Hey, this is the moment of Ryan Coppelman, thanks for listening.

My guest today is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who I was thinking about this Kareem and I know

this word.

You have a lot of feelings about it, but if I had to list the 10 heroes I've had of my

lifetime, you're one of them.

And that's the truth.

The word surreal is overused, but it's really meaningful and momentous to me to be able

to talk to you.

I shook your hand when I was like, maybe I was 12 years old when you wrote your first

memoir or something like that and I shook your hands on an airplane once and it was,

you were nice to me, despite your reputation for not being nice back then.

You were completely nice to me and deserved, really.

I can tell because I had the personal other experience of you being very nice, so I saw

it firsthand, you shook my head and you were nice to me, but I have to say, look, people

listening know I'm sure that you were unquestionably one of the three greatest basketball players

who ever lived.

But the life you lived while you were doing that and since is equally important, as important

if not more important.

And I'm just thrilled that you're taking the time to talk to me.

So thanks, dude.

Oh, no problem, not at all.

So let's start, you know, you're such a good writer and I've read many of your books

...