Help Us Interview Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
By: Shelly Brisbin
I’m very excited to announce that Blogger & Podcaster will be interviewing basketball legend, and now blogger, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the March issue of the magazine. And I want you to help me choose the questions.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is, as you sports fans know, the all-time leading NBA scorer, and the creator of the skyhook. His pro career spanned 20 years and two teams, the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. He now writes a daily blog for the Los Angeles Times.
If you’re not a sports fan, resist the temptation to skip Kareem’s blog. This is not simply a jock’s recollections of past glory, or his thoughts on the sport he loves. At the Kareem blog, you’ll find stories about the b-ball legend’s interactions with famous friends like Grammy winner Herbie Hancock, his role in the recent “Yes I Can!” music video produced by will.i.am for Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign, and profiles of unsung African-Americans, just in time for Black History Month. Oh, and you can learn how to shoot a skyhook after age 50.
My interview with Kareem will focus on his decision to begin blogging, how he approaches his new blog, and his interest in new media in general. If you have questions for Kareem, please post them in the comments to this entry, and I’ll choose several of the best ones. You’ve got until 9 AM PT/noon ET tomorrow to add your suggestions.
Look for excerpts of the interview in text and podcast form very soon, and the full version in our next issue.
February 14th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
I’d like to know what inspires Mr. Abdul-Jabbar to blog for the LA Times. I’m just a little analyst at a big company, but when I retire, I really want to retire and stop answering to “the man.” Mr. Abdul-Jabbar has had an absolutely amazing basketball career - why continue to work instead of enjoying the fruits of his labor?
February 23rd, 2008 at 2:40 am
I had the chance to interview Mr. Abdul-Jabbar many years ago. He was doing a book signing at the local Borders. I was a freshman on the Edgewood High School Newspaper staff.
He was very inviting and calming. I was very nervous. He had his assistant run next door to get us both Ice Cream. It’s a memory I’ve held on to for some time. He showed me that celebrities can be approached by the average Joe. If you do so with out screaming and crying. Well most of the time anyway. This has given me the courage and fortitude to go after quotes from some big names.
My questions for Mr. Abdul-Jabbar are:
Does he remember the interview?
Does he remember telling a wide eyed kid to fight the man?
How about the statements he made on Marijuana, to a teen ager? That part got pulled from by the faculty adviser.
I never did get that auto graphed photo he said he’d send.