Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Quotes
Basketball Player, Basketball Coach
You can't win if you don't play as a unit.
I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream.
A team will always appreciate a great individual if he's willing to sacrifice for the group.
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.
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 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.
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.
I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.
LeBron James can get a shot off under any and all circumstances and he makes them.
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.
The 3-point shot has created a situation in the game akin to 'Lotto' fever.
Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody.
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.
High school dropouts are forfeiting their opportunity to pursue the American Dream.
The type of leukemia that I am dealing with is treatable. So if I do what my doctors tell me to do - get my blood checked regularly, take my meds and consult with my doctor and follow any additional instructions he might make - I will be able to maintain my good health and live my life with a minimum of disruptions to my lifestyle.
Fundamental preparation is always effective. Work on those parts of your game that are fundamentally weak.
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.
I want people to understand that I intend to continue living and doing all the things that I love to do up until the end. And the end is by no means rushing up on me.
If not shown appreciation, it gets to you.
My biggest accomplishment has been making a transition from athlete to author.
I wanted to play baseball!
Jackie Robinson, as an athlete and as someone who was trying to make a stand for equality, he was exemplary.
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.
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.
If not for the success that medicine has made, I might be part of a much different story right now.
What I have is P.H. positive chronic myeloid leukemia, which is an aberration in your white blood cells.
I think the NBA will certainly survive without Michael Jordan.
Today's youth are told to get rich or die trying and they really shouldn't take that attitude forward with them.
Even when there are adverse circumstances, I try to do my job. And I usually do.
I didn't really seek attention. I just wanted to play the game well and go home.
I listen to jazz mainly. Mainstream jazz.
I rooted for the Dodgers when they were in Brooklyn.
I would suggest that teachers show their students concrete examples of the negative effects of the actions that gangsta rappers glorify.
My most memorable moment came in 1985 as we beat the Boston Celtics.
I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success.
I think black Americans expect too much from individual black Americans in terms of changing the status quo.
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.
OK, I'll put it like this: I doubt if we will see another All-American basketball athlete who is a Rhodes Scholar.
When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden.
When the doctor told me I had cancer, I was scared.
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.
My choosing Islam was not a political statement; it was a spiritual statement.
I think I really benefited from going to college.
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.
I'm the baddest among the bad guys.
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.
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 got all A's and was hated for it; I spoke correctly and was called a punk.
I was getting hot flashes and sweats on a regular basis. That's not normal, even for my age.
I can do something else besides stuff a ball through a hoop. My biggest resource is my mind.
It's hard for young players to see the big picture. They just see three or four years down the road.
I enjoy seeing new places.
I expect more people from China and Asia to end up in the NBA.
I always thought I could do a good job coaching, but the opportunities have not presented themselves.
After practice, I would have to go back to the dorm and take a nap.
When the line started to blur between the fans and the players, sometimes things can get ugly.
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.
Yoga is just good for you.
I felt that a number of people might have questioned my loyalty, but I continue to be a patriotic American.
I'm not going to disappear.
Black people don't have an accurate idea of their history, which has been either suppressed or distorted.
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.
As brilliant an individual that Michael Jordan was, he was not successful until he got with a good team unit.
The game has basically not changed since I ended my career.
The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done.
Michael Jordan and Magic and myself all learned how to play the game in college programs that emphasized the team.
I have been coaching recently. I coached high school basketball in Arizona, and I hope that more opportunities become available.
The transition was difficult. It's hard to stop something that you've enjoyed and that has been very rewarding.
When we went up against teams that were better, I just hoped that we could steal the victories.
As a parent, I have a job as a role model to my children, and by extension, to other young people.
I think I did very well against everyone who tried to defend me.
Your mind is what makes everything else work.
I saw Islam as the correct way to live, and I chose to try to live that way.
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.
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.
I think the NBA players have to be held accountable in a reasonable way, just like any other professionals.
Center is a very tough position to play.
I hope to be involved in a successful movie script.
I totally alienated some reporters as I retreated.
My grandfather and my uncle both died from colorectal cancer, my dad almost died from it and I have the gene for it.
I have always thought that writers come with any variety of attributes. Some are capable and some aren't.
Islam is about finding your own space.
I was a baseball fan myself, I wanted to play baseball.
Reporters used to ask me the same inane questions year-in and year-out, city-to-city, and it would drive me crazy.
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.
I've always tried to stay out of the fray and not be an object of controversy.
My health is fine.
I want to do as little as possible when I finish playing ball - just spend a lot more time with my family.
Well, I'm a professional.
Music is really something that makes people whole.
A lot of players think the game is all about individual performances when it's really all about a team game.
You're never really cancer-free and I should have known that.
I need about three seats lengthwise to sleep on a plane. It's not easy for me to curl up.
I've never been a person to share my private life, but I can help save lives.
I have to say I have an incredible musical education because of my father.
There are a lot of authors in the world, so it's difficult to find a unique niche to present your take on things. That is always a challenge for any author.
Cancer is a scary thing and you have to deal with it seriously.
I pitched and I played the outfield.