Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Opens Up About John Wooden

good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome I was thinking about the when I started out here was about 55 years ago scary but time you know it's time has its benefits as much as it takes away from us it gives us things I I think I should share with you some of the some of the details about how I got to know coach because it really it's something that lasted over a long period over 50 years we knew each other and the relationship just grew and took on it it's it's own life I first came out here in March of 1965 a pretty cocky kid very confident about my basketball abilities and it was a very difficult time the nation was in a lot of turmoil for a lot of bad things happening the the summer before I came out here it was a really bad race ride in in New York City where a young kid was shot under suspicious circumstances like we are seeing recurring over a period of time ever since then it doesn't stop happening but that really was it was the background for me coming out here and then you know it seemed like maybe this would be a refuge from that type of occurrence but that wasn't the case but you know I came out Saturday morning I went over to see coach wooden at his office and he kind of reminded me okay the first time I got up close to me kind of reminded me of alfalfa with the part of his head and just the way he doing he spoke but he was so proper and you know Here I am ripping and wearing you know thinking about my basketball career and the first thing coach wooden wants to talk to me about is academics and you said you know Louis you have very good grades you should do well here and you should graduate this is something I expect all my players to do and I don't think you're gonna have any problem and you know we talk about academics you know for good 20 25 minutes you know mention a basketball and I'm like excuse what's gonna happen here yeah I wasn't upset about it but it you know it it kind of took me by surprise and I think that that is one key thing about coach wooden there was a lot more there than was obvious there was a lot more there than it was obvious and you really had to get to know him to get into what he was all about Oh as time went on we traveled together and went a lot of places and he he saw different things in my life that made him have to adjust how he thought about things one thing that he didn't understand was how racism affected people affected black Americans he really had no idea about that and just observing the things that I had to deal with as we traveled together and what about the business of no language to the pack eight as we did that and he saw how people would react to me it really helped open him up to a number of things about prejudice and there was something I found out about coach toward the end of his life that I hadn't known that that really shocked me and really is an indication of what his character was about while coach was coaching at Indiana at Indiana State his team's did very well they were invited to the NAIA tournament and the NAIA tournament was held in Kansas City coach got a call and said your team did very well we want you to come to the tournament but you can't bring the black ball player that's on your team and coach wouldn't told the guy we'll look you know we've gone through the whole season together I'm not going to do that because we're going to stay together to the end of the season so thank you for the invitation and coach hung up on and didn't go to the tournament so next year Indiana State did better and had even better record and coach wouldn't got the same phone call at the same time of year with the same proposition and coach couldn't said you know I I think you should know where this phone call is going I don't think we're gonna be able to come again and before coach could turn down the offer they buckle down they buckle in rather they gave in and allowed coach wouldn't bring his black ball player now that that was that was a blow for the civil rights movement you know at the very start of it this is 1948 and I would have been very impressed when I first got here by that by that knowledge coach wouldn't never ever talk to me about that because he saw that as something that he should have done and he was only doing the right thing and he was going to try to get any additional credit for it he had that type of character no III would have been as impressed as hell with him if he had told me that but he didn't tell me that he let our relationship develop and grow in the way that it should and that's that that's the most meaningful lesson I could get from him his integrity coach wouldn't help me understand how to and how to become a better person every day that I was with him and it made it possible for me to see the right way to do things I never really did too much to get on his bad side but there were times there where I wasn't an angel and I knew that coach knew about it but he expected better for me and he made me feel like I needed to learn those lessons and take them in the heart and what I thought that I was impressing him that that made that made me feel good that it made me understand what my life is supposed to be about I don't think that coach wouldn't today would would be a very successful college coach because there's not very many kids now that want to come and get an education and learn a game of basketball the way we do it's it's not happening now it's it's quite a different scene now and I don't think that the the kids really see college as a place for learning they just see it as a place to get attention and go on to the NBA and you know that is what it is you know we can't do anything about that that is something that we look at at the modern world but I'm glad I got a chance to play for this man he was about excellence excellence of character the excellence of the team the excellence that you achieve when you get an education the excellence when you understand what a moral statement is with your life that's that's what Coach wooden was about and that's what made him so special and so different and that's what made him my friend for life I'm so proud and happy that I made the choice that I made people have often asked me geez regret going to UCLA you could have got out of there and made some money earlier no I'm glad I came here and did did it the way I did got my degree and went on and to live my life with some purpose and some knowledge that's it that that is the most important thing again a great lesson that I got from a great man John are wooden [Applause] [Music] [Laughter] [Music]

Channel: UCLAAnderson

Views: 89,701

Rating: 4.8669529 out of 5

Keywords: Kareem, Abdul-Jabbar, UCLA, Anderson, John, Wooden, Coach, Basketball, Awards, Civil Rights, Speech, Team, ucla anderson, ucla anderson school of management, los angeles, leadership, business, lew alcindor, kareem abdul-jabbar, john wooden, coach john wooden, wizard of westwood, wooden awards, John Wooden Global Leadership Award

Id: ITAa-hutcfk

Length: 9min 3sec (543 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 29 2017