Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has a lot more on his mind these days than the sport.

For more than a decade, he's been focused on introducing underserved students to a STEM education, which is science, technology, engineering and math. Blacks and Latinos are underrepresented in the field, in which workers tend to earn more than non-STEM workers with similar education levels.

The Covid pandemic has made his mission even more urgent. Students of color are seeing the biggest learning loss amid school closures, a McKinsey & Company report found in December. That translates into a hit on future earning power.

"It's a social justice issue; giving kids a better idea of where they can go with their education," Abdul-Jabbar said.