I sincerely doubt it was a slur, but that it rather was an honest slip - from someone old enough (as the previous poster implies) old enough to remember before May 1971, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went by his birth name, Lew Alcindor.

There's also no doubt that some could take offense, as we remember some of the slurs and stones hurled at Abdul-Jabbar (much as they were thrown at Muhammad Ali) for becoming Muslim and changing his name (and as we recall the attacks against Muslims and those who were merely different, like Sikhs, soon after Sep 11, 2001.

It's going to take some time before we finally grow enough as a nation to embrace our diversity; it's a continual challenge to each and every one of us.