Who Is 'Cream Abdul Jabbar'? The Suddenly Viral Basketball Nickname Explained

Earlier today, the phrase Cream Abdul Jabbar began trending on Twitter, which seemed to some like a harbinger of another exhausting controversy. Luckily, that wasn't the case: instead, the world learned all at once about a college basketball player who is white and, it seems, rocks.

Cream Abdul Jabbar killing it last night with 35 points pic.twitter.com/LtuYOOJMmP

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) February 29, 2024

Who Is "Cream Abdul Jabbar"?

Thanks to Twitter @KySportsRadio, "Cream Abdul Jabbar" is the new nickname for Robbie Avila, a center on the Indiana State Sycamores. On February 28th, he had an excellent game, scoring a career-high 35 points in the Sycamores' win over the University of Evansville. As a video of his highlights spread on social media, @KySportsRadio coined the name and basically won Twitter for the day.

Where Does The Nickname "Cream Abdul Jabbar" Come From?

The nickname is shockingly fitting. It's a play on "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar," a hall of fame center known for his time on the Lakers and Bucks. He was the NBA's all-time leading scorer until recently, when he was surpassed by LeBron James. He also looks like this:

Like Kareem, Cream — er, Avila — sports safety goggles. While Kareem isn't the only player in NBA history to wear goggles, he is definitely the most iconic player to do so. Robbie Avila also plays the same position as Kareem, and in the highlight reel, shows a strong ability to drive to the rim, and he's also able to complete some flashy passes. Going by pure skills comparison, Avila is likely closer to Nikola Jokic than Abdul-Jabbar, but with those goggles, the comparison to Kareem is obvious.

How Is Social Media Reacting?

Unsurprisingly, the college basketball fandom on Twitter is starting to unironically root for Robbie Avila. After his big game last night and @KySportsRadio's pinch of punny genius, some fans began looking into Avila and found that he's having a pretty great season so far, averaging 17.4 points per game, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists.

We also might be hearing about Avila much more over the coming month. Indiana State is in a decent position to make the NCAA championship tournament, aka "March Madness," and if they get in, they would likely be seeded in the 8-11 range. If they can put together a Cinderella run where they knock off some big teams, Avila will have to play well. If that happens, "Cream Abdul-Jabbar" just might be the star of March.

---

For the full history of Cream Abdul Jabbar, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.