Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Quotes

United States, Basketball Player
April 16, 1947

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.; April 16, 1947) is an American retired 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 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, he was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. NBA coach Pat Riley and players Isiah Thomas and Julius Erving have called him the greatest basketball player of all time.

Also known as Basketball Coach, Actor, Film Producer, Author, Screenwriter

Music is really something that makes people whole.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- People
- Music
- Something
I feel like I've always been a full-time historian, but nobody knows it.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Time
- Always
- Feel

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

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Man
- Team
- Ingredient
You can't win if you don't play as a unit.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- You
- Play
- Win
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
- Mother
- Me
- Birth
LeBron James can get a shot off under any and all circumstances and he makes them.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Circumstances
- Shot
- Off
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
- Time
- Abuse
- Critics
If not for the success that medicine has made, I might be part of a much different story right now.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Different
- Success
- Story

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

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Kids
- Dream
- Dreams
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.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Book
- History
- Black
Islam is about finding your own space.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Space
- Islam
- Finding
I've always tried to stay out of the fray and not be an object of controversy.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Always
- Tried
- Object
I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Good
- Great
- Sacrifice
My most memorable moment came in 1985 as we beat the Boston Celtics.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Moment
- Memorable
- Boston

Practices were tough.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Tough
- Were
- Practices
When the line started to blur between the fans and the players, sometimes things can get ugly.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Sometimes
- Fans
- Ugly
My health is fine.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Health
- Fine
Five guys on the court working together can achieve more than five talented individuals who come and go as individuals.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Together
- Working Together
My grandfather and my uncle both died from colorectal cancer, my dad almost died from it and I have the gene for it.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Dad
- Cancer
- Uncle
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
- Soul
- Yourself
- Emotions

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

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- City
- Crazy
- Same
The 3-point shot has created a situation in the game akin to 'Lotto' fever.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Game
- Situation
- Fever
I totally alienated some reporters as I retreated.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Some
- Reporters
- Alienated