Abdul-Jabbar finally confirmed he wanted to be traded on March 14, 1975. The Bucks had just played and lost a home game to, oddly enough, the Lakers.
"I don't have any family or friends here," Abdul-Jabbar told reporters at the time. "The things I relate to don't happen to be in this city to any meaningful degree. Culturally, what I'm about and what Milwaukee is about are two different things. The reason I haven't commented on this before is I don't want to take a knock at Milwaukee or the people here and have them think they're unworthy of me. That's not what it's all about."
Alverson was then forced to confirm that Abdul-Jabbar had asked to be traded from the Bucks. When Alverson was asked whether Abdul-Jabbar was at odds with Costello, Alverson responded this way: "If you ask me if Kareem has ever expressed dissatisfaction with him, the answer is yes."
Costello now lives in Utica, N.Y., where he coached Utica basketball until the school dropped to Division III level. He said that the only reason Abdul-Jabbar wanted to be traded was so he could move to another city.
"It wasn't that he disliked Wayne Embry or myself, it was just something he wanted to do with his life," Costello said. "We didn't want to lose Kareem. No one in his right mind would want to lose a guy like him. But he had his mind set. He gave us some great years in Milwaukee and he did a lot for that franchise. He had to live his life, too."
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