A lot of young players don’t really know much about the history of the game and a lot of them are missing out on what the game is all about, especially the whole concept of sportsmanship and teamwork.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I try to do the right thing at the right time. They may just be little things, but usually they make the difference between winning and losing.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Michael Jordan and Magic and myself all learned how to play the game in college programs that emphasized the team.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
If not for the success that medicine has made, I might be part of a much different story right now.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
You can’t win unless you learn how to lose.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I would suggest that teachers show their students concrete examples of the negative effects of the actions that gangsta rappers glorify.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
When I was 17, I worked in a mentoring program in Harlem designed to improve the community. That’s when I first gained an appreciation of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when African-Americans rose to prominence in American culture. For the first time, they were taken seriously as artists, musicians, writers, athletes, and as political thinkers.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Five guys on the court working together can achieve more than five talented individuals who come and go as individuals.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I saw Islam as the correct way to live, and I chose to try to live that way.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The type of leukemia that I am dealing with is treatable. So if I do what my doctors tell me to do – get my blood checked regularly, take my meds and consult with my doctor and follow any additional instructions he might make – I will be able to maintain my good health and live my life with a minimum of disruptions to my lifestyle.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
My choosing Islam was not a political statement; it was a spiritual statement.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
You have to be able to center yourself, to let all of your emotions go… Don’t ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
You can’t win if you don’t play as a unit.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I’m not comfortable being preachy, but more people need to start spending as much time in the library as they do on the basketball court.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
If not shown appreciation, it gets to you.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
A team will always appreciate a great individual if he’s willing to sacrifice for the group.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Fundamental preparation is always effective. Work on those parts of your game that are fundamentally weak.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Music rhythms are mathematical patterns. When you hear a song and your body starts moving with it, your body is doing math. The kids in their parents’ garage practicing to be a band may not realize it, but they’re also practicing math.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
In athletics there’s always been a willingness to cheat if it looks like you’re not cheating. I think that’s just a quirk of human nature.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I think the NBA players have to be held accountable in a reasonable way, just like any other professionals.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I think the NBA will certainly survive without Michael Jordan.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
My most memorable moment came in 1985 as we beat the Boston Celtics.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
High school dropouts are forfeiting their opportunity to pursue the American Dream.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The word ‘leukemia’ is a very frightening word. In many instances, it’s a killer and it’s something that you have to deal with in a very serious and determined way if you’re going to beat it.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
A lot of players think the game is all about individual performances when it’s really all about a team game.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That’s a terrible burden.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
As brilliant an individual that Michael Jordan was, he was not successful until he got with a good team unit.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I expect more people from China and Asia to end up in the NBA.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Center is a very tough position to play.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
After practice, I would have to go back to the dorm and take a nap.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
It’s hard for young players to see the big picture. They just see three or four years down the road.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
LeBron James can get a shot off under any and all circumstances and he makes them.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The 3-point shot has created a situation in the game akin to ‘Lotto’ fever.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Even when there are adverse circumstances, I try to do my job. And I usually do.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I think I did very well against everyone who tried to defend me.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I want to do as little as possible when I finish playing ball – just spend a lot more time with my family.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I’m still my parent’s child, I’m still me, but I made a choice. I evolved into Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I think it has to do with evolution.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The game has basically not changed since I ended my career.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
When we went up against teams that were better, I just hoped that we could steal the victories.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I have to say I have an incredible musical education because of my father.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The ’80s made up for all the abuse I took during the ’70s. I outlived all my critics. By the time I retired, everybody saw me as a venerable institution. Things do change.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I didn’t really seek attention. I just wanted to play the game well and go home.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I think race has been a burden for black Americans. Being Muslim has also been a challenge because so many people do not understand Islam.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Sports and entertainment are the only places where inner-city kids see themselves being able to succeed. Their intellectual development is something they don’t relate to.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The transition was difficult. It’s hard to stop something that you’ve enjoyed and that has been very rewarding.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
As a parent, I have a job as a role model to my children, and by extension, to other young people.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
My mother had to send me to the movies with my birth certificate, so that I wouldn’t have to pay the extra fifty cents that the adults had to pay.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I was getting hot flashes and sweats on a regular basis. That’s not normal, even for my age.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar