Top 120 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Quotes (2024 Update)
Page 2 of 3

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

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

52. “Some stuff can be fixed, some stuff can’t be. Deciding which is which is part of maturing.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

53. “The rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics endured for about eight years, and the interest grew each year.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

54. “Either because I was an athlete or because I was black – probably both – there seemed to be a clear assumption that I wouldn’t be up to the work.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

57. “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.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

58. “I need about three seats lengthwise to sleep on a plane. It’s not easy for me to curl up.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

59. “Initially when I stopped playing, I had accumulated some burnout.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

60. “When the line started to blur between the fans and the players, sometimes things can get ugly.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

61. “Center is a very tough position to play.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

62. “I totally alienated some reporters as I retreated.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

65. “We don’t have selfish guys here, which sometimes leads to problems.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

66. “The person unaware of history is like a rudderless boat just floating out in the middle of the ocean, hostages to the waves and currents.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

67. “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

68. “I hope to be involved in a successful movie script.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

69. “I’ve never been a person to share my private life, but I can help save lives.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

70. “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.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

71. “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.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

72. “Each story, novel, poem and play presents a vision of the world that illuminates the dark cave of life we stumble through. We can see better where we’re going, what sudden drop to avoid, where the cool water is running.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

73. “This is what I would have done if I had to have a real job: I would have been a history teacher.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

74. “LeBron James can get a shot off under any and all circumstances and he makes them.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

75. “If not for the success that medicine has made, I might be part of a much different story right now.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

76. “Music is really something that makes people whole.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

77. “What I learned in my time isn’t necessarily being taught now, and I’d like to help impart that knowledge to a new generation of players.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

78. “I just like seeing the world, and it doesn’t matter where.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

79. “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.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

80. “The Lakers fans have been great, even folks in the supermarket are welcoming me back!”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

81. “Yoga is just good for you.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

82. “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.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

83. “I don’t get a big charge out of being the leading scorer. The object of competing is winning. I just try to do what has to be done for us to win. That might be anything at the time – defense, rebounding, passing. I get great satisfaction out of being a team player.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

84. “We want to show how hip-hop, which kind of fuels today’s basketball stars, is directly related to jazz.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

85. “When the doctor told me I had cancer, I was scared.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

86. “I have to say I have an incredible musical education because of my father.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

87. “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

88. “I’ve had a desire to coach for years. This was something I felt I should do.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

90. “I felt that a number of people might have questioned my loyalty, but I continue to be a patriotic American.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

91. “Pride goeth before destruction,” he quoted, “and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

92. “I think a lot of people, if they get the opportunity to do some acting, they think, ‘I might be a star.’”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

93. “Kobe’s an incredibly talented athlete, and there are many more like him among today’s players.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

94. “Well, I’m a professional.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

96. “Few players have cast a spell across the game like Yao Ming, before or since.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

97. “I have been coaching recently. I coached high school basketball in Arizona, and I hope that more opportunities become available.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

98. “I think I really benefited from going to college.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

99. “A lot of players think the game is all about individual performances when it’s really all about a team game.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar