10 Questions for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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YOU HAVE DOCUMENTED THE BIAS YOU'VE ENCOUNTERED BECAUSE OF YOUR RELIGION. IS BEING A MUSLIM MORE DIFFICULT NOW THAN BEFORE 9/11?

It's certainly something that you can't do quietly anymore. Just the fact that all of this attention has come to the Islamic religion--What does it really mean? What's it all about?--has made Muslims have to stand for something. You have to define it for everybody.

YOU SCORED THOUSANDS OF POINTS USING THE SKY HOOK SHOT. WHY DOESN'T ANY NBA PLAYER USE IT TODAY?

Hitting a three-pointer is now more appealing than shooting a sky hook. And it's not flashy. That certainly factors into a young player's calculation these days.

AS AN ACTOR, YOU PLAYED PILOT ROGER MURDOCK IN THE 1980 COMEDY AIRPLANE! AND APPEARED ON SHOWS LIKE DIFF'RENT STROKES. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO YOUR ACTING CAREER?

Actually, Diff'rent Strokes was a good experience for me because I had a role as a schoolteacher. There are only so many times I can play myself, and people don't write a whole lot of roles for 7footers.