It is quite lovely talking to you.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Historically, your reputation with media is very difficult.

Why was it like that when you were a player?

Because it's not like that now, not for me.

You're prepared so we can talk if you're prepared.

You have no idea the sports writing guys that I had to deal with in the early 70s.

They were like, you know, from the 1930s.

They were unprepared.

And any black athlete who is probably stupid and semi-literate should not be

have the temerity to speak to them about things that black people aren't supposed to be talking about

that that didn't work too good with me.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of the greatest athletes of his generation.

Google his fights with Bruce Lee.

And he's one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

But he calls himself a writer who played basketball.

Basketball isn't who he was.

It's what he did. Writing is at the core of who he is. For example, I asked him if he was playing for the Lakers now, would he kneel for the

anthem or something? And he said, I would get my pen in my pad, and I'd write about it, try to get it

published. That has always been my answer

to how I want to express myself, especially when, you know, I was at odds with a number of the

sports reporters because, you know, I was thinking of stuff beyond sports and the issues that

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