How Abdul-Jabbar became Kareem and decided to talk about it

In this Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, photo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar poses in his office, in Newport Beach, Calif. Abdul-Jabbar has been a best-selling author, civil-rights activist, actor, historian and one of the greatest basketball players who ever lived. This fall Abdul-Jabbar will embark on a cross-country tour as part of "Becoming Kareem," a stage show in which he'll discuss his life, answer audience questions and talk about the key mentors in his life he says helped him achieve his goals along the way. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) In this Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, photo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar poses in his office, in Newport Beach, Calif. Abdul-Jabbar has been a best-selling author, civil-rights activist, actor, historian and one of the greatest basketball players who ever lived. This fall Abdul-Jabbar will embark on a cross-country tour as part of "Becoming Kareem," a stage show in which he'll discuss his life, answer audience questions and talk about the key mentors in his life he says helped him achieve his goals along the way. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

By Associated Press February 15, 2018 5 min read

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been a best-selling author, civil-rights activist, actor, historian and one of the greatest basketball players who ever lived.

One thing Abdul-Jabbar has never been – at least not in public – is chatty.

“I’m not known for being a blabbermouth, you know?” the soft-spoken Abdul-Jabbar concedes with a smile, something else he was never particularly known for during his playing days. But, he adds, still smiling, his public can expect to see that change – and soon.

This fall Abdul-Jabbar will embark on a cross-country tour as part of “Becoming Kareem,” a stage show in which he’ll discuss his life, answer audience questions and talk about the key mentors he says helped him achieve his goals. Among them: civil rights heroes Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, his legendary college coach and lifelong friend John Wooden, and fellow superstar athletes Muhammad Ali and Wilt Chamberlain.

The tour was inspired by the 2017 best-seller “Becoming Kareem,” a memoir of his years from childhood to age 24.