The James Altucher Show

Episode Description:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joins James for a From the Archive conversation about basketball, identity, mentorship, faith, writing, civil rights, and his book Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court.The episode begins with basketball. James asks Kareem how the game has changed since his playing days, and Kareem explains the shift toward the three-point shot, the rule changes around physical defense, and the way modern spacing has altered how teams score.But the conversation quickly becomes deeper than basketball.James sees Becoming Kareem as a book about the search for identity. Kareem agrees, explaining that Black Americans have often had identities imposed on them—first through slavery, then through Jim Crow, then through the lingering assumptions and limitations of American racism. His own journey required rejecting those imposed definitions and building an identity he could be proud of.Kareem emphasizes the importance of mentors. Some were direct mentors, like John Wooden and Bruce Le