HOT SPRINGS — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an impressive speaker. Sure, he is 7-feet, 2-inches tall and the National Basketball Association’s all-time leading scorer, but it is his words that may have the biggest impact.
“I can speak to you today because I took advantage of the educational opportunities I had given to me,” Abdul-Jabbar told about 1,200 students gathered in the stands of the Hot Springs High School gymnasium on April 25.
The Basketball Hall of Famer was invited to Arkansas to be the keynote speaker for the Open Book Celebration, a fundraising event held to benefit the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts. The event was held the evening of the 25th at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock.
Earlier that morning, Abdul-Jabbar was speaking in Hot Springs to ninth-graders from every public school system in Garland County and to all of the students from ASMSA. The school is a division of the University of Arkansas System, designed for juniors and seniors looking for a more challenging course of studies than is found in most high schools.
His message emphasized the importance of education and encouraged all students to take a greater interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
“Too many kids in minority neighborhoods in our communities don’t take the opportunity to study STEM subjects,” Abdul-Jabbar told the gathering. “So many young people don’t understand how important a role those subjects play in their lives. It is changing our lives every day, and it is where the jobs will be.”
Abdul-Jabbar, who has been a movie actor and is now a producer, gave an example of a job where science and technology can be glamorous.
“I know you go to movies with all those spectacular special effects. I do, too,” he said. “Those are done with CGI, computer generated images, and those effects are created with computer-science skills. The people who will continue that trade into the next generation are sitting next to you here today. They are taking STEM classes.”
Speaking in front of one of the Trojan basketball goals, the former NBA star turned businessman and award-winning author addressed the student athletes in the room.
“Never think there must be a choice between athletics and schoolwork,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “It is not a question of one or the other.”
To emphasize the point, the basketball great quoted the man he said had the greatest influence on his life and character, his college coach, John Wooden of the University of California Los Angeles.
“He told me, ‘You are headed to the NBA, but you will have a family, and you will want a career after basketball. Remember, knowledge is power,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “John Wooden was the type of person who said the opportunity to coach was important because it gave him a chance to influence young men to be good husbands, good fathers and good citizens.”
During a question-and-answer period, Abdul-Jabbar was asked why he was speaking out around the country advocating STEM education.
“This enables me to give back for the opportunities I had,” he said. “The future is about how you educate yourselves.”
Soon the questions turned to basketball. Abdul-Jabbar was asked about his famous skyhook shot.
“I found it was the only way I could shoot the ball and not have it smashed back into my face,” he said.
Asked about his greatest moment in the game, Abdul-Jabbar said that pick was easy.
“The most memorable was in 1985 when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics for the first time in an NBA final,” he said. “We had lost 8 of 8 before that.”
One girl asked about his biggest surprise in the game.
“When I broke Wilt Chamberlain’s scoring record,” he said. “I was proud, especially having been told so many times I was too skinny to play the game.”
One question that seemed to surprise the audience was the question of what he would have done if he had not played basketball.
“I was a double major — history and English — and I would probably have been a history teacher,” he said. His audience applauded.
The name of the Open Book Celebration, held in Little Rock that night, was inspired by ASMSA’s new student center, which was dedicated in August. The tower of the student center represents a lighthouse for education, which is capped with the best symbol for learning there is: an open book.
Abdul-Jabbar said he was impressed with Arkansas’ citizens for creating a school like ASMSA.
“Every school should be a school like ASMSA,” he said.
Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be reached at (501) 244-4460 or wbryan@arkansasonline.com.