The poster hung above my bedroom dresser, a painting lifelike in its details but abstract in concept, the head and shoulders of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leaning to the left as he tossed a hook shot against a backdrop of a cloud-spotted sky.

In retrospect, my wall was covered with athletes doing what defined them. Magic Johnson smiling; James Worthy soaring for a dunk, the ball held straight above his head like the Statue of Liberty's torch; Michael Jordan in the original Air Jordan poster, captured mid-flight, his arms and legs spread wide in a pose that became the logo worn on millions of high-tops. Kareem with his skyhook.

The greatest of the great don't just have a style. They have a signature, an indelible stamp that signifies exactly who they are.

Read Secrets of the Skyhook by J.A. Adande.

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