Kareem Abdul Jabbar on Lamar Odom situation with Dallas

[KelticForce1349]

[QUOTE=zizozain]Straight No Chaser: Kareem Abdul Jabbar - Never White America's Good Negro

By Desi Cortez
Nov 23, 2011

[B]DENVER, CO[/B[I]].---“Change your name back to Lew Alcindor and they'll give you a statue . . . . ‘ John Petrulis

[Teanett]

fukk kareem and fukk lame odor!

[JMT]

Well, that's a first........I have never seen nor heard of Kareem being any of that with anyone EVER. Blaming Wooden.

He discusses Wooden's distrust of the media where it pertained to players in his autobiography. I've also heard him address that during interviews. Nobody said he was "blaming Wooden". Just saying that's an approach he took then and carried with him throughout his career.

As for my encounter, I stated that's just my personal experience. Take it for what it's worth. Personally, it's more believable to me than someone's assertion that they know tons of people who have encountered him and every single one, without fail, hate the guy.

[BlueandGold]

Kareem has got to be one of the most well-read/spoken players in the league. I believed he got a Lit degree from UCLA.

But yea anyways this is clearly an endorsement for the Lakers to pick up Odom for the cheap. Way to go GOAT C.

[DKLaker]

He discusses Wooden's distrust of the media where it pertained to players in his autobiography. I've also heard him address that during interviews. Nobody said he was "blaming Wooden". Just saying that's an approach he took then and carried with him throughout his career.

As for my encounter, I stated that's just my personal experience. Take it for what it's worth. Personally, it's more believable to me than someone's assertion that they know tons of people who have encountered him and every single one, without fail, hate the guy.

I in no way shape or form was doubting your experience, I was stating that it was the first time I EVER heard anyone say something good about the guy.

What were the circumstances of your encounter with him???

It makes no difference to me if anyone believes me or not.
I love my Lakers and would never say anything bad about my team unless it was true.
Kareem was a great player...no question about that, it's too bad I cannot celebrate a great career and the success he brought to my team without cringing at the thought of him.

[RazorBaLade]

I walked into kareem at a laker game he said hello nicely and continued to walk past me.


what an asshole.

[Disaprine]

[zizozain]

Kareem Abdul Jabbar Interviewed by HBR Alison Beard

Listen to the interview this article is based on


http://hbr.org/2012/01/kareem-abdul-jabbar/ar/1


In the NCAA and the NBA you occasionally faced racism. How did you play through those distractions?


If you let it distract you, you’re playing into their hands. Their whole purpose is to distract you and prevent you from succeeding. And for me, success was the goal. My success and the success of other black Americans was exactly what would silence people who indulged in racism. So it was “Keep your eyes on the prize.” That was one of the messages of the civil rights movement, and I tried to do it.

You were known as a focused player who wasn’t very personable. Did that hurt your career?

Well, it had a negative effect on how I was portrayed. But I had no one to explain the value of public relations to me. When I was in college, there was such an intense demand from the press that John Wooden said they couldn’t talk to me at all. So that was what I took for normal going into the NBA. Being at the top of my game and working as hard as I could for the people who employed me—that was my primary focus, and everything else was secondary. So I didn’t always respond to social situations in a pleasant way. When it came to talking to people, I was kind of reserved. But shyness is something you have to overcome. Later in my career, I started doing a lot better relating to fans and talking to the media. I think that’s continued to improve in my retirement.

Do you enjoy it now? Or do you still grit your teeth?

Well, let me say this: It doesn’t bother me anymore. I can handle it. A lot of the people in the media are good people, and by being more accessible, you get to find that out. It’s just like being in any marketplace. There are good people and thieves. And you’ve got to have the judgment to understand which is which and adjust.

What did you learn from your teammates?
You learn to appreciate them, because you can’t win by yourself. One person can’t get it done. So you appreciate the guys who put in the hard work and don’t necessarily get the accolades or the big paycheck, but they’re the guys who make it possible for you to shine and for the team to shine.

There’s a funny story about the end of your first game with Magic Johnson.

What happened was I made the winning shot, and it was like he had just won a championship. He was going crazy, wrestling me down and hugging me and everything. When we got in the locker room, I said, “Look, we’ve got 81 more games to play.” So he got the message from me that it was a long haul, and if you’re going to ride the emotions that intensely, you’ll be a wreck. But from him, in that same moment, I learned that it’s OK to have some fun and enjoy things as you’re having the experience. You can’t be so totally about brass tacks that you don’t enjoy the smaller successes that of course lead to bigger and better things.

As a captain, how did you motivate other players?

By example. I was always in shape. I was always a team player. I understood the fundamentals of the game and worked on them constantly, during the season and in the off-season. And I tried to be always prepared and focused.

What about “managing up” to your coaches?

I was fortunate to have very good coaches who knew what they were doing. But if I had a suggestion, I would try to convey it in a respectful way. Respect always makes people more amenable to criticism or a correction. The whole idea of mutual appreciation really smooths out those interactions between people on different levels.

[Kobe 4 The Win]

No excuses for Kareem....none at all. I've met and talked to more guys who had it worse than him....guys like Hank Aaron and they have always been very nice.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's judge.