Top 189 Quotes & Sayings by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American baseball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Last updated on November 21, 2024.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American former professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA Team member, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. He was a member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, and was twice voted NBA Finals MVP. He was named to three NBA anniversary teams. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, often named a top 3 player in NBA history, he was called the greatest basketball player of all time by Pat Riley, Isiah Thomas, and Julius Erving.

A team will always appreciate a great individual if he's willing to sacrifice for the group.
I always thought I could do a good job coaching, but the opportunities have not presented themselves.
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 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.
I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success.
High school dropouts are forfeiting their opportunity to pursue the American Dream.
I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.
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.
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.
Yoga is just good for you.
I've always tried to stay out of the fray and not be an object of controversy.
The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done.
If not shown appreciation, it gets to you.
I didn't really seek attention. I just wanted to play the game well and go home.
The 3-point shot has created a situation in the game akin to 'Lotto' fever. — © Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The 3-point shot has created a situation in the game akin to 'Lotto' fever.
I think I did very well against everyone who tried to defend me.
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.
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.
Black people don't have an accurate idea of their history, which has been either suppressed or distorted.
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.
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.
I was getting hot flashes and sweats on a regular basis. That's not normal, even for my age.
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.
Jackie Robinson, as an athlete and as someone who was trying to make a stand for equality, he was exemplary.
I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream.
I can do something else besides stuff a ball through a hoop. My biggest resource is my mind.
One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.
When the line started to blur between the fans and the players, sometimes things can get ugly.
Your mind is what makes everything else work.
I would suggest that teachers show their students concrete examples of the negative effects of the actions that gangsta rappers glorify.
I just like seeing the world, and it doesn't matter where.
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.
Michael Jordan and Magic and myself all learned how to play the game in college programs that emphasized the team.
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.
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.
When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden.
I think the NBA players have to be held accountable in a reasonable way, just like any other professionals.
The transition was difficult. It's hard to stop something that you've enjoyed and that has been very rewarding.
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.
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. — © Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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.
Fundamental preparation is always effective. Work on those parts of your game that are fundamentally weak.
When the doctor told me I had cancer, I was scared.
I think the NBA will certainly survive without Michael Jordan.
I felt that a number of people might have questioned my loyalty, but I continue to be a patriotic American.
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.
You can't win if you don't play as a unit.
I saw Islam as the correct way to live, and I chose to try to live that way.
Today's youth are told to get rich or die trying and they really shouldn't take that attitude forward with them.
I'm the baddest among the bad guys.
I have always thought that writers come with any variety of attributes. Some are capable and some aren't. — © Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I have always thought that writers come with any variety of attributes. Some are capable and some aren't.
Five guys on the court working together can achieve more than five talented individuals who come and go as individuals.
Even when there are adverse circumstances, I try to do my job. And I usually do.
I'm not going to disappear.
I have been coaching recently. I coached high school basketball in Arizona, and I hope that more opportunities become available.
In a typical history book, black Americans are mentioned in the context of slavery or civil rights. There's so much more to the story.
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.
You can't win unless you learn how to lose.
Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody.
This is what I would have done if I had to have a real job: I would have been a history teacher.
A lot of players think the game is all about individual performances when it's really all about a team game.
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.
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