"He was one of the outspoken athletes, young athletes, when Muhammad Ali was going through his issues" - Robert Parish on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar facing scrutiny because he stood up for social causes

Thousands of NBA fans remain confused as to why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not consistently mentioned in the greatest of all-time conversations like Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Even before James stormed his way into the GOAT talks, Jabbar seldom made it to such a debate, which is just bewildering based on his basketball feats.

Unfair or not, public perception is a big part of any talk regarding the best ever basketball player debate. This is where Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has seemingly failed to meet the required standards.

Former Boston Celtics great Robert Parish, in Jackie MacMullan’s the Icons Club, provided a possible reason as to why “Captain Skyhook” couldn’t get the recognition he deserved:

“I'm just gonna say one of the athletes during my time that I think may have suffered some because of his stance against social issues will be Kareem. Because he was one of the outspoken athletes, young athletes, when Muhammad Ali was going through his issues with the government. So I have a lot of respect for Kareem. He was also one of the athletes that were brave enough to stand up and speak up against what they thought was wrong with our society.”

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The LA Lakers legend famously boycotted the 1968 Mexico Olympics to protest against social injustice against black men in America. The “Big A” also went as far as to join the Cleveland Summit to lend more weight to Muhammad Ali’s controversial decision to avoid the Vietnam War.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s activism and often insolent attitude towards the press and NBA fans may have cost him much more than he anticipated. Forget about the GOAT conversation, “Murdock” can’t even get a head coaching gig despite being the most decorated NBA player in the history of the league.

Here’s what current Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had to say on why the NBA’s only six-time MVP was relegated to irrelevance:

“There was some thought that maybe he could be a coach whether as a head coach or maybe tutor big guys, I mean there were all kinds of possibilities there, but I never got the sense that Kareem had connections with people in the league. And that’s how the league works, it’s all relationship"

Kerr continued to weigh in on his thoughts:

"I sensed that Kareem was never really connected to anybody. He’s a little bit of a loner and without those emotional connections with key figures in the league he’s been forgotten a little bit.”

The NBA, in a very recent move, could slowly rectify that.

The NBA names its Social Justice Champion Award after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Carmelo Anthony is the first recipient of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Award[Photo: New York Post]

More than 50 years after receiving death threats for his activism and crusade against social injustice, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has a social justice award named after him. Maybe the NBA’s move to recognize players who champion the same causes as Jabbar does could make the iconic big man more relatable.

Carmelo Anthony of the LA Lakers was the first recipient of the award that KAJ himself presented. Anthony had nothing but praise for the NBA’s all-time leading scorer when asked about what the award meant to him:

“First of all, I just want to say I’m honored, I’m blessed, I feel humbled to be the first recipient of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award. Just that name alone, we all know what that stands for, we all know what Kareem stood for and what he stands for now. So, for me to be receiving this award means so much more than a lot of other awards that I’ve ever received.”

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s name means almost unmatched basketball brilliance but may never be GOAT material in the eyes of many. However, he is undoubtedly recognized by the world as a champion of something far bigger than becoming the undisputed hoops god.