ONE GAME WON OVER KAREEM.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

It was during a New York birthday party his junior year in high school. He wouldn't dare be disrespectful, but there was something on the TV calling to the 17-year-old.

So the the tall, thin young man then known as Lew Alcindor and a few friends made a simple request.

And just maybe, it changed his life and the future of the greatest dynasty in college sports history.

On the TV that day was UCLA and Duke, playing for the NCAA national championship. The Bruins were undefeated, but to many, still suspect. A West Coast team that had never won a national title, driven by two flashy guards and a zone press.

They proved far from a fluke, however, and as the young man who would later change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar watched in that bedroom, his eyes widened and something sparked.

``That was an incredible game,'' Abdul-Jabbar said. ``The house they were giving the birthday at, the parents let us watch the game in the bedroom while the party was going on.

``I liked the way that UCLA ran. I really liked Walt Hazzard, the way he ran the offense and the way the Bruins ran up and down the court. Most kids like fastbreak basketball and the press.

``I was impressed by how UCLA executed both aspects of the game. Kenny Washington, off the bench, I'd never heard of him. He was just so devastating. It was like a very interesting, well-coached team. They won the NCAA Tournament and their center (Fred Slaughter) was 6-foot-6.''

And likely won over the most dominating player college basketball would ever know. Abdul-Jabbar went on to become the three-time College Player of the Year. They eliminated dunking because of him. His UCLA teams went 88-2 in his three years.

Yet New York is a long way from Westwood, and if the Bruins don't capture their first NCAA title 40 years ago today, Abdul-Jabbar probably doesn't truly discover UCLA.

The great John Wooden era might well have ended with the following year's title. When Abdul-Jabbar signed with the Bruins, it cemented the dynasty, elevated a program from excellent to incomparable.

The NCAA titles won during Abdul-Jabbar's reign were the first three of seven in a row, and at the heart of Wooden's remarkable 10 championships in 12 years.

If a group of teenage boys don't gather around a TV during a birthday party, who knows? Maybe he never comes to Westwood.

``Maybe not then, although we did have a repeat performance next year,'' Abdul-Jabbar said. ``So it kind of justified their consistency, and that also attracted my attention.''

Wooden would grow to understand this better than anyone. If he was the gentlemanly coach who seemed to impact the lives of every player he had, he also fundamentally understood how winning breeds winning.

``Winning very definitely attracts more talent,'' Wooden said. ``Winning attracted Alcindor's attention.

``And then when we repeated the next year, I think that probably had more to do with it than the first one. You come back and win again and it attracts a lot of attention.''

You don't win the first one, of course, and there can't be a second. It's not like the competition for Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, wasn't intense.

Letters constantly flowed into Power Memorial High School from college coaches fantasizing about having the uniquely graceful 7-foot-2 center with the unstoppable hook shot in their pivot.

``I'd gotten letters from everywhere by that point,'' Abdul-Jabbar said. ``I used to go into my coach's office every other week or so, asking him to see the letters.

``At a certain point he said, 'Listen, I'm just going to throw these letters away. If a school has a basketball program, you can go there. Just pick where you want to go.' ''

He seriously considered St. John's. He had already won a New York academic scholarship that provided a nice stipend if he remained in state.

``That was like $300 a month, which is a lot of money in 1965,'' he said. ``I remember that being one of the things I wrestled with. That I could play for a good program at St. John's and make some money legally while I played. But I felt UCLA was the best place for me.''

Abdul-Jabbar had met and liked UCLA's Edgar Lacey while on a high school all-American team. He knew Knicks center and ex-Bruin Willie Naulls. Received letters from people he admired such as Jackie Robinson.

``Everybody said UCLA was a great place to go to school,'' he said.

Abdul-Jabbar, now a Knicks scout, said he hasn't really played the what- if game. As in, what if he'd gone to St. John's? Does the dynasty really take hold at UCLA?

``Who knows?'' he said. ``I think we could have had a very good team if I'd gone to St. John's, but who can tell how that would have worked out.''

We only know how it did work out. Abdul-Jabbar became the greatest player in college history, and at the center of a dynasty.