Hard work was necessary to achieve your goals.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on work ethic. (The Commonplace Book Project)
“My mother always emphasized that hard work was necessary to achieve your goals, while my father proved the value of repetition in mastering a skill.”
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me
When I was a ten-years-old, in 1981, my dad did some work for Jerry Buss. I’m not 100 percent sure now what that work was, probably something to do with sports memorabilia, but it had one incredible perk. Amazing tickets to see the Lakers play at the The Forum.
I will never forget standing against a metal railing, leaning over it with my heart in my throat, watching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar play.
Abdul-Jabbar, physically at least, was born for basketball. According to his Wikipedia page: “He was unusually large and tall from a young age. At birth he weighed 12 lb 11 oz and was 22 1⁄2 inches long, and by the age of nine he was already 5 ft 8 in tall. By the eighth grade (age 13–14) he had grown to 6 ft 8 in tall and could already slam…
