Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at Sundance

Hey everyone, it's Michelle Marie with Young Hollywood and Vitamin Water. We're here at the Fred Siegel Fund Lounge and I am here with Kareem Abdul Jabbar. And we are here for Sundance in your hair premiering your movie. Tell me more about it.

Oh, well my movie is called On Shoulders of Giants. It's about the early days of professional basketball back in the 1920s and 30s. When it was a much different landscape and uh teams had to barnstorm, there were no established leagues. And sports were segregated. So uh there was a whole question of equality and color and totally different time.

Absolutely. Now, um what is it like being here at Sundance so far for you? I'm sure you get stopped all the time. There's so many people here.

Well, you know, it's I've always enjoyed film. So and since I'm involved with film, this is the place for me to be. And um, you know, I I it's nice to see the enthusiasm of all all the film fans here.

Absolutely. And how do you feel about the way that Twitter's kind of taken over.

Twitter, I think is a great way to communicate, especially for me, you know, so many people want to interact with me. And Twitter enables me to deal directly with them but it gives me some space there. Right. Uh that that's nice.

If you were to actually create your own Vitamin Water drink, because Vitamin Water keeps me going all the time. What would you name it and what flavors would you love to have in it?

I know. Uh that that's the tough question. For me, uh replacing electrolytes and minerals that you lose when you work out is is key. And uh I I would I would just call it replenish, you know, that's what you need to do. Uh so uh that that that's what I would call it.

You are such a legend. I mean, I remember watching you when I was just a little girl. How do you feel about how basketball has evolved and changed?

Well, I'm amazed that it's taken hold all over the world now. Uh young kids in places like Australia and China and uh Peru uh want to play basketball and I never thought that would happen. I always thought that soccer would continue to dominate. Right. And now uh basketball is uh on a par with it. And that's a really amazing thing for me to see, you know, I I've been retired now 21 years.

Wow.

And um, that change that's taken place during that time is really uh a beautiful thing to see.

Well, I know that you're involved in the Lakers, one of my favorite teams, my favorite team. And uh right now, I know you you were kind of more of a mentor with Andrew Bynum. How do you feel about the way he's evolved as player?

I think Andrew's doing a great job uh learning what he needed to learn to to be a competent professional player. I I expect him if he continues to to learn the things he needs to learn, he's going to be uh a very good center for a long amount of time.

If there's one memory over the years that you've been playing basketball that is one of your most memorable, one of your highlights, what would you say?

Just for me uh beating the Celtics in 1985 was my favorite moment in the game. Um and uh you know I I really uh feel that that was something that really helped to establish the game in the minds of people around the world and helped them appreciate it.

Hi, this is Kareem Abdul Jabbar and I just want to say hi to Young Hollywood. And if you want to check out what I'm doing, just go on my website. Kareem Abduljabbar. com. Hope to see you around.