Hoops Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Talks Social Justice

Hugh Delehanty,

AARP

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Published May 09, 2025

The latest book from activist and NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 78, is an up-close-and-personal look at how protests helped change America.

Dan Winters

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 78, is a legend in the NBA, where he earned six championship rings and became the all-time leading scorer (since passed by LeBron James). But he’s had a rich life in the more than 35 years since his retirement from basketball. He’s devoted himself to — among many other things — writing, including his 2015 novel Mycroft Holmes, a mystery centered around Sherlock’s older brother (Abdul-Jabbar is a huge Sherlock Holmes fan).

Abdul-Jabbar has also focused his efforts on social justice. His new book, We All Want to Change the World: My Journey Through Social Justice Movements From the 1960s to Today, is full of personal stories and lessons from the past that he believes can be applied to today’s injustices. Abdul-Jabbar recently spoke with AARP about this book, life after basketball and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

“We All Want to Change the World: My Journey Through Social Justice Movements From the 1960s to Today” by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is pictued

“We All Want to Change the World: My Journey Through Social Justice Movements From the 1960s to Today” by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar examines the activism of people of all ages, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds that helped change America.

Courtesy Penguin Random House

In your new book, you describe two events in 1964, when you were 17. One was a Martin Luther King Jr. press conference you attended for a student publication. The other was a protest rally you attended in Harlem that turned violent. What did those experiences teach you about social justice?

At the time, the lessons were more emotional than intellectual. Meeting Dr. King made me feel like I was a part of the solution. He inspired hope and made me want to join him in his righteous crusade. In contrast, the protest scared the hope out of me, at least temporarily. There were real bullets flying, stores being looted, people running for their lives. This was the real world of civil rights protests, and it wasn’t soft-spoken like Dr. King. It screamed in my head. It made me aware of the fact that lives had been lost in the fight for social justice, and more lives were going to be lost before we got to our objective.

And that quest is still part of your life.

There is a quote that I related to: “Until all of us are free, none of us are free.” As I get older, I understand more and more what that means. A lot of people think [the fight for civil rights] was something that happened back in the ’50s and ’60s, and everything is OK now, but we’re still fighting the same fight. Some of the faces of the issues have changed, but at the heart of it, we’re still trying to live up to what Mr. [Thomas] Jefferson said about all people being created equal.

You’ve talked about how basketball helped shape your personal identity and social values. How so?

It gave me the determination and patience I needed to excel. When I was in the fifth grade, an older kid in the neighborhood showed me the George Mikan drill, which involved shooting a hook shot. That’s all I had. So I worked on it and worked on it, and by the time I got to the eighth grade, I was pretty good at it.

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And that became your signature shot, the skyhook.

Yes. I was able to do it so that it couldn’t be blocked. That kept me employed for a long time.

What’s the big lesson you learned from John Wooden, your coach at UCLA?

He was determined that we become better men first and better basketball players second. He didn’t focus on winning, but he taught us in such a way that winning was a natural by-product of our striving.

The NBA game has changed dramatically since your time, especially with the number of big men who can hit three-point shots. Which young players impress you the most?

Nikola Jokić. His game is a good template for teams nowadays because he gets the ball at the top of the key and leaves the rest of the team all that room to move under the basket. Luka Dončić is awesome, too. He’s like Magic Johnson. He sees the whole court as if he’s looking at it in the palm of his hand.

You’ve always listened to jazz music. Did that teach you anything useful for basketball?

It taught me that fitting in with what other people are doing requires a certain timing and a certain understanding of what we’re trying to get done. John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins are two of my heroes. Coltrane’s music had spirit, life and a beat. I named my first memoir Giant Steps [after Coltrane’s famous album].