Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Quotes about Basketball

You can't win unless you learn how to lose.

I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.

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

Five guys on the court working together can achieve more than five talented individuals who come and go as individuals.

Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody.

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

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.

Your mind is what makes everything else work.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

If they took the idea that they could escape poverty through education, I think it would make a more basic and long-lasting change in the way things happen. What we need are positive, realistic goals and the willingness to work. Hard work and practical goals.

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

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

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

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

One man cannot make a team.

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 love basketball, but playing basketball doesn't fully define who I am. I was always a good student, too.

When you're a coach you've got to go up the ladder, you've got to be ready to travel. That's the nature of coaching

I think Kwame will be an asset to the Lakers.

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