Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Deandre Ayton appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live sketch
Oct 11, 2020, 6:10 AM
Photos by Matt York/ AP; Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton tested out their knowledge of the other’s generation on Jimmy Kimmel Live’s Generation Gap sketch on Friday.
It’s safe to say that the No. 1 pick in the 1969 NBA Draft and the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft are as far apart in pop culture generations as they are on the court.
Abdul-Jabbar, 73 years old, and Ayton, 22, were asked questions about pop culture icons from the other’s generation. Abdul-Jabbar was asked to identify people like Billie Eilish, Robert Pattinson and Joe Exotic, while Ayton was asked about legends like Billie Holiday, Bela Lugosi and Siegfried & Roy.
The Suns player lost, though that could be attributed in part to him not moving to the United States until he was 12.
It’s also no surprise that Airplane! co-captain Roger Murdock would be knowledgeable about historical pop culture references and more up-to-date on the current stars.
The two centers told Kimmel that this “Generation Gap” game was the first time they had met. Maybe the two of them can get together at some later point and Abdul-Jabbar can teach Ayton some of the finer points of the last 50 years — in addition to some basketball pointers, of course.
