Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

Learning from Kareem

We learn from one another. When Lewis Alcindor came to UCLA (before he took the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), I had never dealt with anyone like him before in terms of size, his background, and other things.

I had no understanding of how tough it was for him at times. I learned more from Kareem about man’s inhumanity to man than I ever learned anywhere else.

The insensitive remarks he endured that I would occasionally hear were terrible. I had never imagined that people could feel or talk like that.

He would sign autographs and more autographs and more autographs for kids outside our bus until I told him it was time to leave. Then right in front of him an adult would say, “Hey, look at that so-and-so, too much of a big shot ...