As promised, here's the second part of my interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Like I said in Part I, so much to talk about, so little time. A staggering array of athletic, intellectual, and cultural significance, to say the least. Ridiculous understatement of 2006: "The Captain" has done a little living. But it's better hearing him describe it than me, so let's get right to it.
Andrew Kamenetzky: In terms of your coaching career, it's been a pretty tough road for you to get where you're at, especially for a guy with your credentials. How hard was it to persevere and believe you'd eventually get where you wanted to be?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: For a long time, I thought it wasn't going to happen. And then I had the opportunity in 2002 to coach in the the USBL (the Oklahoma Storm). And everything went the way it was supposed to be. You win a championship (in the first season). I had never been an X and O guy, but I did know how to keep the team together, keep them focused and do the things that they needed to do to win... That really gave me some confidence that I could handle an assignment if I got the opportunity.
AK: You're known for taking a very intellectual approach to life in a way that's different from a lot of sports figures. Did it bother you to see your communication skills questioned on such a level?
KAJ: It bothered me, but a lot of it was my fault. Just because of my whole history. I was just naturally suspicious. That's just something that I had to overcome. I was always felt that the less said, the better. You can't do that. And getting a head coaching job in Oklahoma really helped me see that... You really see how the coach is the interface for so many things. The team with the press. The team with the public. The team against other teams. You're right there in the middle of it and you have to be able to communicate and lead and make sure that certain things happen. That really made me understand what I hadn't been doing.