Basketball Quotes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Your mind is what makes everything else work.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I hope to be involved in a successful movie script.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I listen to jazz mainly. Mainstream jazz.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I think Kwame will be an asset to the Lakers.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I'm not going to disappear.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

You play with your soul as well as your body.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

One man cannot make a team.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Center is a very tough position to play.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kobe's an incredibly talented athlete, and there are many more like him among today's players.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I've had enough success for two lifetimes, My success is talent put together with hard work and luck.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The Lakers fans have been great, even folks in the supermarket are welcoming me back!

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

We want to show how hip-hop, which kind of fuels today's basketball stars, is directly related to jazz.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Initially when I stopped playing, I had accumulated some burnout.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I didn't really seek attention. I just wanted to play the game well and go home.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I needed to go to class; I needed to go to practice; I needed to have a life away from basketball.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I love basketball, but playing basketball doesn't fully define who I am. I was always a good student, too.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

There are rap groups that have a positive outlook in their art. These groups should be shown as an alternative to gangsta…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I feel that there has been progress made since I was a boy on matters of race, but we have a long…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I'm not comfortable being preachy, but more people need to start spending as much time in the library as they do on…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

He doesn't necessarily have to learn the sky hook. He just has to learn how to be an effective post player. I…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

When you're a coach you've got to go up the ladder, you've got to be ready to travel. That's the nature of…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The Lakers were able to maintain a certain level of talent and success, and so were the Celtics. It became part of…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I was latching on to something that was part of my heritage, because many of the slaves who were brought here were…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I feel that Dennis Rodman has become a problem. He will be more of a problem than an asset. Of course, he…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Basketball is an endurance sport, and you have to learn to control your breath; that's the essence of yoga, too. So, I…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

All the courage and competitiveness of Jackie Robinson affects me to this day. If I patterned my life after anyone it was…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

But people don't know if I can teach the game. I know I can. My experience in Oklahoma was positive. It opened…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Elgin's game was an incredible performance, also. I don't think there's any comparison. Elgin did it without three-point lines. His game was…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The first time I shot the hook, I was in fourth grade, and I was about five feet eight inches tall. I…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

If they took the idea that they could escape poverty through education, I think it would make a more basic and long-lasting…

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

When we went up against teams that were better, I just hoped that we could steal the victories.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

When a rap song glorifies violence, death and sadness and loss is inflicted because of the violence.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

We don't have selfish guys here, which sometimes leads to problems.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I don't know if I was the baddest. People kind of saw me in that light.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Few players have cast a spell across the game like Yao Ming, before or since.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The constant expansion has diluted the talent. Other than that, it's still the same game.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I've had a desire to coach for years. This was something I felt I should do.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I think the NBA will certainly survive without Michael Jordan.

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

In the Western standards of modesty, there are different guidelines.

— 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