"A team will always appreciate a great individual if he's willing to sacrifice for the group."
"Five guys on the court working together can achieve more than five talented individuals who come and go as individuals."
"You can't win unless you learn how to lose."
"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."
"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."
"When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden."
"Black people don't have an accurate idea of their history, which has been either suppressed or distorted."
"I didn't really seek attention. I just wanted to play the game well and go home."
"I'm not going to disappear."
"I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice."
"Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody."
"Michael Jordan and Magic and myself all learned how to play the game in college programs that emphasized the team."
"As brilliant an individual that Michael Jordan was, he was not successful until he got with a good team unit."
"The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done."
"I expect more people from China and Asia to end up in the NBA."
"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."
"When the line started to blur between the fans and the players, sometimes things can get ugly."
"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 felt that a number of people might have questioned my loyalty, but I continue to be a patriotic American."
"My choosing Islam was not a political statement; it was a spiritual statement."
"I have been coaching recently. I coached high school basketball in Arizona, and I hope that more opportunities become available."
"Fundamental preparation is always effective. Work on those parts of your game that are fundamentally weak."
"Jackie Robinson, as an athlete and as someone who was trying to make a stand for equality, he was exemplary."
"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 feel that there has been progress made since I was a boy on matters of race, but we have a long way to go."
