Coach Wooden and Me Quotes

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“I like to think about that story sometimes because it reminds me that, although we like to think of our heroes as perfect, the harsh truth is that they became heroes by making mistakes and learning from them. To me, that makes them even more heroic.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“I looked down the line of the wonderfully successful people on either side of me and wondered if each of them had a Coach Wooden who, to quote President Obama, “helped make me who I am.” I hoped so, because without Coach, my life would have been so much less. Less joyous. Less meaningful. Less filled with love. Later,”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“My opponent now is myself, my inclination toward laziness.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“At times when I am feeling low, I hear from a friend and then, My worries start to go away, and I am on the mend. No matter what the doctors say, and their studies never end, The best cure of all, when spirits fall, is a kind word from a friend.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“Don’t hope. Hope is for people who aren’t prepared.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“Coach John Wooden [UCLA] taught me that sports wasn’t just about making us better athletes, but about making us better people. Compassion, kindness, and morality were more important than a championship season. Fame wasn’t an accomplishment, it was an opportunity to show our gratitude to the community that we are a part of by changing it for the better.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“Learn from others and never cease trying to be the best you can possibly be...If you get yourself too engrossed in things over which you have no control, it's going to adversely affect the things over which you have control.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“If you get yourself too engrossed in things over which you have no control, it’s going to adversely affect the things over which you have control.” His”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“A Little Fellow Follows Me A careful man I must be; A little fellow follows me. I know I dare not go astray; For fear he’ll go the self-same way. He thinks that I am good and fine; Believes in every word of mine. The base in me he must not see; This little chap who follows me. I must be careful as I go; Through summer sun and winter snow. Because I am building, for the years to be; This little chap who follows me.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“The lines I’m referring to, Lewis, are that Triumph and Disaster are the same. They’re both impostors because they are momentary. More important is becoming a man of convictions. Lasting joy comes from that.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“I wanted young men who wanted to play for UCLA, and not one that I had to talk into playing for UCLA. I always believed that the way to build a great team is to find the kind of people you want to work with and tell them the truth.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“A Little Fellow Follows Me

A careful man I want to be;
a little fellow follows me.
I do not dare to go astray,
for fear he’ll go the self-same way.
He thinks that I am big and fine ;
Believes in every word of mine.
The base in me he must not see;
This little chap who follows me.
I must be careful as I go;
Through summer sun and winter snow.
Because I am building, for the years to be;
This little chap who follows me.

I will always be proud to say that I was one of those little fellows. All seven feet two inches of me.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“Don't hope. Hope is for people who aren't prepared.”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court

“Regarding faith, my adherence to Islam had not diminished over the years since my conversion, but I had modified it from the intense orthodoxy I had followed at first to a more streamlined version that I felt was more progressive and inclusive. I practiced quietly on my own without the need to proselytize. I had been able to separate my faith in the theology from using it to make a cultural statement about black Americans. My only interest in Islam was spiritual and ethical guidance, not politics. In”
― Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court