Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbaris an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Associationfor the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two as an assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP. In 1996,...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth16 April 1947
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden.
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.
There are a lot of authors in the world, so it's difficult to find a unique niche to present your take on things. That is always a challenge for any author.
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.
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.
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.
I'm not going to disappear.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that the 761st was Patton's best tank unit and nobody knew about it.
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.
My choosing Islam was not a political statement; it was a spiritual statement.
I got all A's and was hated for it; I spoke correctly and was called a punk.
Cancer is a scary thing and you have to deal with it seriously.
I want people to understand that I intend to continue living and doing all the things that I love to do up until the end. And the end is by no means rushing up on me.
I felt that a number of people might have questioned my loyalty, but I continue to be a patriotic American.