The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Blog

New Blog Address

Mon, 12 May 2008 14:21:13 -0700

Starting Monday, May 12, I will be moving my blog to my own website. I hope you will join me so we can continue sharing.

www.kareemabduljabbar.com

Yours, K.

MVP reflections: My first ever, my first in L.A., and my last

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:49:17 -0700

Winning my first MVP in 1971, my second year with the Milwaukee Bucks, was a great honor. I liked the fact that it went along with us winning the world championship, and having done it while playing with Oscar Robertson made me feel great. During that season, I had to play a couple of games against Wilt Chamberlain, who was the standard prior to me for excellence in pivot play. I was able to outplay him -– 40.2 PPG in five games, including a 50-point game –- and that to me was an indication that I had possibly arrived.

Prior to the 1975-76 season I was traded to the Lakers. I was very fortunate to win my fourth MVP award that year, because the team didn't do well. We finished 40-42 and missed the playoffs. But I had such a great year statistically, that's why I won it. In 1980, when I won my last regular-season MVP, that was also the year that a rookie named Magic Johnson burst onto the scene. When we got Earvin, we had somebody that could run the team offense. Jack McKinney did a great job of understanding Earvin's unique ability to play the game and to devise an offense that worked for all of the people that we had on the team. I've won six total regular-season MVPs, more than any other player, and people ask me all the time -- do I think that another player will achieve that number? It’s always possible, but it’s going to take a dominant player to do it. There have been a lot of great players to not win it.

My thoughts on Kobe’s first MVP: Kobe has had the ability to score so prolifically that people at times have knocked him. But winning that award helps put everything in perspective and shows that he's been a leader and team player in addition to being so brilliant at what he does. Derek Fisher’s return to Utah on Friday is the one-year anniversary to the day of what Derek went through during last year’s playoffs with his daughter’s medical troubles and his emotional return for Game 2 of the Jazz’s Western Conference semifinal series with the Warriors. I thought Derek made quite a statement both as a professional athlete and as a parent that day. He was able to do both with an outstanding degree of determination and focus. When he returned to Utah this season as a member of the Lakers, I was surprised by the reception he received from the crowd, and I didn't understand it. Maybe the people up there in Utah have some issues that I'm not aware of.

I think Derek Fisher brings a lot to the Lakers -- he has meant quality leadership for the team and he runs the offense with a steady hand. He keeps the younger players from just flying off the edge emotionally, keeps them steady and keeps them focused. His excellent play on the court aside, I think he is very valuable to the team just because of his leadership qualities. Derek has made everybody focus on how we need to win instead of getting into useless details. He's enabled the team to recognize the difference between those useless details and what is important to succeed.

My most memorable moment for our franchise, and for me personally, was beating the Celtics in 1985. That was a very special moment. I was fortunate enough to be the MVP in that series. That, to me, had a whole lot of emotional value to it, which some people might not understand. The Lakers were 0-8 against the Celtics in championship play up until that point, but we finally had the better team. And for me being a key reason for the Lakers to be able to finally break through was even more special.

P.S. Today is my last blog for the L.A. Times. Starting Monday, May 12, I will be moving my blog to my own website. I hope you will join me at www.kareemabduljabbar.com so we can continue sharing.

Answering fan mail on 'Olympics boycott: 1968 vs. 2008'

Thu, 08 May 2008 17:45:26 -0700

I have received many comments on my article about the Olympics Boycott, on paper and online -- so here we go:

To Frank Antonacci, Sid Holmes, Dean Nelson, Jim Beran, Steve Adams, Ed Robinson, Steve Baker, Arthur Carlson, Rich Larsen, Clarence Chappell, Greg Gose, Jamile, Ed Shatzen, Carla Nardoni, Christian DeBlis, Bill Lundy, Bob Guild... Thanks for your support.

To Beau... An Olympic medal would have been a nice experience for me but I felt that my diploma was a more important priority and stayed with my summer job. Thanks.

To Klaus Beiten... Klaus stated that many other nations have issues with the U.S. that are quite similar to the issues others say that they have with China. I am very aware of the double standards that stick out when life in America is compared with life in other countries. Truly not one nation on Earth can claim it is doing a perfect job in caring for all of its citizens. We have a ways to go as a species. I hope more people like us are able to reach out and create more awareness on these issues.

To Robert Liu... Thanks for your response to my article. I hope there will be more opportunities for our various communities to interact. All the best, K.

To Chuck Reilly... As I clearly stated in my article, there was no boycott of the '68 Olympics. I personally did not boycott those Olympics, nor do I regret not going. Our nation was represented by outstanding basketball athletes in '68 who won the gold medal. I am proud and happy to say that I don't hate anyone based on their ethnicity. I've had issues with how some white people have treated black Americans through the years. You might want to Google Emmitt Till, Medgar Evers or Martin Luther King Jr., also the movie "Mississippi Burning." The last thing I should share with you is the fact that any issues between myself and my high school coach were amicably resolved long before he passed away. Sorry to disappoint you. Oh -- and the R.I. tourney was in December of '63.

To Kai Chen... Thanks for your informative e-mail that shares info on the nature of the Chinese Communist Party. Detailed information on that subject was not available to me before I heard from you. I will not be totally ignorant about that subject in the future. I hope that athletes such as yourself will be able to attain the democratic freedoms we take for granted.

And finally thank you all, and each one of you. Yours K.

P.S. I will be moving my blog within the next two weeks to my website www.kareemabduljabbar.com. Please follow me over to my site so you can continue sharing.

Oz comes to Dubai

Tue, 06 May 2008 11:31:06 -0700

Click here to see all images from Dubai.

I have recently seen some amazing pictures from Dubai, which is an Arab country on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf. I am amazed by the enormous growth that it has experienced in the 15 years since I first visited there.

Dubai has a respectable oil industry, but that sector of its economy accounts for only 6% of its size. The leaders of Dubai sought to make it a modern commercial hub and not become a place that had only oil to offer. It doesn't have religious police, and women have rights that are actually respected. The growth that I am referring to is truly mind-boggling because 15 years ago, the city had at best a few high-rise buildings.

Today it looks like a city out of the "Stars Wars" movies. It is in the process of putting up the "world's largest structure" and has completed other land development ventures that are truly remarkable, including the world's tallest hotel, the world's largest waterfront development, and an undersea hotel and artificial islands that have been made in the Gulf. Dubai has also hosted major sporting events that have gained the attention of the world's sporting elite. It has taken a lot of foresight from the rulers of Dubai to achieve this kind of development in so little time. By diversifying the nature of business in Dubai, the nation has assured itself a place in the economy of the 21st Century.

P.S. I will be moving my blog within the next two weeks to my website www.kareemabduljabbar.com. Please follow me over to my site so you can continue sharing.

Ace in the hole

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:57:37 -0700

The Lakers were able to overcome a week’s absence from playing and take Game 1 from the Jazz, but it was certainly not an easy win. Had the Lakers not benefited from the presence of Kobe Bryant, they might not have that victory put away.

Utah plays a every physical game, and the Jazz are very determined to win the “small areas” of the game to gain their victories. By “small areas” I mean to say that the Jazz see every possession as a plus for their way of winning. Loose balls, rebounds, steals, turnovers, jump balls and defensive pressure that results in a change of possession will all be utilized to beat you. Their style is very reminiscent of the style of play of their coach Jerry Sloan.

Jerry was emblematic of the term “hard nosed” when he was a player for the Chicago Bulls. I can remember several games he played against my former teammate Oscar Robertson that were serious physical battles with no prisoners taken. The Jazz will use any and every way to beat you, and they don’t tend to make the mental errors that take teams out of contention. On Sunday the Jazz did not shoot the ball very well but were able to overcome that deficit by pounding the offensive boards. They were able to stay in the game by regaining the ball after missing shots and keeping possession. The difference in offensive rebounding was Utah 25 and Lakers 8. The Lakers will have to do a much better job of rebounding on their defensive end if they want a happy ending to this series. The second-chance points that the Lakers gave up (26) were way too much to tolerate for a team that wants to go to the next round. But the Lakers have a serious ace in the hole named Kobe Bryant.

Kobe led the Lakers in scoring with 38 points and also had a team high seven assists. The series will be definitely be determined by the adjustments that will be made by either team. The Jazz will want to shoot the ball more effectively and the Lakers will want to do a better job on their defensive board and thus limit the Jazz to one shot every time down court. In the end, they will have an ace in the hole (Kobe) that should be a determining factor in this series.

When I played the Jazz back in ’88, every game was a grind. The Jazz won the first game in L.A., which put a lot of pressure on the Lakers. We went on to win the second game in L.A., then lost Game 3 in Utah. We overcame them in Utah in Game 4, but the pivotal game for the Lakers was Game 5, because we went up 3-2. We won the game with Michael Cooper's game-winning shot with only three seconds left. Cooper made a lot of clutch shots for us throughout his career, but this was his only game-winning shot.

P.S. I will be moving my blog within the next two weeks to my website www.kareemabduljabbar.com. Please follow me over to my site so you can continue sharing.

Boycott questions: 1968 vs. 2008

Mon, 05 May 2008 12:39:53 -0700

(Right: Spencer Haywood (8) leads way during U.S. gold-medal win at the 1968 Games, where there was a protest by black Americans but no boycott. Left: Smith, who won the 200-meter dash at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, along with bronze medalist and teammate John Carlos.)

Quick note: I will be replying to your comments shortly.

In 1968 I was a 20-year-old college junior whose basketball success had been made famous. I’d been honored as Player of the Year, Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament, named the USBWA Player of the Year, and played the “game of the century” against the Houston Cougars at the Houston Astrodome. So it wasn’t surprising that I was invited to try out for the Olympic basketball team to represent the U.S. in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Any other year I would have been proud and elated at the prospect of playing for my country against the world’s elite athletes. But 1968 wasn’t like any other year.

The Vietnam War had divided the country more violently than any time since the Civil War. The nightly news clips of U.S. planes bombing the Vietnam jungle was paralleled by clips of angry, sometimes bloody, clashes between war protesters and war supporters. The Tet Offensive, in which 80,000 Viet Cong troops attacked 100 towns and cities in an effort to end the war, proved that the enemy was resourceful, resilient and in no mood to surrender. It also increased public opinion against the war.

But the war wasn’t the only cause for all the social unrest and upheaval. It was more like a bright light that illuminated many other social ills that we’d all managed to ignore or, even worse, pretend didn’t exist. Black soldiers stationed in Vietnam complained of rampant racism. When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated that same year, some white soldiers flew Confederate flags outside their barracks. Some blacks tried to avoid the racism by requesting to serve in all-black units. One Air Force report confirmed what black soldiers already knew: “Unequal treatment is manifested in unequal punishment, offensive and inflammatory language, prejudice in assignments of details, lack of products for blacks at the PX, harassment by security police under orders to break up five or more blacks in a group, and double standards in enforcement of regulation.” Military discrimination didn’t just result in hurt feelings, it could result in death: by 1966 over 20 percent of U.S. combat casualties in Vietnam were black, which was a much higher percentage than the total of blacks in the military.

As the racism became more evident, some black soldiers naturally questioned their loyalty. After all, the Vietnamese were people of color, subject to the same racial discrimination that they themselves were experiencing at the hands of whites. Muhammad Ali articulated this dilemma when he said, “No Viet Cong ever called me nigger.” And for refusing to register for the draft, even though he was guaranteed he wouldn’t see combat, he was stripped of his title and sentenced to five years in prison (later the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction). On the other hand, some blacks saw the war as an opportunity. “I thought the only way I could make it out of the ghetto,” confessed one black paratrooper, “was to be the best soldier I possibly could.”

Although Vietnam veterans were often disappointed at the tepid reception they received upon their return home, black veterans were even more disillusioned because the injustices they had left to fight against were still alive and well. One black vet remembers coming home in 1968 and entering a restaurant in Virginia with some army pals that included two whites and three Hispanics. The waitress told them she would serve the whites, but not the others. “I think that going in a lot of us felt like things were going to be different,” the vet recalls. “And when we realized that things wouldn't be, a lot of us felt used.”

Violence was almost as rampant at home. First Dr. King was shot, then Robert Kennedy. The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago featured thousands of antiwar protesters that were met with police violence. In the midst of all this international and domestic turmoil, the Olympic Games represented, to some, an opportunity to bring people of all nationalities together, maybe heal some wounds. To others it represented the usual hypocrisy of ignoring the political problems in the name of entertainment and profit, because billions of dollars were at stake.

And there I was in the middle. Twenty years old. The age of many of the soldiers who were fighting and dying in Vietnam. Some of them were my childhood friends who I’d grown up with. Because of my visibility as an athlete, whatever I chose to do would have international reverberations.

At that time, sociology professor Dr. Harry Edwards, who was only 26 in 1968, urged black athletes to boycott the Olympic Games in Mexico City. “For years we have participated in the Olympic Games, carrying the United States on our backs with our victories, and race relations are now worse than ever," he told the New York Times Magazine in 1968. “We're not trying to lose the Olympics for the Americans. What happens to them is immaterial.... But it's time for the black people to stand up as men and women and refuse to be utilized as performing animals for a little extra dog food.”

Harsh words to many white sports fans and self-proclaimed patriots alike, but for African-American athletes, there was a clear ring of truth behind the rhetoric. Clearly the Olympic Games and the Vietnam War were parallel competitions. In each, blacks were supposed to go overseas to drive themselves as hard as they could in order to bring glory to their country, only to return home and still be treated as second-class citizens.

All that gave me a lot to think about. Then baseball-pro-turned-broadcaster Joe Garagiola interviewed me on the "Today" show and for the first time I spoke publicly about my concerns and frustrations regarding the direction the country was taking politically. Garagiola was clearly annoyed that I would even consider boycotting the Olympics. My response was that for black Americans life in this country was still something that included racially based discrimination in every area of life. The economic, legal and social biases against blacks were at the time a very real burden in any black person's life.

Most of white America was focused on the chaos of the war, on the rebellion of the youth against traditional values, on women insisting on more rights and on economic pressures. The problems of black Americans just seemed like a lower priority. But to us, the social upheaval was an opportunity to be heard, to be seen, to evoke change. Ending racial discrimination so that we could all enjoy the opportunities that whites had was our highest priority.

Eventually the idea of a boycott was abandoned because Dr. Edwards was unable to attract a critical number of athletes to the idea. Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali and I met to discuss the boycott and each of us had our own reasons for not becoming involved. In my case, I had a summer job with the city of New York that paid me very well and enabled me to attend school without having to worry about financial matters. We didn’t boycott, but we did not support it either.

However, that October at the Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, after winning first and third in the 200-meter dash, raised their black-gloved fists from the medal podium and bowed their heads during the playing of “The Star Spangled Banner.” This image captured the spirit of the times: whites were outraged, blacks felt some rush of pride. Ironically, their gesture was a compromise; dozens of black American athletes had debated boycotting the games but decided that this gesture would speak louder than not showing up. Dr. Edwards was credited with suggesting this compromise. Today, Dr. Edwards is a renowned sports psychologist who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, and he served as a consultant to the San Francisco 49ers football team and the Golden State Warriors basketball team, as well as an assistant to the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Although the rhetoric has softened, his commitment to the black athlete has not. He continues to fight for black inclusion, but on the management side of sports.

Here we are 40 years later and we are once again about to send our young athletes overseas to compete in games while we send our young soldiers overseas to fight in war. And, as before, there is a social agenda attached to the Olympic Games.

There is an unpopular war going on in the Middle East that has divided America into two camps. There is a genocidal war going on in Darfur, central Africa, and the government of China, the host country of the Olympics, supports the Sudanese government, which is pursuing the Darfur conflict thorough proxy insurgents. China also has been involved in what many people see as the suppression of the rights of its Tibetan subjects. China took control of Tibet in 1956 and has absorbed it into its political structure with very little concern for the reactions of Tibetan people. The Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual leader of Tibet as well as its political leader, has been exiled in India for many years and the Chinese accuse him of promoting secession and violence among those who are still loyal to him.

Many people around the world support autonomy or even independence for Tibet, which is a very irritating position for the Chinese. Violent demonstrations against anyone who supports the Tibetans' cause have flared up throughout China. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. China’s record of human rights violations is long and varied, including the persecution of political rivals, journalists, artists, students, prisoners, and many other groups. Despite China’s public relations blitz to portray a kinder, gentler panda-bear cuddliness, most people can’t erase the horrors of the 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square when peaceful protesters calling for democratic reform were gunned down by the military, killing anywhere from hundreds to thousands.

Should we boycott the Olympic Games to protest China’s arrogant human rights performance, its political imperialism, its shoddy exports that recently have left some Americans ill or dead?
The answer is no. While it may seem disingenuous to be playing games with countries that aim weapons at us, the same claim can be made about us by many other countries. I am of a mind that the actions of Tommie Smith and John Carlos made a difference in 1968. But this Olympics is an entirely different situation that requires different tactics to achieve a satisfactory resolution.

Instead of turning our backs, we need to continue a dialogue with the Chinese. When people stop communicating with each other, the situation doesn’t get better, it gets worse. The more we talk with each other, the more we understand each other and can reach compromises that will benefit the lives of those we are trying to help. Getting innocent people freed from prison or preventing others from being persecuted is much better than just wagging our fingers from across the ocean. Jackie Robinson once said that the great thing about athletics is that “you learn to act democracy, not just talk it.” That’s what our athletes will demonstrate to the 1 billion Chinese who may be watching.

A second means of influencing the Chinese is through globalization, in which we share products, entertainment, and culture with others—and they share theirs with us—in order to break down the barriers that make us fear each other’s differences. Economic interdependence, in which we share risks and profits of international sales—makes us more dependent on each other and therefore more willing to compromise in other areas.

The NBA is a good model for globalization. In China, the Chinese Basketball Association permits only two foreign-born players per team. But the NBA’s policy of choosing the best players, regardless of nationality, has not only kicked up the level of play, it’s made basketball more popular on an international level than ever. The fact that the NBA brought in China’s Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue, and Mengke Bateer has increased NBA fans in China—and when the Chinese people are exposed to America through basketball, we become more human to them, less a threat.

So let’s not just pick up our ball and stay home. We have many more options—political, commercial, and cultural—to express our displeasure with China’s policies. The more we have in common, the more impact we can make. It’s all about building trust.

(Photo credit: Associated Press / Olympics 1968)

Jazz Review: Unity returns

Thu, 01 May 2008 16:17:38 -0700

It's always a pleasure to share something that you find thrilling. The possibility that others might be the thrilled makes sharing such a pleasure. I recently got a bunch of Blue Note discs for my birthday and inside the package was a flyer that advertised T-shirts that featured retro album covers, and one of those albums featured is one of my all-time favorites, "Unity."

The "Unity" disc came out in 1966 or so and was a giant step forward for the post-bop tradition. It features organist Larry Young, who is backed by Joe Henderson tenor sax, Woody Shaw on trumpet and Elvin Jones on drums. For me, this disc distills the post-bop sound that Blue Note was known for. All of the musicians are in their own right first-rate performers. Joe Henderson and Woody Shaw had been featured with Horace Silver's band, and Elvin Jones was one of the key contributors in John Coltrane's rhythm section, while Larry Young was an emerging voice on the organ. Organ players were so confined by the blues and music of the black religious experience that it seemed to the music-loving public that the organ would never be heard in any other context. Larry Young blew down the borders that confined the sound of the organ and stretched it out to include the visions of Bud Powell, Tad Dameron and Thelonius Monk.

I have heard people who are not necessarily jazz band fans rave about this disc, and I'm sure that those of you who have not heard it will be thrilled to add it to their collection. The T-shirt is neat too! Enjoy....K

P.S. I will be moving my blog within the next two weeks to my website www.kareemabduljabbar.com. Please follow me over to my site so you can continue sharing.

Barack pulls the plug...

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:58:57 -0700

Barack Obama has made the extraordinary effort to cut all ties between himself and Rev. Wright. There really was no choice for Senator Obama because he was seeing first hand how the rants of Reverend Wright negatively affect the sensibilities of most patriotic Americans.

Mr. Obama took issue with several statements that were made by the Reverend with regard to the recent controversy caused by the Reverends sermons while he was the Pastor at Senator Obama’s church.

Reverend Wright is very critical of many aspects of American life that involve racism and discrimination. However, he tends to go way overboard when venting about real and perceived bad deeds done to people of color. Most people would concede that there are many facts supporting his position but the Reverend goes to the max in labeling America as a racist oppressive society. There seems to be no good that can happen in America according to Reverend Wright. And most Americans, including Senator Obama, believe that there is plenty of good left in America.

The most disturbing part of the Reverends campaign was watching him make use of the media attention that has focused on him. He really seemed to relish a platform that allowed him to vent his views one more time. Most people have dismissed him as a crank but he doesn’t get it. The Reverend suggests that those who criticize him don’t get it. I think the Senator has the best idea as to what to make of the Reverend. It’s time to leave him to his own devices and supporters and move on. The coming election is too important an event to ignore.

Lakers take Round One

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:26:05 -0700

The Lakers have taken a step forward in beating the Denver Nuggets in Round One of the Western Conference playoffs. The ability to eliminate the Nuggets -- 50-game winners this season -- was a major indication of their improvement this year. First-round exits in '07 and '06 were very disappointing for the Laker faithful. Expectations can only grow if the Lakers continue to win in this fashion.

The most obvious improvement for the Lakers has been their ability to share the ball. The high ratio of assists to baskets in always a sign that the team is in sync and the players are eager to help each other. Denver, for its part, has not done well in the team aspects of the game. The Nuggets didn't work the ball into positions for easy shots and they settled for the quick long-range jump shot. Those shots didn't fall, and the Lakers advanced because of it.

Denver seemed to have resorted to one-on-one play as a response to the challenges it faced, and things did not work out for the team. Carmelo Anthony was particularly unable to contribute for the Nuggets. J.R. Smith and Allen Iverson gave it the college try but the Lakers had an answer to every effort the Nuggets made. Kobe Bryant was spectacular at crunch time; he singlehandedly held off the Nuggets in the final minutes of the game. His presence alone was the decisive factor in those moments.

For the first time in my memory, I saw Kobe struggle at the free throw line. But that was no consolation for the Nuggets. They were unable to take advantage of any openings. I'm sure the next round of the playoffs will be more competitive, but I think the Lakers are on a roll.

(photo credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Celebrity READ poster series

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:20:59 -0700

The American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has joined the popular Celebrity READ poster series. The Celebrity READ poster campaign is one of the most effective ways to encourage people to get a good education, improve their reading skills, and to read for sheer enjoyment. The ALA has been fortunate to have the support of many actors, athletes, artists, and musicians who support the campaign to increase public awareness of the importance and pleasure of reading. Mr. Abdul-Jabbar joins other notable stars like Orlando Bloom, Salma Hayek, Corbin Bleu, Tony Hawk, Serena Williams, Rachael Ray, Yo-Yo Ma, and many others. Mr. Abdul-Jabbar is the 2008 Honorary Chair Library Card Sign-up Month, which takes place in September. He will also appear at the American Library’s National Convention on June 28th and 29th at the Long Beach Convention Center to sign his poster.

To purchase Mr. Abdul-Jabbar's poster and to view the entire line of Celebrity READ Posters, please click here.