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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
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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
Probably
Either
Clear
Black
Assumption
Work
Athlete
Seemed
Basketball
Wouldn
More quotes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The Sixties was a perfect storm of disaffection with political leaders trying to pass off the same old platitudes to maintain the status quo and an unexpected courageousness in the masses of youth. Nothing on this scale had ever happened before in U.S. history and it hasn't happened since.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Center is a very tough position to play.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Few players have cast a spell across the game like Yao Ming, before or since.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I think Kwame will be an asset to the Lakers.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I got all A's and was hated for it I spoke correctly and was called a punk.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
But all was not sunshine and Marvin Gaye songs. [UCLA] also recruited black students as part of a High Potential Program that was meant to bring diversity to the campus. Two of the students that were part of that program were Alprentice Bunchy Carter and John Huggins, Jr., both members of the Black Panther Party's Southern California Chapter.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Pride was his life force for us it was a live nerve that he could teach us to brush. One stroke, a good practice, and we could tingle for days ... First, he found the pride in each of us, then he taught us how good it could feel. What he was ultimately after was for every one of us to learn to light our own fires and glow our brightest.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Culture and politics were inseparable [in the Sixties], which gave a soundtrack to political awareness and activism.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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
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
Actor Mike Warren [was my former teammate], who was in Hill Street Blues. There are more, but it's starting to sound like a team reunion at Red Lobster. They were a great bunch of guys and we accomplished a lot together. That's something you don't forget.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
You can't win unless you learn how to lose.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I think I really benefited from going to college.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
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
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
When the line started to blur between the fans and the players, sometimes things can get ugly.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
