Inspiring and Empowering Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Quotes
There’s a lot of debate these days as to who is the NBA’s G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time). Generally, the debate circles around two men - Michael Jordan and LeBron James. No one can deny they are worthy candidates and deserve to be in that conversation.
Kareen Abdul Jabbar, by any standard, also deserves to be in that category.
He is:
the NBA’s All Time Leading Scorer.
a 6-time NBA champion.
a 6-time NBA MVP.
a 2-time NBA finals MVP
a 19-time NBA All-Star
a 5-time NBA All-Defense team pick.
These are amazing credentials and, yet, these are only cherry-picked from a much longer list of basketball accomplishments. Maybe, if humanitarian was a category in determining the G.O.A.T. Kareem would walk away from the prize. He’s demonstrated himself time and again to be voice of conscience and reason in discussing some of greatest inequities in our society.
He’s used his stature to great effect in calling changes that need to happen in our world. He’s also spent much of post-playing career working make other people better and more successful. These quotes are drawn both from his well-known quotes through the years as well as his career a journalist and commentator for publications around the world.
Here’s a list of the most empowering and inspiring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar quotes.
One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.
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.
I've had enough success for two lifetimes, My success is talent put together with hard work.
You can’t win unless you learn how to lose.
I've had enough success for two lifetimes, My success is talent put together with hard work and luck.
Five guys on the court working together can achieve more than five talented individuals who come and go as individuals.
I can do something else besides stuff a ball through a hoop. My biggest resource is my mind.
I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.
When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden.
A culture can admire both the physical and intellectual. The achievements of athletes inspire us to push the boundaries of what our bodies are capable of. We can run faster, jump higher, endure more punishment than we thought. That makes us all realize we have untapped potential. Equally, we can be inspired by the insights of our poets, the vision of our philosophers, the medical breakthroughs of our scientists. Both should make us strive to be greater: stronger and smarter.
As a parent, I have a job as a role model to my children, and by extension, to other young people.
I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream.
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.
One of the reasons we embrace sports so dearly is that they can symbolize human interaction at its most noble: fair play, meritocracy, sportsmanship, competitiveness, striving to be better, pushing the limits of human achievement.
If we tap into the energy and commitment in our souls, we can invigorate ourselves, inspire others, and improve the world we all live in. Then we are more than great athletes, we are worthy human beings.