EPICENTER, ABOUT THE COST OF STANDING UP FOR HIS BELIEFS. 22 YEARS AFTER LEAVING THE GAME HE LOVES, 53-YEAR-OLD MAHMOUD ABDUL-RAUF IS STILL KNOCKING DOWN THREE-POINT SHOTS THAT MADE HIM ONE OF THE MOST FEARED SHOOTERS IN NBA HISTORY. >> I WANTED TO DOMINATE. THAT WAS MY MISSION FROM THE MOMENT I STARTED PLAYING BASKETBALL. >> AND FROM AN EARLY AGE, ABDUL-RAUF WHO WAS BORN CHRIS JACKSON DID JUST THAT, DOMINATE. FIRST, AS THE COUNTRY'S TOP RANKED HIGH SCHOOL POINT GUARD AND LATER AT LSU WHERE HE PLAYED ALONGSIDE SHAQUILLE O'NEAL. >> JUMPER WAS SMOOTH, HAD THE PRETTY GAME. LOOKED LIKE I WAS WATCHING A GOD PLAY BASKETBALL. >> RAISED BY A SINGLE MOTHER IN GULF PORT, MISSISSIPPI, ABDUL-RAUF LIVED IN POVERTY AND SUFFERED FROM TORETTES SYNDROME, BUT HE OVERCAME THOSE OBSTACLES AND WAS DRAFTED BY THE DENVER NUGGETS IN 1990, CREDITED IT WITH MAKING HIM A BETTER PLAYER. >> IT'S THE REPETITION THAT MAKES YOU ONE OF THE GREATER SHOTS IN THE '80s AND '90s IN THE NBA. IT WAS A BLESSING. >> MAJOR BLESSING. I WOULD HAVE STOPPED PRACTICING AN HOUR AND A HALF, TWO HOURS, BUT TOURETTE'S SYNDROME SAID I HAVE SOMETHING ELSE FOR YOU. >> THE DOCUMENTARY, STAND, TELLS THE STORY ABOUT HOW ABDUL-RAUF AGAINST ALL ODDS MADE IT TO HAVE NBA TO HAVE HIS CAREER COME CRASHING DOWN AFTER CONVERTING SO ISLAM AND TAKING A STAND AGAINST RACISM. >> ONE OF THE GREATEST PLAYERS IN THE HISTORY OF THE NBA WAS CHEATED OUT OF HIS CAREER. >> WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO STOP STANDING FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM? >> I BEGAN TO READ MORE THAN I'VE EVER READ BEFORE, BUT AS I'M READING, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S FOREIGN POLICY, DOMESTIC POLICY, I'M SEEING AMERICA'S HAND IN SO MUCH CORRUPTION, AND THEN I'M LOOKING ALSO AT THE HISTORY OF THIS NATION, SLAVERY, JIM CROW AND SEGREGATION, RIGHT. I CAN'T RECONCILE STANDING UP FOR THIS SYMBOL, RIGHT? I JUST CAN'T. >> THE REACTION IN 1996 WAS SWIFT AND VIOLENT. ABDUL-RAUF WAS SUSPENDED BY THEN NBA COMMISSIONER DAVID STERN. HE ALSO RECEIVED DEATH THREATS AND THE DREAM HOME HE WAS BUILDING FOR HIS FAMILY IN MISSISSIPPI BURNED TO THE GROUND BY THE KU KLUX KLAN. >> WHAT DID YOU THINK THAT THE REACTION WOULD BE? >> I WASN'T SURPRISED THAT THAT WAS THE REACTION BECAUSE HISTORY HAD SHOWN, IN PARTICULAR WHEN YOUNG OR AFRICAN-AMERICAN ATHLETES, ENTERTAINERS, WHOEVER, STEP OUTSIDE OF THE ATHLETIC BOX AND SPEAK ON SOMETHING ELSE, YOU'RE CONDEMNED. >> ABDUL-RAUF WAS TRADED THE NEXT SEASON. HIS PLAYING TIME DIMINISHED. AND WITH TEAMS UNWILLING TO SIGN HIM, THE ONCE PROMISING SUPERSTAR WAS OUT OF THE NBA AT THE PEAK OF HIS CAREER. >> DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR STANCE ENDED UP COSTING YOU YOUR CAREER? >> OF COURSE I DO. HISTORY, YOU KNOW, NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED. >> FAST FORWARD, THERE'S A FOOTBALL QUARTERBACK WHO DECIDES HE'S GOING TO KNEEL IN PROTEST AND EQUALITY, POLICE BRUTALITY, DID YOU KNOW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO COLIN KAEPERNICK WHEN HE STARTED THAT? >> I HAD A STRONG IDEA OF WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN BECAUSE I'VE READ THE PLAYBOOK. >> HAS THE NBA REACHED OUT AND SAID YOU KNOW WHAT, WE WERE WRONG OR WE COULD HAVE HANDLED IT DIFFERENTLY? >> THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE NBA WHO PRIVATELY, YOU KNOW, SAY THINGS, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF THE NBA GAVE YOU AN APOLOGY. FAMILIES WERE HURT. PEOPLE LOST INCOME. REPUTATIONS WERE DESTROYED. AND SO YOU JUST CAN'T APOLOGIZE AND MAKE IT ALL RIGHT. NO, I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THEIR APOLOGY. >> AS WE SIT HERE, IT CERTAINLY SEEMS LIKE YOU HAVE NO REGRETS. >> NO, NONE WHATSOEVER. >> I DIDN'T KNOW THAT STORY. >> ME EITHER. FASCINATING. >> YOU KNOW, A LOT OF FOLKS IN THE DOCUMENTARY, BY THE WAY, TALK ABOUT BEFORE STEPH CURRY, ABDUL-RAUF, A PURE SHOOTER, PURE SHOOTER, JUST AN AMAZING BASKETBALL PLAYER, AND HE WAS AT THE PEAK OF HIS CAREER. >> DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HIS BACK STORY. >> I DIDN'T KNOW ANY OF IT. >> HE'S A FASCINATING GUY. BY THE WAY, THESE GUYS ABDUL RECALL WHO LOST MILLIONS, CONTINUES TO SPEAK OUT, LECTURES AROUND THE COUNTRY AND TRAINS A FEW OF THE LEAGUE'S CURRENT PLAYER
