Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Quotes about Basketball - Page 2

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

We don't have selfish guys here, which sometimes leads to problems.

I think black Americans expect too much from individual black Americans in terms of changing the status quo.

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

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

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

You play with your soul as well as your body.

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.

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

In the Western standards of modesty, there are different guidelines.

I've had a desire to coach for years. This was something I felt I should do.

People still cheat on their wives, that hasn't fallen out of fashion. We all speak of it badly, but it has not fallen out of fashion.

Basketball is an endurance sport, and you have to learn to control your breath; that's the essence of yoga, too. So, I consciously began using yoga techniques in my practice and playing. I think yoga helped reduce the number and severity of injuries I suffered. As preventative medicine, it's unequaled.

Kobe's an incredibly talented athlete, and there are many more like him among today's players.