Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Quotes - Page 3

Even when there are adverse circumstances, I try to do my job. And I usually do.

Ken Heitz got drafted by the Bucks the same year I did. He went to their camp just for the experience, then dropped out to attend Harvard Law School. I always admired his combination of athleticism and brains.

If not shown appreciation, it gets to you.

All the courage and competitiveness of Jackie Robinson affects me to this day. If I patterned my life after anyone it was him, not because he was the first black baseball player in the majors but because he was a hero.

I totally alienated some reporters as I retreated.

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

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

The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done.

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.

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

I'm the baddest among the bad guys.

Yoga is just good for you.

The first time I shot the hook, I was in fourth grade, and I was about five feet eight inches tall. I put the ball up and felt totally at ease with the shot. I was completely confident it would go in. I've been shooting it ever since.

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.

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.

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

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.

Culture and politics were inseparable [in the Sixties], which gave a soundtrack to political awareness and activism.

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

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

I was a baseball fan myself, I wanted to play baseball.

I got all A's and was hated for it; I spoke correctly and was called a punk.

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

Center is a very tough position to play.

I don't really care who's doing drugs in the NBA as long as the scene isn't adversely affecting my team and teammates. I've known enough drug users-going as far back as grade school and the streets of New York-not to view them as pariahs or lost souls. I've certainly smoked more than my quota of weed.