Quotes from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar


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Five guys on the court working together can achieve more than five talented individuals who come and go as individuals.


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


You can't win if you don't play as a unit.


Yoga is just good for you.


You have to be able to center yourself, to let all of your emotions go... Don't ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body.


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


I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream.


Michael Jordan and Magic and myself all learned how to play the game in college programs that emphasized the team.


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 think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.


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


You can't win unless you learn how to lose.


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


One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.


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


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.


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.


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


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.


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