For me, the bold jazz of John Coltrane and Miles Davis reflected the bold attitude in African-Americans finding their political identity and voice.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I did a book in 1996, an overview of black history. In that process I became more aware of a lot of the black inventors of the 19th century.

He doesn't necessarily have to learn the sky hook. He just has to learn how to be an effective post player. I think I can help him do that.

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.

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.

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.

What I learned in my time isn't necessarily being taught now, and I'd like to help impart that knowledge to a new generation of players.

I'm still my parent's child, I'm still me, but I made a choice. I evolved into Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I think it has to do with evolution.

I would suggest that teachers show their students concrete examples of the negative effects of the actions that gangsta rappers glorify.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If I hadn't become a professional basketball player, I would have become a history teacher. There's so much to learn from history.

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.

I have been coaching recently. I coached high school basketball in Arizona, and I hope that more opportunities become available.

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

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

Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody.

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

Justice should be blind especially color-blind and able to fairly deal with the very real need for honest law enforcement.

When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden.

Five guys on the court working together can achieve more than five talented individuals who come and go as individuals.

Alexander Hamilton realized that warfare was part and parcel of human nature, and it's something we had to prepare for.

I think people that are, you know, voting in the blind are doing a disservice to America by not being better informed.

The disconnect lasted too long. I think people got the idea I was sullen and couldn't communicate, which wasn't true.

My grandfather and my uncle both died from colorectal cancer, my dad almost died from it and I have the gene for it.

Culture and politics were inseparable [in the Sixties], which gave a soundtrack to political awareness and activism.

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 coaching

Michael Jordan and Magic and myself, all learned how to play the game in college programs that emphasized the team.

During 1866 and 1922, Native Americans and black soldiers often intermingled in the American west, on the frontier.

Reporters used to ask me the same inane questions year-in and year-out, city-to-city, and it would drive me crazy.

OK, I'll put it like this: I doubt if we will see another All-American basketball athlete who is a Rhodes Scholar.

Today's youth are told to get rich or die trying and they really shouldn't take that attitude forward with them.

The transition was difficult. It's hard to stop something that you've enjoyed and that has been very rewarding.

Yoga is somewhat hard to quantify in terms of benefits because you see them in all the injuries you don't get.

As brilliant an individual that Michael Jordan was, he was not successful until he got with a good team unit.

Jackie Robinson, as an athlete and as someone who was trying to make a stand for equality, he was exemplary.

I think black Americans expect too much from individual black Americans in terms of changing the status quo.

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.

A lot of players think the game is all about individual performances when it's really all about a team game.

I think the NBA players have to be held accountable in a reasonable way, just like any other professionals.

I felt that a number of people might have questioned my loyalty, but I continue to be a patriotic American.

The rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics endured for about eight years, and the interest grew each year.

I want to do as little as possible when I finish playing ball - just spend a lot more time with my family.