Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talks Magic, diving on ‘Splash’

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar visited “Jimmy Kimmel Live!� on Tuesday night to talk about his participation on ABC’s “Splash.�

While he admitted he has no chance to actually win the reality-show diving competition, the 65-year-old former Lakers center said he’s doing it to “show everybody that at my age you can live a healthy lifestyle and learn new things.�

Abdul-Jabbar did manage to break a toe, climbing out of the pool after a dive.

In Part 2, he talks about Magic Johnson and their different demeanors.

“The very first game we played, we won the game -- he was so happy it was like he had won the NCAA championship again. He was going nuts and jumping on me,� Abdul-Jabbar said. “We got in the locker room -- I said, ‘Earvin, we have 81 more games.’ �

The Lakers went on to win five championships with Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar (1980, ‘82, ‘85, ’87 and ‘88).

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer acknowledged (correctly) that his recently unveiled statue outside of Staples Center actually looks like him -- while Johnson’s is more of a caricature.

A three-time champion at UCLA, Abdul-Jabbar expressed interest in the open coaching job at his former school.

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Email Eric Pincus at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.