When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden.

I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.

I think I did very well against everyone who tried to defend me.

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

Your mind is what makes everything else work.

You can't win unless you learn how to lose.

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

My mother had to send me to the movies with my birth certificate, so that I wouldn't have to pay the extra fifty cents that the adults had to pay.

I listen to jazz mainly. Mainstream jazz.

I expect more people from China and Asia to end up in the NBA.

I hope to be involved in a successful movie script.

You can't win if you don't play as a unit.

I think black Americans expect too much from individual black Americans in terms of changing the status quo.

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

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

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

The game has basically not changed since I ended my career.

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

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.

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.

I saw Islam as the correct way to live, and I chose to try to live that way.

It's hard for young players to see the big picture. They just see three or four years down the road.

I'm still my parent's child, I'm still me, but I made a choice. I evolved into Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I think it has to do with evolution.

I have been coaching recently. I coached high school basketball in Arizona, and I hope that more opportunities become available.

I wanted to play baseball!

I think the NBA will certainly survive without Michael Jordan.

When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden.

I think someone should explain to the child that it's OK to make mistakes. That's how we learn. When we compete, we make mistakes.

A team will always appreciate a great individual if he's willing to sacrifice for the group.

The transition was difficult. It's hard to stop something that you've enjoyed and that has been very rewarding.

When the line started to blur between the fans and the players, sometimes things can get ugly.

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

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.

The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done.

Jackie Robinson, as an athlete and as someone who was trying to make a stand for equality, he was exemplary.

My most memorable moment came in 1985 as we beat the Boston Celtics.

I think race has been a burden for black Americans. Being Muslim has also been a challenge because so many people do not understand Islam.

I'm not going to disappear.

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.

Black people don't have an accurate idea of their history, which has been either suppressed or distorted.

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.

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

My choosing Islam was not a political statement; it was a spiritual statement.

As a parent, I have a job as a role model to my children, and by extension, to other young people.

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

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

Center is a very tough position to play.

I didn't really seek attention. I just wanted to play the game well and go home.

I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream.