Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“The word 'leukemia' is a very frightening word. In many instances, it's a killer and it's something that you have to deal with in a very serious and determined way if you're going to beat it...”

“I feel like I've always been a full-time historian, but nobody knows it.”

“Fundamental preparation is always effective. Work on those parts of your game that are fundamentally weak.”

“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...”

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

“I can do something else besides stuff a ball through a hoop. My biggest resource is my mind.”

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

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

“Sports and entertainment are the only places where inner-city kids see themselves being able to succeed. Their intellectual development is something they don't relate to.”

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

“I think the NBA will certainly survive without Michael Jordan.”

“LeBron James can get a shot off under any and all circumstances and he makes them.”

“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.”

“I listen to jazz mainly. Mainstream jazz.”

“I enjoy seeing new places.”

“I pitched and I played the outfield.”

“The '80s made up for all the abuse I took during the '70s. I outlived all my critics. By the time I retired, everybody saw me as a venerable institution. Things do change.”

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

“I wanted to play baseball!”

“I was a baseball fan myself, I wanted to play baseball.”