Denzel is so full of himself, his life's mission is to promote himself. He takes himself waaay too seriously.
Beyond being an NBA Hall-of-Famer, Abdul-Jabbar, 69, is also a New York Times-bestselling author, a prominent Twitter presence (@kaj33), historian, Washington Post and Time magazine columnist, and advocate for equality and justice. And the numbers are even more impressive. As the writer of dozens of newspaper and magazine columns as well as author of nine books, millions of people have read his words and ideas. And millions more watched on the final night of the Democratic National Convention on July 28 when he spoke about Muslim U.S. soldier Humayan Khan, who died in combat.
Abdul-Jabbar’s remarks at the DNC were in line with his post-basketball career of advocating for education and equality (in 2012, he was selected by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be a U.S. global cultural ambassador). Abdul-Jabbar currently serves as chairman of the Skyhook Foundation, which takes 85 inner-city kids each week outdoors for environmental and STEM education.
Since hanging up his Lakers uniform, Abdul-Jabbar, who got his degree from UCLA in history and is also an Optimist, has been a prolific author regularly highlighting the achievements of people of color, especially those of African Americans in U.S. history, some of whom were highlighted in his book “Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy of African-American Achievement.”
His books have covered the Harlem Renaissance (“On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance”), one season coaching a high school basketball team on the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation (“A Season on the Reservation: My Sojourn With the White Mountain Apaches”), the first all-black armored unit to see combat in WWII (“Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII’s Forgotten Heroes”) and the history of African-American inventors (“What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors”). He received the NAACP Image Award for both “On the Shoulders of Giants” and “What Color is My World?”
As you can see, Kareem's intellectual accomplishments not only are prolific, his life's mission has been to promote and memorialize the talents and accomplishments of all blacks, not just actors.
He is probably the most intelligent, cerebral and insightful ex-athlete EVER. (Maybe I'm forgetting someone.)
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