Lakers Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Donates Safety Goggles to California Hospital

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made wearing goggles cool during his 20-year-old Hall of Fame NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. 

On Monday, the 72-year-old made much more than a fashion statement.

Per NBC San Diego's Eric S. Page, Abdul-Jabbar donated 900 pairs of safety goggles to medical workers at Scripps Health in San Diego to help keep them protected against COVID-19.

The 19-time All-Star personally delivered the goggles while wearing gloves and a face mask.

"I feel for you," Abdul-Jabbar told those meeting with him at Scripps Health. "That's why we're here."

Scripps President and CEO Chris Van Gorder added, per Page:

"This has been such a fantastic day. ... These goggles are so important right now. It's one of the items we cannot purchase through our normal channels. I was working with the county just yesterday, and they can't find any goggles, so to have somebody as famous as Kareem come all the way down here to donate goggles to us … it's just absolutely amazing."

Abdul-Jabbar also provided a video to TMZ Sports about the gesture:

"Hi, I'm Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I want to thank all the doctors, nurses and medical professionals at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego. You guys are awesome because you're risking everything to help the public the way you are, and I'd like to do my part. So I've authorized my team to use my name, image and likeness to source high-quality medical products, such as these safety goggles, so you guys can look as good as I did when I played."

Abdul-Jabbar has been sharing encouraging messages on Twitter:

Abdul-Jabbar won one NBA title with the Bucks in 1971 and five more championships during his Lakers tenure from 1975 to 1989. The six-time NBA MVP is the league's all-time scoring leader with 38,387 points.