“You’ll see one day”: Pat Riley Reveals Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Secret to a 20-year NBA Career 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a name we expect to be taking and talking about for the next few days. As his historic record is finally set to be surpassed, we must admire the man’s greatness. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s greatest trait was his longevity.

He is one of only 10 players to have played for 20 seasons in the NBA. And unlike others such as Jamal Crawford or Udonis Haslem, Jabbar was a force even in his 20th season.

He broke the scoring record in 1984, 15 years into his playing career, and then spent the next 5 years pushing it to a height that was considered virtually untouchable. Until today.

So, a man that defied expectations and played for so long in the 1980s deserves some credit. But what exactly do and how was he in the NBA for such a long time?

Also read: LeBron James Scoring Tracker: Lakers Superstar Expected to Pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 Points vs Pelicans

Pat Riley reveals Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s secret

Just as we talk about LeBron’s quite spectacular longevity, we must also talk about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s in the same breath. To play for 20 years when the fouls were more like punches, and scuffles were akin to brawls, is no small feat.

As per Pat Riley, former coach of the Lakers in the mid-1980s, Kareem, did something no one else at the time even thought of.

“His longevity came out of something that most players weren’t aware of back then or didn’t take the time to learn about. Kareem was a practitioner of yoga.” 

And when the Lakers used to mock Kareem for doing yoga and getting into positions that seemed, umm, weird, he used to say,

“You’ll see one day. You’ll see one day,”. And boy was he right.

Riley also added, “Kareem was serious about getting up early and meditating, and praying, eating healthily, and doing hours of yoga.”. 

Also read: “Luka Doncic And Mavericks Don’t Play Winning Basketball”: Kyle Kuzma Claps Back At Spencer Dinwiddie’s Wizards Comments

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a reserved man

As per the story on ESPN, Riley was in staunch defense of his former teammate. He says Kareem gets a bad rep about being closed off, whereas he is just really introverted.

And as the spotlight firmly shines on him for the next few days/weeks, we will see him more often. And as disparaged as he may be about his record being finally broken, he should be proud.

Something as mighty as the NBA Scoring record stood for almost 40 years and we will see it broken once again, as records are only meant to be broken.

Also read: Is Kevin Durant Playing Tonight vs Sixers? Nets Issue Injury Report for 12x All-Star