https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-07-07/kareem-abdul-jabbar-anti-racism-movement
I respect him so much.
I remember when he was hated like Ali.
Yup. But I loved his game from UCLA on. And I've loved his mind through his political speech and through his Holmesian fiction. The man can write and think.
He’s literally a one in how many million type of man. Brilliant.
I was in awe of him off the court but hated him on the court. Knicks fan and all that.
I was a Celtic fan, but I could never bring myself to hate him. I'll confess I was happier for him when the Bucks won than when the Lakers won, but such an amazing player.
Why would you hate any player? You were a Celtics fan! LOL!
You guys had John “Fucking” Havlicek!
As a kid my level of esteem for a rival player was measured by my hatred. By the time I was in college I had his poster with Nate Thurmond in my dorm.
I rooted against Alcindor and his UCLA teams as he and they were so much better than anyone else. But I never hated him, as a college player he was too good to hate. As Jabbar as a pro, he was the enemy early on, first with Milwaukee and then with the Lakers. Still didn't hate him.
And his cameo in Airplane as Roger Murdock, was maybe the funniest cameo by a sports star. I still laugh at that scene.
The closest I came to hating a NBA player was Wilt. He was Goliath, larger than life and easy to demonize.
I might have hated Laimbeer-he was a hateable.
Mostly I had a grudging respect
I saved my NBA hate for teams
Lakers-Philly-Knicks-the Celts rivals.
Havilcek was great but he wasn't Russell.