By Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | ESPN.com
In 1968 the Olympics were more political and less lucrative.
I was invited to try out for the team 44 years ago, but instead I chose to keep a job I had with the New York City Housing Authority. I taught basketball at clinics around the city that summer and tried to sell kids on the idea of staying in school. Some people suggested I was making a statement by not going to Mexico City, but the money I made and saved was crucial to providing financial security for me during my senior year at UCLA.
Read the rest of this wide-ranging opinion piece on ESPN.com.
Read the rest of this wide-ranging opinion piece on ESPN.com.