{shortcode-a0064a5022e4b89c1c9550cb59cfd05cfd3286e0}

Aidin R. Kamali ’25 found out that six-time NBA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would be Harvard’s Class Day speaker this year in a text message from his uncle, who is a fan of the basketball star.

“The greatest of all time is coming to you,” the text from his uncle read, Kamali said.

The Alumni Affairs Development office announced Tuesday that Abdul-Jabbar would take the stage on Class Day next month, a celebration of Harvard College graduates that takes place the day before the University’s Commencement ceremony. The announcement drew excitement from seniors who lauded Abdul-Jabbar for his achievements on and off the basketball court.

To recruit Abdul-Jabbar, first and second marshals Uzma A. Issa ’25 and Srija Vem ’25 worked alongside the Harvard Alumni Association, according to Vem. Issa and Vem also head the Senior Class Committee — a group of 17 elected seniors, tasked with organizing term-time events, alumni reunions, and Class Day programming for the graduating class.

“Uzma and I both were super involved in this process,” Vem said. “We had a list of a couple other people, but this is the one we’re most excited about for sure.”

After the announcement was released, Vem said Harvard students “erupted” with enthusiasm on Sidechat, an anonymous social media app for undergraduates.

“We had an article released a little earlier about flops here and there, but this is definitely a big up,” she added, referring to a Sunday Crimson article reporting that seniors were disappointed with the Class Committee’s events — primarily due to low turn-out and minimal buy-in from the senior class.

“KAREEM ABDUL JABBARRRRRRRR !!!!! Class committee did so well,” a Sidechat post — amassing 303 upvotes — read.

For some seniors, their connection to Abdul-Jabbar stretches back years.

“I was really excited. I grew up watching basketball, so I was very excited to see that he was the speaker. I was always a big fan,” Christopher L. Li ’25 said.

Samuel P.N. Libenson ’25 said he first learned about Abdul-Jabbar when he watched the comedy film “Airplane!” as a child.

“I remember loving Kareem Abdul-Jabbar since I was a little kid because I watched the movie ‘Airplane!’ and he was in it. And my parents explained to me that he was a very famous basketball player,” he said.

Sophia S. Pasalis ’25 — a former Crimson Arts editor — said that while Abdul-Jabbar’s profile didn’t align with her personal interests, she was happy that her peers were satisfied with the selection.

“I don’t really know him but I’m excited that others are excited,” she said. “I feel like my peer group skews more artistic, more film, more art space.” She added that “there hasn’t been much of a fanfare” among her friends.

Abdul-Jabbar is a basketball Hall of Famer, a 19-time NBA all star, and the only player in NBA history to have won six Most Valuable Player awards. After retiring from the league in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar has spoken out about national issues like racism.

Next month, he will publish the book “We All Want to Change the World: My Journey Through Social Justice Movements From the 1960s to Today,” detailing U.S. protest movements.

Students expressed hope that Abdul-Jabbar would discuss social justice and the current political landscape in his Class Day speech.

“I’m hoping that he’ll touch on philanthropy and how even though our career might be something specific, how we all have the ability to do something good for the world,” Nick S. Dominguez ’25 said.

The Class Day speaker announcement comes amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on higher education.

The federal government has frozen more than $2 billion in multi-year federal grants and contracts for health research at Harvard, with potentially more funding cuts forthcoming. The Trump administration has also threatened Harvard’s tax-exempt status and ability to host international students. On Monday, Harvard sued the Trump administration.

“I hope he’ll make a political statement,” Pasalis said. “Maybe stand up for higher education and what a lot of students here believe in.”

After Stanford biology professor Abraham Verghese was announced this year’s Commencement speaker, seniors had lukewarm reactions, with hopes for a more well-known pick. Several students said they were more excited for Abdul-Jabbar’s address than Verghese’s.

“I thought that he was supposed to be a replacement for the Commencement speaker because everybody — when they announced the Commencement speaker — was like, ‘Who the heck is this guy?’” Kamali said. “No offense to the Commencement speaker.”

Li attributed his preference for Abdul-Jabbar to his love for basketball.

“I was much more excited about Kareem than for the Commencement Day speaker, but also that’s because of my personal connection with basketball and my excitement for that side of things,” Li said.

But Libenson said that he was “very happy with the combination of class and Commencement speakers that we have.”

“I think having a famous intellectual, like our Commencement speaker, will be substantively inspiring,” he said. “I think that that combines well with someone as famous — and also as impressive and inspiring — as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.”

—Staff writer Hiral M. Chavre can be reached at hiral.chavre@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @h_chavre.

—Staff writer Darcy G Lin can be reached at darcy.lin@thecrimson.com.