The Associated Press on Kareem’s latest adventure.
Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is on a mission to teach trash talking in Shanghai.
The NBA’s career scoring leader will lead a camp exploring cultural differences between American and Asian players. Along with teaching his famous skyhook, Abdul-Jabbar will touch on using language to intimidate opponents.
Chinese players Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets and Wang Zhizhi of the Miami Heat came from a basketball tradition that is less physical and more team-oriented, and needed some guidance to get used to the more individualistic, aggressive American style of play.
Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks and the Desmond Mason of the Milwaukee Bucks will join Abdul-Jabbar in the camp, which begins Saturday. Players, coaches and psychologists hope to use the experience of Yao to prepare Asian players for real-life situations. Campers will also learn about footwork, rebounding, nutrition and mental preparation.
(Kareem, shown teaching Bruce Lee about footwork)