Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the six-time NBA champion, activist, and author, is scheduled to address graduating seniors at Harvard University’s Class Day celebration on Wednesday afternoon.
Abdul-Jabbar will deliver the keynote address at the event, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Harvard’s Tercentenary Theatre.
Class Day is an annual celebration before Harvard’s commencement exercises, which will be held Thursday morning. Author and Stanford professor Abraham Verghese will give this year’s commencement address.
Past Class Day speakers include former vice president Al Gore, a Harvard graduate, and comedian Amy Poehler, a Burlington native.
Abdul-Jabbar spent 20 seasons in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers, earning the league’s Most Valuable Player honors a record six times. He is also an award-winning author and a former Time magazine columnist, writing on various topics including sports, race, religion, and Black history.
He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former president Barack Obama in 2016 for his work promoting social justice.
Abdul-Jabbar, whose trademark skyhook helped him become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer in 1984 until LeBron James surpassed him in 2023, also founded The Skyhook Foundation, which brings science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education to underserved communities in Los Angeles.
Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.
