Kareem Abdul-Jabbar isn’t known for being an outwardly expressive person in public. While he’s certainly thoughtful and caring about more important topics like social justice, the NBA legend usually prefers not to wear his heart on his sleeve. That doesn’t mean those feelings aren’t lying underneath.
This is best exemplified by Abdul-Jabbar’s eloquent thoughts on LeBron James surpassing him to become the NBA’s all-time scoring champion. Abdul-Jabbar diligently maintains a Substack where he writes about the latest in sports, political issues, and sometimes even his opinions on popular culture.
The Hall and Famer’s latest essay, published the morning after he fell to second place on the all-time scoring list, encapsulates precisely how he feels about James’ mark and what he’s done for the game.
In a few words: he seems very proud of James.
One of the main notes from Abdul-Jabbar’s latest writing is his awareness of how people considered his feelings as James neared the scoring crown. Before maintaining he’d already made his thoughts clear, the icon had a perfect “lottery” metaphor to describe how he viewed James eclipsing him in the record books.
“In the months leading up to LeBron breaking my record, so much was written about how I would feel on the day he sank that record-breaking shot that I had to laugh. I’d already written several times stating exactly how I felt, so there really wasn’t much to speculate about. It’s as if I won a billion dollars in a lottery, and 39 years later, someone won two billion dollars. How would I feel? Grateful that I won and happy that the next person also won. His winning in no way affects my winning.”
What a gracious and entirely expected response from Abdul-Jabbar, who has seldom been shy about leaving the ladder behind for others as a great NBA ambassador. He got his, and so has James, and they’re both happy.
As for how Abdul-Jabbar feels about being supplanted from the scoring title in general, he doesn’t appear broken up about it at all. Some things are just so much bigger than basketball.
“If I had a choice of having my scoring record remain intact for another hundred years or spend one afternoon with my grandchildren, I’d be on the floor in seconds stacking Legos and eating Uncrustables.”
Read more on Abdul-Jabbar’s thoughts on James, their relationship, and a historic night for the NBA on his Substack.