Training Andrew Bynum
June 11th, 2010Coach John Wooden- You Will Be Missed
June 5th, 2010
“It’s very difficult for me to put in perspective what it means for me to lose Coach Wooden. He has been such a constant in my life. Just thinking of him enables me to draw upon the many life lessons that he taught me when I was a student at UCLA. Even though I was not initially aware that I was being taught certain things, they became obvious as the events of my life unfolded. It is hard to describe greatness in words but the accomplishments and lasting legacy of Coach Wooden’s life are a formidable reminder of a life well lived.
Coach Wooden never acted any different whether we were at practice or winning championships. My first championship with Coach was his third and I don’t think the tremendous success he was achieving mattered to him as much as what he was sharing with his players about hard work and consistency.
Our objective was always to be at our best and we would see how far that would take us. Coach Wooden was the best mentor I have ever had and I will miss him dearly!”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem & Friends Live – KAJ33.TV
May 22nd, 2010
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Seeks to Deliver Message on Cancer
May 11th, 2010St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Kathleen Nelson
That statement would have been a shocker during his NBA career, when he built a reputation as a shy, reluctant interview. Since then, though, he has become a great communicator on multiple platforms.
First, he works closely with the Los Angeles Lakers as a special assistant, imparting to their big men the wisdom that comes with being a six-time MVP and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. But he has an even more important message to share here Saturday. Abdul-Jabbar is a cancer survivor, and he’ll preach early detection and treatment at Illuminations 10, the annual fund-raiser for the Siteman Cancer Center at the Chase Park Plaza.
All the scoring slumps, losses, bad calls, injuries, upsets and disappointments of his 20-year NBA career pale in comparison to the shock Abdul-Jabbar received in December 2008, when he was initially diagnosed.
“When you hear the word ‘leukemia,’ you think of people dying,” Abdul-Jabbar said by phone last week. He immediately called his son, Amir, studying to be a doctor. “He said, ‘Look, you don’t know what kind you have. You have to find out what you’re dealing with and go from there.’”
