MILWAUKEE >> Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says he would be interested in returning in some capacity to the Milwaukee Bucks, the franchise that drafted him first overall in 1969.

Bucks owner Herb Kohl said in December he was looking to add to the ownership group in hopes of building a new arena and cementing the team’s long-term future in Milwaukee.

Abdul-Jabbar said before the Bucks’ game Monday against Utah that no one had approached him, though he would “definitely offer” his services if he got a call.

Later, he told the crowd he hoped “everything works out so that the Bucks stay here.”

Abdul-Jabbar was in town to promote a new tourism ad for the state of Wisconsin that played off his acting role in the movie “Airplane.”