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Actor Mike Warren [was My Former Teammate], Who Was In Hill Street Blues. There Are More, But It's Starting To Sound Like A Team Reunion At Red Lobster. They Were A Great Bunch Of Guys And We Accomplished A Lot Together. That's Something You Don't Forget.

-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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Actor Mike Warren [was

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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Actor Mike Warren [was My Former Teammate], Who Was In Hill Street Blues. There Are More, But It's Starting To Sound Like A Team Reunion At Red Lobster. They Were A Great Bunch Of Guys And We Accomplished A Lot Together. That's Something You Don't Forget.

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Native American

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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.

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I Listen To Jazz Mainly. Mainstream Jazz.

I Don't Get A Big Charge Out Of Being The Leading Scorer. The Object Of Competing Is Winning. I Just Try To Do What Has To Be Done For Us To Win. That Might Be Anything At The Time - Defense, Rebounding, Passing. I Get Great Satisfaction Out Of Being A Team Player.

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The Rivalry Between The Lakers And Celtics Endured For About Eight Years, And The Interest Grew Each Year.

In A Typical History Book, Black Americans Are Mentioned In The Context Of Slavery Or Civil Rights. There's So Much More To The Story.

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I Have Been Coaching Recently. I Coached High School Basketball In Arizona, And I Hope That More Opportunities Become Available.

I've Never Been A Person To Share My Private Life, But I Can Help Save Lives.

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I Expect More People From China And Asia To End Up In The Nba.

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A Lot Of Players Think The Game Is All About Individual Performances When It's Really All About A Team Game.

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I'm Not Comfortable Being Preachy, But More People Need To Start Spending As Much Time In The Library As They Do On The Basketball Court.

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Islam Is About Finding Your Own Space.

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The Lakers Fans Have Been Great, Even Folks In The Supermarket Are Welcoming Me Back.

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I've Always Tried To Stay Out Of The Fray And Not Be An Object Of Controversy.

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I Didn't Really Seek Attention. I Just Wanted To Play The Game Well And Go Home.

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Fundamental Preparation Is Always Effective. Work On Those Parts Of Your Game That Are Fundamentally Weak.

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High School Dropouts Are Forfeiting Their Opportunity To Pursue The American Dream.

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One Man Cannot Make A Team.

As Brilliant An Individual That Michael Jordan Was, He Was Not Successful Until He Got With A Good Team Unit.

I Would Suggest That Teachers Show Their Students Concrete Examples Of The Negative Effects Of The Actions That Gangsta Rappers Glorify.

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I Saw Islam As The Correct Way To Live, And I Chose To Try To Live That Way.

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You Got Guys Now Declaring They're Ready To Play Pro Ball In Their Second Or Third Year Of High School. It's Crazy! They're Missing So Much.

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There's A Ball. There's A Hoop. You Put The Ball Through The Hoop. That's Success.

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I Think Race Has Been A Burden For Black Americans. Being Muslim Has Also Been A Challenge Because So Many People Do Not Understand Islam.

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I Want People To Understand That I Intend To Continue Living And Doing All The Things That I Love To Do Up Until The End. And The End Is By No Means Rushing Up On Me.

This Is What I Would Have Done If I Had To Have A Real Job: I Would Have Been A History Teacher.

The First Time I Shot The Hook, I Was In Fourth Grade, And I Was About Five Feet Eight Inches Tall. I Put The Ball Up And Felt Totally At Ease With The Shot. I Was Completely Confident It Would Go In. I've Been Shooting It Ever Since.

In The Western Standards Of Modesty, There Are Different Guidelines.

Reporters Used To Ask Me The Same Inane Questions Year-in And Year-out, City-to-city, And It Would Drive Me Crazy.

I Was A Baseball Fan Myself, I Wanted To Play Baseball.

Good Thoughts Are No Better Than Good Dreams, Unless They Are Executed.

I'm The Baddest Among The Bad Guys.

I Feel Like I've Always Been A Full-time Historian, But Nobody Knows It.

I Love Basketball, But Playing Basketball Doesn't Fully Define Who I Am. I Was Always A Good Student, Too.

I Think Black Americans Expect Too Much From Individual Black Americans In Terms Of Changing The Status Quo.

Some Stuff Can Be Fixed, Some Stuff Can’t Be. Deciding Which Is Which Is Part Of Maturing.

When A Rap Song Glorifies Violence, Death And Sadness And Loss Is Inflicted Because Of The Violence.

I Read That Hollywood Wanted To Film Fences Years Ago With A White Director, But [august] Wilson Refused. He Thought That The Director Needed To Have Lived The Culture Of Black Americans.

If I Hadn't Become A Professional Basketball Player, I Would Have Become A History Teacher. There's So Much To Learn From History.

Yoga Is Somewhat Hard To Quantify In Terms Of Benefits Because You See Them In All The Injuries You Don't Get.

What We Need Are Positive, Realistic Goals And The Willingness To Work. Hard Work And Practical Goals.

I Think Kwame Will Be An Asset To The Lakers.

I Can Do Something Else Besides Stuff A Ball Through A Hoop. My Biggest Resource Is My Mind.

My Biggest Resource Is My Mind.

I Rooted For The Dodgers When They Were In Brooklyn.

There Are Rap Groups That Have A Positive Outlook In Their Art. These Groups Should Be Shown As An Alternative To Gangsta Rap.

The Lifespan Of Most Professional Athletes Is Relatively Short, And Most Have No Preparation For Doing Anything After Their Career Ends, Which It Could In An Instant.

Basketball Is An Endurance Sport, And You Have To Learn To Control Your Breath; That's The Essence Of Yoga, Too. So, I Consciously Began Using Yoga Techniques In My Practice And Playing. I Think Yoga Helped Reduce The Number And Severity Of Injuries I Suffered. As Preventative Medicine, It's Unequaled.

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.

I've Had Enough Success For Two Lifetimes, My Success Is Talent Put Together With Hard Work And Luck.

I Think The Nba Players Have To Be Held Accountable In A Reasonable Way, Just Like Any Other Professionals.

Either Because I Was An Athlete Or Because I Was Black - Probably Both - There Seemed To Be A Clear Assumption That I Wouldn't Be Up To The Work.

You Can't Win If You Don't Play As A Unit.

Initially When I Stopped Playing, I Had Accumulated Some Burnout.

I've Kept In Touch With Many Of My Former Teammates: Bob Marcucci Was Our Team Manager And We Bonded Over Our Passion For Baseball.

Your Best Athletes Might Give Basketball A Try Just When They Think, Geez, This Might Be Something That Pays Off For Me In The End.

When We Went Up Against Teams That Were Better, I Just Hoped That We Could Steal The Victories.

You Play With Your Soul As Well As Your Body.

I Am Highly Offended By The Total Lack Of Acknowledgement Of My Contribution To Laker Success.

Acknowledgement

There Are A Lot Of Authors In The World, So It's Difficult To Find A Unique Niche To Present Your Take On Things. That Is Always A Challenge For Any Author.

My Grandfather And My Uncle Both Died From Colorectal Cancer, My Dad Almost Died From It And I Have The Gene For It.

My English Teacher, Dr. John Lindstrom, Taught Me An Appreciation For The Written Word. Until His Class, I'd Dabbled In Journalism And Essay Writing. But When He Selected One Of My Essays As The Best In The Class, It Gave Me The Confidence To See Myself As A Writer.

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.

I Feel That There Has Been Progress Made Since I Was A Boy On Matters Of Race, But We Have A Long Way To Go.

In January Of 1969, After A Meeting To Discuss The Leadership Of Ucla's New Afro-american Program, [alprentice "bunchy" Carter And John Huggins, Jr.] Were Murdered On Campus By A Rival Black Nationalist Group, The United Slaves Organization. This Shook Up All The Students, Black And White, And Made Us All Realize That What We Were Doing Wasn't Just An Academic Exercise, But Had Repercussions In The Real World.

Black And White

I Was Getting Hot Flashes And Sweats On A Regular Basis. That's Not Normal, Even For My Age.

Even When There Are Adverse Circumstances, I Try To Do My Job. And I Usually Do.

The 3-point Shot Has Created A Situation In The Game Akin To 'lotto' Fever.

I Totally Alienated Some Reporters As I Retreated.

I Needed To Go To Class; I Needed To Go To Practice; I Needed To Have A Life Away From Basketball.

Lebron James Can Get A Shot Off Under Any And All Circumstances And He Makes Them.

I Got All A's And Was Hated For It; I Spoke Correctly And Was Called A Punk.

A Team Will Always Appreciate A Great Individual If He's Willing To Sacrifice For The Group.

I Think That The Good And The Great Are Only Separated By The Willingness To Sacrifice.

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.

When I Traveled Through Greece In The '90s, Everything [albert Hoxie] Taught Me Came Flooding Back And I Was Able To Appreciate The Art And Culture Much More Because Of Him.

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.

Practices Were Tough.

Five Guys On The Court Working Together Can Achieve More Than Five Talented Individuals Who Come And Go As Individuals.

I Think I Did Very Well Against Everyone Who Tried To Defend Me.

Ignorance Is Not Something That Lends Itself To A Meaningful Discussion.

For Me, The Bold Jazz Of John Coltrane And Miles Davis Reflected The Bold Attitude In African-americans Finding Their Political Identity And Voice.

We All Had A Lot Of Fun Making The Film ["airplane" ], But There Weren't A Lot Of Outtakes Or Cracking Up Because We All Were Focused On Doing Our Jobs In A Professional Manner.

My High School Had Been A Renovated Old Hospital, So When I First Came To The Ucla Campus In The Spring Of 1965, I Was Immediately Impressed By The Classic Northern Italian Architecture That Was Mixed With Futuristic Ultra-modern Buildings. The Classic Architecture Gave It The Heft Of Old Wisdom While The Modernistic Look Inspired Hope For The Future.

I'm Not Going To Emphasize The Sky-hook As Much As Work With The Specific Skills Of The Guys.

People Still Cheat On Their Wives, That Hasn't Fallen Out Of Fashion. We All Speak Of It Badly, But It Has Not Fallen Out Of Fashion.

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