Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Quotes

High school dropouts are forfeiting their opportunity to pursue the American Dream.

Some stuff can be fixed, some stuff can't be. Deciding which is which is part of maturing.

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

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

I needed to go to class; I needed to go to practice; I needed to have a life away from basketball.

If there is moral insanity," he said in a conspiratorial whisper, "then there may be the reverse, immoral sanity, if you will, that comes upon one suddenly, like a fever.

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.

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

I think the NBA will certainly survive without Michael Jordan.

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

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

Today's youth are told to get rich or die trying and they really shouldn't take that attitude forward with them.

The game has basically not changed since I ended my career.

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

My biggest accomplishment has been making a transition from athlete to author.

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

If ISIS represents Islam, then the KKK represents Christianity

There are rap groups that have a positive outlook in their art. These groups should be shown as an alternative to gangsta rap.

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

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

Pride goeth before destruction," he quoted, "and a haughty spirit before a fall.

What I have is P.H. positive chronic myeloid leukemia, which is an aberration in your white blood cells.

I feel like I've always been a full-time historian, but nobody knows it.

Yoga is just good for you.

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

If not shown appreciation, it gets to you.

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

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

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.

My most memorable moment came in 1985 as we beat the Boston Celtics.

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 totally alienated some reporters as I retreated.

I think Kwame will be an asset to the Lakers.

Douglas wondered if his friend would make it out of this alive. He realized, not for the first time, that life or death was not the most important thing. The most important thing was the mission, their own small attempt to "proclaim liberty to the captives," as the Book of Isaiah had commanded nearly three thousand years before. To engage in a war where there would be no material benefit for the victor other than the liberation of oppressed and victimized human beings.

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

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

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

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.

My health is fine.

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

I just like seeing the world, and it doesn't matter where.

My biggest resource is my mind.

Yoga is somewhat hard to quantify in terms of benefits because you see them in all the injuries you don't get.

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

You cant win unless you learn how to lose.

Jackie Robinson, as an athlete and as someone who was trying to make a stand for equality, he was exemplary.

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

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.

The disconnect lasted too long. I think people got the idea I was sullen and couldn't communicate, which wasn't true.

When a rap song glorifies violence, death and sadness and loss is inflicted because of the violence.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

As brilliant an individual that Michael Jordan was, he was not successful until he got with a good team unit.

I wanted to play baseball!

The transition was difficult. It's hard to stop something that you've enjoyed and that has been very rewarding.

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 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.

Initially when I stopped playing, I had accumulated some burnout.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

I'm the baddest among the bad guys.

With 300 million people in America, you can fail to impress 299 million of them and still go platinum.

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.

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.

I always valued my reading skills as highly as I did my basketball skills. In college and in the N.B.A., I read at every opportunity. When age diminished my basketball skills and I retired, I still had everything I'd learned through reading: knowledge of the world and its history, an aptitude for critical thinking and the ability to write.

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

I pitched and I played the outfield.

I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success.

I try to do the right thing at the ...

But people don't know if I can teach the game. I know I can. My experience in Oklahoma was positive. It opened my eyes to how the game is played - the interaction among players, fans and media, how all that works. You have to know about the business of the game and how the actions of players and coaches affect the business. I think I have it down now.

I listen to jazz mainly. Mainstream jazz.

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

Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they are executed.

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

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.

He doesn't necessarily have to learn the sky hook. He just has to learn how to be an effective post player. I think I can help him do that.

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

Cancer is a scary thing and you have to deal with it seriously.

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.

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.

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.

I've always tried to stay out of the fray and not be an object of controversy.

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

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.

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.

I've never been a person to share my private life, but I can help save lives.

Music is really something that makes people whole.

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

Well, I'm a professional.