A Lifetime of Discipline

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, a 6-time NBA champion and that’s just the short list of statistics he can claim.

Off the court, his accomplishments are perhaps even more meaningful. Abdul-Jabbar received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, has received widespread acclaim for his writing about everything from race and religion to pop culture, and is the author of nearly a dozen books including his autobiography, historical non-fiction, several novels and a memoir about his relationship with legendary basketball coach John Wooden (Coach Wooden and Me).

Kareem says Wooden meant everything to him. And the lessons he learned about life began on the very first day when Coach scolded him for something seemingly as trivial as putting on his socks wrong. “The message was if you don’t do the right things to prepare you won’t be ready for opportunity,” Abdul-Jabbar remembers. “Something as simple as a blister can keep you from practice and if you don’t practice for Coach Wooden you don’t play and life is all about getting in the game.”

Abdul-Jabbar says the difference between a great coach and a legend, which is what Wooden has become, is that Wooden taught his young athletes about much more than simply how to play the game. “Coach wanted us to go from having success on the basketball court to having significant change in our lives,” he says. That enabled us to be good dads, good husbands, and good citizens.”

Abdul-Jabbar also learned how to deal with adversity, something he faced when diagnosed with a chronic form of leukemia and also undergoing quadruple coronary bypass surgery performed on his 68th birthday. “Coach Wooden taught me that life is about learning to accept the bad with the good,” he explains. “If you have the right attitude you can negotiate the ups and downs into the best outcomes possible.”

“Now in my 70s, I see very clearly that the road to a life well lived is paved with small details, the little stuff, the daily grind and doing that to the best of your ability.”

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is living large in his 70s.

To hear from Abdul-Jabbar in his own words, head to https://bit.ly/2OGs61M