Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Quotes

I hope to be involved in a successful movie script.

The game has basically not changed since I ended my career.

I feel that Dennis Rodman has become a problem. He will be more of a problem than an asset. Of course, he can prove me wrong.

Reporters used to ask me the same inane questions year-in and year-out, city-to-city, and it would drive me crazy.

My biggest resource is my mind.

I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success.

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.

This is what I would have done if I had to have a real job: I would have been a history teacher.

Alexander Hamilton realized that warfare was part and parcel of human nature, and it's something we had to prepare for.

I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream.

The rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics endured for about eight years, and the interest grew each year.

Cancer is a scary thing and you have to deal with it seriously.

High school dropouts are forfeiting their opportunity to pursue the American Dream.

I've had enough success for two lifetimes, My success is talent put together with hard work and luck.

I think the NBA players have to be held accountable in a reasonable way, just like any other professionals.

As brilliant an individual that Michael Jordan was, he was not successful until he got with a good team unit.

A lot of players think the game is all about individual performances when it's really all about a team game.

When a rap song glorifies violence, death and sadness and loss is inflicted because of the violence.

Pride goeth before destruction," he quoted, "and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Today's youth are told to get rich or die trying and they really shouldn't take that attitude forward with them.

There's a ball. There's a hoop. You put the ball through the hoop. That's success.

When the line started to blur between the fans and the players, sometimes things can get ugly.

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.

I'm not going to emphasize the sky-hook as much as work with the specific skills of the guys.

I did a book in 1996, an overview of black history. In that process I became more aware of a lot of the black inventors of the 19th century.

I just like seeing the world, and it doesn't matter where.

The 3-point shot has created a situation in the game akin to 'Lotto' fever.

I was getting hot flashes and sweats on a regular basis. That's not normal, even for my age.

What I learned in my time isn't necessarily being taught now, and I'd like to help impart that knowledge to a new generation of players.

I think I did very well against everyone who tried to defend me.

I want to do as little as possible when I finish playing ball - just spend a lot more time with my family.

I have always thought that writers come with any variety of attributes. Some are capable and some aren't.

I think someone should explain to the child that it's OK to make mistakes. That's how we learn. When we compete, we make mistakes.

If ISIS represents Islam, then the KKK represents Christianity

The transition was difficult. It's hard to stop something that you've enjoyed and that has been very rewarding.

I totally alienated some reporters as I retreated.

Well, I'm a professional.

I need about three seats lengthwise to sleep on a plane. It's not easy for me to curl up.

The constant expansion has diluted the talent. Other than that, it's still the same game.

A team will always appreciate a great individual if he's willing to sacrifice for the group.

Islam is about finding your own space.

After practice, I would have to go back to the dorm and take a nap.

There are rap groups that have a positive outlook in their art. These groups should be shown as an alternative to gangsta rap.

Yoga is somewhat hard to quantify in terms of benefits because you see them in all the injuries you don't get.

I needed to go to class; I needed to go to practice; I needed to have a life away from basketball.

Black people don't have an accurate idea of their history, which has been either suppressed or distorted.

I have been coaching recently. I coached high school basketball in Arizona, and I hope that more opportunities become available.

I always thought I could do a good job coaching, but the opportunities have not presented themselves.

We want to show how hip-hop, which kind of fuels today's basketball stars, is directly related to jazz.

You cant win unless you learn how to lose.

OK, I'll put it like this: I doubt if we will see another All-American basketball athlete who is a Rhodes Scholar.

One man cannot make a team.

I don't know if I was the baddest. People kind of saw me in that light.

I wanted to play baseball!

Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they are executed.

One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.

When we went up against teams that were better, I just hoped that we could steal the victories.

I was latching on to something that was part of my heritage, because many of the slaves who were brought here were Moslems.

I would suggest that teachers show their students concrete examples of the negative effects of the actions that gangsta rappers glorify.

When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden.

I saw Islam as the correct way to live, and I chose to try to live that way.

Few players have cast a spell across the game like Yao Ming, before or since.

I expect more people from China and Asia to end up in the NBA.

You got guys now declaring they're ready to play pro ball in their second or third year of high school. It's crazy! They're missing so much.

My grandfather and my uncle both died from colorectal cancer, my dad almost died from it and I have the gene for it.

You can't win if you don't play as a unit.

My choosing Islam was not a political statement; it was a spiritual statement.

I think I really benefited from going to college.

I have to say I have an incredible musical education because of my father.

LeBron James can get a shot off under any and all circumstances and he makes them.

Fundamental preparation is always effective. Work on those parts of your game that are fundamentally weak.

If not for the success that medicine has made, I might be part of a much different story right now.

When the doctor told me I had cancer, I was scared.

Jackie Robinson, as an athlete and as someone who was trying to make a stand for equality, he was exemplary.

I rooted for the Dodgers when they were in Brooklyn.

The disconnect lasted too long. I think people got the idea I was sullen and couldn't communicate, which wasn't true.

I think Kwame will be an asset to the Lakers.

The Lakers fans have been great, even folks in the supermarket are welcoming me back!

Your best athletes might give basketball a try just when they think, geez, this might be something that pays off for me in the end.

Center is a very tough position to play.

I can do something else besides stuff a ball through a hoop. My biggest resource is my mind.

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.

Justice should be blind especially color-blind and able to fairly deal with the very real need for honest law enforcement.

Michael Jordan and Magic and myself all learned how to play the game in college programs that emphasized the team.

I think the NBA will certainly survive without Michael Jordan.

It's hard for young players to see the big picture. They just see three or four years down the road.

More whites believe in ghosts than believe in racism,

As a parent, I have a job as a role model to my children, and by extension, to other young people.

My health is fine.

Some stuff can be fixed, some stuff can't be. Deciding which is which is part of maturing.

I feel that there has been progress made since I was a boy on matters of race, but we have a long way to go.

He doesn't necessarily have to learn the sky hook. He just has to learn how to be an effective post player. I think I can help him do that.

I'm the baddest among the bad guys.

I had a moment like that with Wilt (Chamberlain). He knocked me out of bounds, I came back and faked him, came across the middle and dunked on him.

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.

The Lakers were able to maintain a certain level of talent and success, and so were the Celtics. It became part of people's sports lore.

I didn't really seek attention. I just wanted to play the game well and go home.

With 300 million people in America, you can fail to impress 299 million of them and still go platinum.

During 1866 and 1922, Native Americans and black soldiers often intermingled in the American west, on the frontier.

I think a lot of people, if they get the opportunity to do some acting, they think, 'I might be a star.'