With Muhammad Ali’s passing, many around the sports world are remembering the former heavyweight champ. Ali’s loss isn’t just felt within the boxing community, however, as the boxer’s impact was tremendous. Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabar penned a lengthy and moving remembrance to Ali on his Facebook page hours after the boxer’s death.
Part of Muhammad’s greatness was his ability to be different things to different people.
To sports fans he was an unparalleled champion of the world, faster and smarter than any heavyweight before. To athletes, he was a model of physical perfection and shrewd business acumen. To the anti-establishment youth of the 1960s, he was a defiant voice against the Vietnam War and the draft.
To the Muslim community, he was a pious pioneer testing America’s purported religious tolerance. To the African-American community, he was a black man who faced overwhelming bigotry the way he faced every opponent in the ring: fearlessly. At a time when blacks who spoke up about injustice were labeled uppity and often arrested under one pretext or another, Muhammad willingly sacrificed the best years of his career to stand tall and fight for what he believed was right. In doing so, he made all Americans, black and white, stand taller. I may be 7’2″ but I never felt taller than when standing in his shadow.
It takes a massive personality to cast a shadow on Kareem, but Ali certainly possessed that. His legacy is so enormous that it’s hard to put into words, but Kareem does a pretty good job here.
