching the action, sure. But also, gazing up at him.

Abdul-Jabbar, name a Hall of Fame and he's in it, could justifiably win debates on who is the greatest living NBA player. But before he donned the goggles, aced the sky hook and scored 38,387 points, when he was just a 'fro'd out kid named Lew, he earned the right to be named the best NCAA men's basketball player of all time.

The NCAA didn't allow freshmen on the varsity during Abdul-Jabbar's days, but upon becoming eligible, he crowned his 1966-67 season with an unblemished 30-0 record to begin a run of three straight NCAA championships. He won just as many Most Outstanding Player awards in the Final Four, the only player to do so. And this is why people still can't stop looking.

Abdul-Jabbar stopped through Indianapolis for appearances throughout Saturday night's Final Four. He looked relaxed around the crowds, but his wardrobe suggested he would stay on the move, never getting comfortable enough to enjoy the actual event that had beckoned 72,238 people to the stadium. So, fulfilling his obligation as the spectacle standing more than seven feet tall in a black leather jacket – it would have been a trench coat sweeping dust off the floor on these other mere mortals – he walked from room to room, freezing a smile for photo opps and offering his hand when many extended theirs. Reading glasses dangling around his neck, and a blue and gold UCLA ball cap curving his head.

His entourage included his mile-a-minute manager, Deborah Morales, a Sports Illustrated reporter and four bodyguards, the serious kind with coiled-earpiece wires hiding behind their button up business shirts. Spotting him, two women, about to get a neck cramp from staring up so long, asked for autographs. Morales assured they would get one, but the train kept moving on. There were more pictures to take. The Delta Airlines suite was next.

Between long strides during an eight-minute walk to meet a man introduced as the CEO of Liberty Mutual and a quick return to that jam-packed PrimeSport suite where Morales thought she had left her purse, Abdul-Jabbar spoke with The Indianapolis Star about his Final Four memories, how even he cannot figure out Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert and his thoughts on the state's recent Religious Freedom Restoration Act uproar.

Abdul-Jabbar on his Final Four memories

"I played the (1967) finals in Louisville. To me it was a dream come true. Ever since I've gotten out of high school I wanted to eventually play on an NCAA tournament national championship team, so being able to do so the very first year I was eligible was special."

His favorite win

"I would have to say 1968 just because of the drama that went down with the University of Houston."

(Houston and Elvin Hayes snapped UCLA's 47-game winning streak at the Astrodome during the regular season in what was called the "Game of the Century" but UCLA won a rematch in the title game.)

"That was the first time they broadcast a college game in prime time. I guess they got the idea that college basketball could attract a good TV audience and it changed everything."

(The "Game of the Century" was also the first college basketball matchup played inside a dome, blazing the trail for venues like Lucas Oil Stadium to host a Final Four.)

"I feel that the game is that popular now. As they say the 'ol' college try,' just that fervor and enthusiasm makes it special."

Abdul-Jabbar on Pacers center Roy Hibbert, who he worked with last summer

"Yeah, I've watched a little bit. I've been following them in the box scores. I can't figure it out because he's a talented guy, he works hard, he's athletic. I don't know what's going on. I'm hoping he turns it around because he's a good person and he's a gifted athlete." (This season, Hibbert has averages not far off is career numbers but nothing befitting a two-time All-Star.)

Has Hibbert remained in touch?

"I've reached out to him and when the season's going on, he's busy. He hasn't reached out yet."

On if he still aspires to coach in the NBA or college.

(Abdul-Jabbar shakes his head) "I'm getting to be very long in the tooth (he smiles and chuckles). I've moved on, I've had a lot of fun writing and it didn't expect it to be this much fun."

Abdul-Jabbar wrote a Time magazine column against RFRA, which had been amended by the time he arrived in Indianapolis.

"I'm content (with the change) in that they understand there's a problem and they're trying to fix it. Sometimes it takes a little bit of fine-tuning to find the right fix but at least they get it and the attitude that Gov. Pence had has changed and that's the key. Gotta give them some time and space to fix it. Can't be hypercritical. I think there's a good balance there."

Opinion on the RFRA

"It's a little bit over the top. There's no one trying to force people to do something that's against their religion. The way it seemed, the law was structured, it enabled people who wanted to show their disapproval in certain lifestyles the opportunity to do that by letting those people refuse service. … Without any interaction with people who are LGBT or the wrong color or the wrong religion, that's what it seemed. It seemed to have the effect of allowing people to discriminate that way. Once they recognize how that could be a problem, they bridged the gap and it was different."

On the oddity of having scores of people staring at him

"It happens everywhere I go."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.