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My grandfather and my uncle both died from colorectal cancer, my dad almost died from it and I have the gene for it.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Age: 77
Born: 1947
Born: April 16
Actor
Author
Basketball Coach
Basketball Player
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Television Actor
New York City
New York
Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor
Jr.
Lew Alcindor
Grandfather
Cancer
Dad
Died
Almost
Gene
Uncle
Uncles
Genes

More quotes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they are executed.
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I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success.
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We can learn from mistakes of others, whether they're kings or our parents. When we do learn those lessons, we're better equipped to make our own dreams come true.
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I have been coaching recently. I coached high school basketball in Arizona, and I hope that more opportunities become available.
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I was especially impressed with Pauley Pavilion [at UCLA campus ]. The floors hadn't been laid down yet, when they gave me the tour, each new room got my heart thumping. They even had a surgical operating room in case an athlete was severely injured.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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If not shown appreciation, it gets to you.
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For me, the bold jazz of John Coltrane and Miles Davis reflected the bold attitude in African-Americans finding their political identity and voice.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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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.
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I have to say I have an incredible musical education because of my father.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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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
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Lakers were able to maintain a certain level of talent and success and so were the Celtics. So after awhile it became part of people's sports lore...
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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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
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I think the NBA will certainly survive without Michael Jordan.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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Center is a very tough position to play.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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I got all A's and was hated for it I spoke correctly and was called a punk.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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Common decency demands that [NCAA athletes] should be paid, but the only way it will happen is the same way workers got paid throughout American history, through a strong union.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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There's a ball. There's a hoop. You put the ball through the hoop. That's success.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar