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Kareem Discusses His FilmThe Hall of Famer on his film, Carmelo and his role in NBA history.

by Kyle Stack / @KyleStack

One would think Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would forever be most closely associated with the NBA’s all-timescoring list, given that he’s atop it. Yet for his 38,000-plus points, six NBA titles, six NBA MVPs and threenational titles at UCLA, his identity has grown beyond being just a basketball player. He’s become an historianof basketball, and of black history, for that matter.

Abdul-Jabbar has written a series of books on black history through the years, with his latest coming in 2007,when he wrote On The Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance. The book detailedblack culture in New York City in the first half of the 20th century, including an exploration of the Harlem Rensbasketball team. Abdul-Jabbar’s interest in the squad, which compiled a 2,588-529 record from 1922-49 asthe first all-black professional basketball team, is captured in the documentary version of On The Shoulders ofGiants.

The feature-length documentary, co-written and co-narrated byAbdul-Jabbar, delves into the history of the Rens, the team’simpact as pioneers for blacks in basketball and the team’s rolein early 20th century Harlem. It’s available on Video OnDemand on Time Warner, Cox and Comcast cable networksnationwide through March 31. Abdul-Jabbar spoke with SLAMabout the documentary and an assortment of NBA-relatedtopics.

SLAM: What motivated you to document this subject?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Well, I really wanted to do the film allalong. But because the subject is so unknown andunacknowledged, I had to do the book first, just so that I couldhave a document up there that depicted the story and what itwas about. If you don’t have something like that, then peopledon’t really know what you’re talking about when you’re talkingabout a very overlooked subject.

SLAM: I spoke with Charles Barkley about this film —obviously, he makes an appearance it — and he admittedhe hadn’t heard of the Rens before he was invited to be inthis project. How many NBA players have you come incontact with who didn’t know of the Rens?

KAJ: You know, we’re talking about almost 100 percent. The Rens played at a time before the NBA started,and at a time when black Americans weren’t recognized for anything. The combination of those twocircumstances — and the fact the NBA seems to everyone to be what basketball was all about starting in1947…most people don’t even believe or have any idea that professional basketball was played before 1947,and who the greater teams were. So, I think the whole ignorance about anything prior to the advent of the NBAreally has caused what you’re referring to.

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SLAM: Parts of this film document the treatment endured by blacks in this country during the 1920s,’30s and earlier, including lynching in different parts of the country. Did you become overwhelmedwith emotion at any point during research for this? Did anything anger you?

KAJ: Well, you know, I was raised during the 1950s and 1960s, and what I saw during the Civil RightsMovement was enough, in too much detail, what that was all about. That is a very sad and unfortunate aspectof American history — how black Americans were treated for so long. I was aware of that, that no oneescaped that type of treatment. I’ve been aware of that my whole life.

SLAM: Was there anything you learned through research in this project that you weren’t previouslyaware of?

KAJ: I guess, I didn’t realize how long the Rens had played before they got their shot. You know, likeeveryone else, not having any first-hand information about the Rens, I was in the dark. When I was in highschool, I learned a little bit about them and that they were a very good team. And that was about it. I didn’t findout what they were all about in-depth until after I had played professional basketball.

SLAM: Since the Rens were extolled in the film as being one of the all-time great basketball teams,what do you think defines a team?KAJ: I think a team is defined by their record. That is usually what defines any team, no matter what sport it is.The record is a lasting legacy of what they were all about.

SLAM: But with all your success at UCLA, with the Bucks and then the Lakers, did your idea of what ittakes for a team to succeed change once you learned more about the Rens?

KAJ: Not really, because the Rens, like all the great teams, were winners. They had to overcome moreobstacles than the average professional teams. The fact that blacks were excluded was a huge hurdle forthem to overcome. But they loved the game, and they played a superb game against the best teams in thecountry, even though they were not given credit for being as excellent as they were. That was okay for them. Itwas obvious somebody was listing something because their outstanding record was there — they won over2,000 games over a period starting in 1922 through 1948. An incredible record.

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Tags: Features, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers, Q + A

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8 Responses to “Kareem Discusses His Film”Double J Posted: Mar.10 at 12:21 pm

Why do we keep saying that Magic Johnson was the best Laker when wehave this guy wandering around?

Jukai Posted: Mar.10 at 3:43 pm

Was this guy any good?

davidR Posted: Mar.10 at 4:05 pm

jukai, he must not be. bynum didn’t think so

davidR Posted: Mar.10 at 4:09 pm

kyle, this was a great read. good job on the interview

M Cho Posted: Mar.10 at 4:20 pm

Kareem will forever be cool. He’s a cerebral, thoughtful dude apart from beingone the greatest ballers ever. And lets not forget: he trained with Bruce Lee.

Felix Posted: Mar.10 at 4:43 pm

co sign davidR

Quinned Posted: Mar.10 at 5:48 pm

one of the most innovative and under appreciated ballers to play the game

IAMORANGE4EVER Posted: Mar.10 at 6:06 pm

I loved Kareem in the movie Airplane.

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