Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Quotes

LeBron James can get a shot off under any and all circumstances and he makes them. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I totally alienated some reporters as I retreated. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

After practice, I would have to go back to the dorm and take a nap. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

High school dropouts are forfeiting their opportunity to pursue the American Dream. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

The rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics endured for about eight years, and the interest grew each year. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The game has basically not changed since I ended my career. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

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

I expect more people from China and Asia to end up in the NBA. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

My biggest resource is my mind. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

My parents wanted to name me Karim Hill. My aunt always liked the name Dule, from this actor Keir Dullea, who was in '2001: Space Odyssey.' That's how I got the name Karim Dule Hill. Growing up, I never liked the name Karim because people would ask me, 'Could you dunk like Kareem Abdul Jabbar?' ~ Dule Hill

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. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

I think black Americans expect too much from individual black Americans in terms of changing the status quo. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I was a baseball fan myself, I wanted to play baseball. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

In the Western standards of modesty, there are different guidelines. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I found the speech, after listening to it in context, vile in manner, repugnant, malicious, mean-spirited and spoken in mockery of individuals and people, which is against the spirit of Islam. While I stand by the truths that he spoke, I must condemn in the strongest terms the manner in which those truths were represented. ~ Khalid Abdul Muhammad

An unexpected but important additional advantage of living in Kampung Jawa in this respect was the presence nearby, established as recently as 1955, of the Muslim College, Malaya's first national tertiary institution of Islamic higher education. I was able to use its small library, and came to know well Dr Muhammad Abdul Ra'uf and Dr Muhammad Zaki Badawi, Egyptians engaged to lead the college who also taught at the University of Malaya and later became prominent Muslim intellectuals in the United States and Britain respectively. Along with other members of staff, including the charismatic Pan-Malayan Islamic Party politician Dr Zulkifli Muhammad, they did much to extend my knowledge of Islamic education and wider Muslim issues. ~ William R. Roff

The white race is absolutely disagreeable to get along with in peace. No other people on the face of the earth have been able to get along with white people since white people have been on our planet. ~ Khalid Abdul Muhammad

So what does all this mean if you desperately want to persuade someone who doesn't want to be persuaded?

The first step is to appreciate that your opponent's opinion is likely based less on fact and logic than on ideology and herd thinking. If you were to suggest this to his face, he would of course deny it. He is operating from a set of biases he cannot even see. As the behavioral sage Daniel Kahneman has written: "We can be blind to the obvious, and we are also blind to our blindness." Few of us are immune to this blind spot. That goes for you, and that goes for the two of us as well. And so, as the basketball legend-cum-philosopher Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once put it, "It's easier to jump out of a plane - hopefully with a parachute - than it is to change your mind about an opinion. ~ Steven D. Levitt

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. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I've never been a person to share my private life, but I can help save lives. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

If ISIS represents Islam, then the KKK represents Christianity ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

We don't have selfish guys here, which sometimes leads to problems. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I needed to go to class; I needed to go to practice; I needed to have a life away from basketball. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

You cant win unless you learn how to lose. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The 3-point shot has created a situation in the game akin to 'Lotto' fever. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I try to do the right thing at the ... ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The Lakers were able to maintain a certain level of talent and success, and so were the Celtics. It became part of people's sports lore. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

If not shown appreciation, it gets to you. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

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

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

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

When the doctor told me I had cancer, I was scared. ~ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar