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
Jackie Robinson, as an athlete and as someone who was trying to make a stand for equality, he was exemplary. – 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
I would suggest that teachers show their students concrete examples of the negative effects of the actions that gangsta rappers glorify. – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
In athletics there’s always been a willingness to cheat if it looks like you’re not cheating. I think that’s just a quirk of human nature. – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Five guys on the court working together can achieve more than five talented individuals who come and go as individuals. – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream. – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I didn’t really seek attention. I just wanted to play the game well and go home. – 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
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 felt that a number of people might have questioned my loyalty, but I continue to be a patriotic American. – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
LeBron James can get a shot off under any and all circumstances and he makes them. – 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 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. – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I think the NBA players have to be held accountable in a reasonable way, just like any other professionals. – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I think black Americans expect too much from individual black Americans in terms of changing the status quo. – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar