Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Monday, former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar voiced support for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest while offering harsh words for Donald Trump, calling the Republican presidential nominee’s comments about women and minorities “reprehensible.”
Abdul-Jabbar, who has become an author, historian, and social commentator in his post-basketball life, also discussed the role of athletes in social justice movements and racial tension in American policing.
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Abdul-Jabbar, 69, said that he had the opportunity to speak with Kaepernick early in his protest “before he did something really crazy.” Abdul-Jabbar also said that he respects Kaepernick’s motivation to bring change and “make the country a better place.”
“(Kaepernick is) going to get there,” he said. “He’s going to do what he feels is necessary to get people to start thinking.”
Kaepernick has said that his protest, which began during the NFL preseason, is intended to give a voice to those who are oppressed and are not properly represented in the country. His message quickly permeated the NFL, and similar protests have since been staged in the NBA, women’s soccer, and high school sports.
Abdul-Jabbar said he is pleased with how Kaepernick’s message has spread, and that he expects NBA players to carry on the protest as the league begins regular season play later this month. “At the ESPY awards, LeBron [James], Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul all had something to say about the same issues that Colin Kaepernick is talking about, and doing it in a way that invites discussion or reasonable conversation as opposed to making people angry,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “That’s what I want, and I’m very happy to see that’s how it’s worked out.”
Protesting on the national stage poses a risk for athletes and their brands, according to Abdul-Jabbar. Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall lost two endorsements following his season-opening protest during the national anthem. Both CenturyLink and Air Academy Credit Union said they could no longer maintain their partnerships with Marshall.
Abdul-Jabbar said athletes should use Muhammed Ali as an example for their role in social justice movements.
“He was willing to sacrifice three of his primary years as the world heavyweight champion because of the fact that we were fighting an unjust and illegal war in Vietnam,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “He had to make a choice and he made the right choice. People didn’t agree with him at first but within a couple years both the American public and the Supreme Court agreed with him.”
Abdul-Jabbar believes Kaepernick’s protest has made professional athletes realize their significance as public figures. “Athletes are starting to realize that their value and what they can achieve on the positive side is worth the risk,” he said. “My good friend Michael Jordan has decided to commit, and he’s given some money to the NAACP legal defense fund and to some of the police organizations in North Carolina.”
Abdul-Jabbar added that he can’t speak for every athlete about the right way to protest. “There’s no template that fits everyone,” he said.
During his talk, Abdul-Jabbar also expressed his views on several other contentious issues facing the nation, including:
The Presidential Election
Abdul-Jabbar refused to tell people for whom to vote on Nov. 8, but he did encourage them to vote their conscience. He also condemned Trump’s rhetoric.
“What he has to say about Muslims and people coming into the country as immigrants—he mentions Mexicans—but some of the things he has to say are just reprehensible and have really coarsened the dialogue here in our country,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
Abdul-Jabbar called out Trump for the recent sexual assault allegations made against the GOP nominee, saying he finds it odd that Trump for years bragged about his exploits with women “but now when these women materialize … he’s calling them liars.”
Stop-and-Frisk
During the first presidential debate, Trump said local police need to institute controversial “stop-and-frisk” search polices to reduce violence in the country.
Abdul-Jabbar said stop-and-frisk is wrong and is a “nuisance” for minorities.
“Those really have only served the purpose of making the lives of people of minority communities miserable because these people are stopped dozen of times for no other reason than they live in a high-crime community,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “Police have made it easier on themselves just to stop anybody for no good reason.”
Racial Tensions
Racial tensions have spiked because of the increase of police brutality, Abdul-Jabbar said. The deaths of Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Eric Garner in New York City and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, among others, have sparked a conversation about how to bridge racial divides and reform American policing.
Abdul-Jabbar said “police officials need to think about a different way to train their officers so they don’t overreact to such innocent circumstances.”
“We want to eventually get to the police officers knowing the people of the communities they police and understand that they’re people—they’re not statistics … that have problems just like any other group of people.”
