Former NBA giant Abdul-Jabbar delivers towering message of potential at We Day By: Ryan Thorpe Posted: 11:46 AM CDT Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018 Last Modified: 1:07 PM CDT Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018 Updates

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Standing at seven feet, two inches tall, and wearing socks emblazoned with his old Los Angeles Lakers jersey, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took the stage at Bell MTS Place Tuesday for We Day Manitoba.

The annual event, which has been held in Winnipeg since 2011, aims to inspire children to take action to better their communities and to show them they’re capable of changing the world.

“That’s the whole idea. How are you going to contribute to your community and make it a better place? What do you have to offer? Start thinking about it,” Abdul-Jabbar told the Free Press shortly before hitting the stage.

Abdul-Jabbar, who grew up in Harlem in New York City before going on to a 20-year NBA career that would see him named the league’s most valuable player six times, said a mentorship program he went through in high school changed his life.

He said he hopes the children attending We Day Manitoba 2018 — which features more than a dozen speakers, including We founders Craig and Marc Kielburger and Premier Brian Pallister — have a similar experience to the one he did in the mentorship in Harlem.

“It changed my life. It made me aware of my community and it made me aware of my own potential and how to get the best out of my potential. It really did a lot in helping me make good choices,” Abdul-Jabbar said.

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Thousands of kids pack Bell MTS Place for We Day 2018

“Harlem had problems. So we were challenged to say, ‘How would you use your passions and your skills to make Harlem a better place?’ And we went from there.”

One student in the crowd Tuesday was Hannah Deck, 12, who said she was inspired by the message shared by Abdul-Jabbar and other speakers.

That’s left her extra-motivated for a charity drive she’s participating in this Halloween with classmates from Lincoln Middle School.

Instead of asking for candy while trick-or-treating, Hannah said she and her friends will be soliciting canned food that will be donated to those in need.

She said she’s hopeful that will serve as a springboard for further efforts aimed at making a tangible difference in Winnipeg.

“We’re going to ask for canned food instead of candy. I feel like we’re going to accumulate a lot, and I feel like if we can accomplish that we can accomplish so much more,” she said.

After retiring from the NBA prior to the 1989 season, Abdul-Jabbar got involved in journalism — an interest first sparked during his mentorship — and has since written for esteemed publications such as the Washington Post, Time magazine and the Guardian.

He said he thinks his journalism work, as well as his social-justice activism, is why We Day approached him to participate.

“Some of the things I write about resonate with what the spirit of We Day is. To have an organization like We sponsor it and get all the kids here is great,” he said.

While he had never heard of We Day prior to being tapped to participate, he said as soon as he looked into the organization he knew he wanted to get involved.

At 10:30 a.m., as Abdul-Jabbar strode out onto the stage — where he shared the same message that had resonated with him as a young man and discussed issues ranging from diversity and acceptance to social justice — a loud roar erupted from the roughly 16,000, K-12 students in attendance.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe

Ryan Thorpe
Reporter

Ryan Thorpe likes the pace of daily news, the feeling of a broadsheet in his hands and the stress of never-ending deadlines hanging over his head.

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