You can't win unless you learn how to lose.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Islam is about finding your own space.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

If not for the success that medicine has made, I might be part of a much different story right now.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

What I have is P.H. positive chronic myeloid leukemia, which is an aberration in your white blood cells.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

I saw Islam as the correct way to live, and I chose to try to live that way.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Michael Jordan and Magic and myself all learned how to play the game in college programs that emphasized the team.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.
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

My choosing Islam was not a political statement; it was a spiritual statement.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Yoga is just good for you.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

You can't win if you don't play as a unit.
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 the basketball court.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Fundamental preparation is always effective. Work on those parts of your game that are fundamentally weak.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Music rhythms are mathematical patterns. When you hear a song and your body starts moving with it, your body is doing math. The kids in their parents' garage practicing to be a band may not realize it, but they're also practicing math.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

I think the NBA will certainly survive without Michael Jordan.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar