Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Rumors
StatMuse: Nikola Jokic recorded his 52nd triple-double tonight, 2nd all-time for a center behind Wilt Chamberlain. That’s as many triple-doubles as the the next 3 centers combined (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, David Robinson). pic.twitter.com/CoWnowqw6Q
Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has a lot more on his mind these days than the sport. For more than a decade, he’s been focused on introducing underserved students to a STEM education, which is science, technology, engineering and math. Blacks and Latinos are underrepresented in the field, in which workers tend to earn more than non-STEM workers with similar education levels.
Students of color are seeing the biggest learning loss amid school closures, a McKinsey & Company report found in December. That translates into a hit on future earning power. “It’s a social justice issue; giving kids a better idea of where they can go with their education,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
Abdul-Jabbar hopes to look back on what he’s done with his life and remember the children he’s helping instead of “gazing at the sparkle of jewels or gold plating celebrating something I did a long time ago,” he once said after auctioning off his basketball memorabilia to help fund the foundation. “I would see my legacy as being a success when the kids that we’re trying to reach end up with jobs as engineers, and scientists, and inventors,” he said. “That’s going to make me feel good.”
Shaquille O’Neal on modern NBA players: “These guys now they’re pudding pops”
“A lot of people right now are ‘Oh you’re too hard on the youngsters.’ I’m just doing what was done to me,” O’Neal said. “I remember when I was averaging 30-35 in that way but we always get swept. The great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said ‘Hey, he hasn’t won a championship yet.’ Did I whine? Did I cry? Did I complain on social media? No, I didn’t say anything because Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had G-14 classification to say that. Am I going to have a dispute with the greatest NBA player ever? “So when he said that when he gave me constructive criticism, I took it and I listened and I brought my game to another level. So these guys now they’re pudding pops. You say something about them… that’s what they are.”
“The Knicks and Lakers were there but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dr. J [Julius Erving] came in and then [Michael] Jordan. So those are the players that made this game. Made it possible for Kobe and these guys. It should incorporate a way to use all these guys at one time to be the logo.”
