The greatest. I'm too much of a drooling fan to have any rational perspective on Kareem, but how many of YOUR #1 childhood sports heroes are writing articles for Jacobin?
Yeah, I'm also a big fan. The Kang piece makes it clear that he hasn't quite figured out the fame/interpersonal stuff (and probably never will), but he's a fascinating guy, and is enjoyable to read, well beyond the surprise of the all-time leading scorer writing articles at all.
I thought the NYT article was great and expanded my sense of Kareem. I'd known he was a good writer, but that gave me a different feel for how complicated both the personal and racial dynamics of his stardom were.
The amount of pressure on him to be a kind of thoughtless, uncurious jock must have been so intense, and he just refused.
Also, someday, someone will ressucitate the skyhook. I'm a horrendous basketball player but I used to obsessively practice mine.
Holy shit that guy has big hands.
As does Kawhi Leonard.
I've been told that Kareem and Dick Cavett used to train at the aikido dojo that I attend. I would find $5 to pay to watch Kareem and Dick Caveat do aikido on one another.
Grantland can't much longer survive Bill Simmons' departure, right? Too vague in focus and internally conflicted about its jocksniffing fanboy tendencies.
You know about the scene with Bruce Lee, right?
Dick Cavett grew up not far from my dad's family and was about the same age as dad's younger brother. But they probably didn't play sports against each other as Cavett left before high school.
So Kareem and Bruce Lee is free, but you want to pay $5 for Dick Cavett. You see why I asked?
I meant live. Is there a YouTube link of Kareem and Cavett fighting? Please tell me there is.
Does Kareem still moonlight as an airline pilot?