NBA Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Explains Why He Stands Behind Kaepernick's Anthem Protest
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Colin Kaepernick was back on the football field Tuesday after his silent protest at Sunday's preseason game against the Titans.
The 49ers quarterback has caught a lot of heat for not standing up during the national anthem. Now, a NBA legend who has his back – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The 7-foot 2-inch former MVP turned author was in town at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club to promote his latest book. The only reporter to score a one-on-one interview with him was KPIX 5's Betty Yu.
He told Betty he's standing by Kap.
Betty Yu: You've called Colin Kaepernick's anthem protest highly patriotic. Why is that?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: If you look back at what Thomas Jefferson said, he said we have to protect people's speech who say things that we don't approve of. That was more important than protecting the speech of people who we approve of.
UNCUT: Watch Betty Yu's interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in its entirety
Betty: Could he have done it in a better way, in your mind?
Kareem: I'm sure that that is the criticism that most people will say that he should have picked a better time and a better place to do it. but it was up to him and he did have an opportunity and he took it so I'm not going to judge him on that.
Abdul-Jabbar has picked a candidate in the 2016 presidential race and it's not Donald Trump.
Betty: You're Muslim, he's said that he wants to register all Muslims and keep them out of the country, how does that sit with you, especially because he is giving a big immigration speech in Arizona tomorrow?
Kareem: Discrimination is not going to make us safer, and it's not going to make America great. We are great because people understand that people should be judged on the content of their character.
His new book is called, "Writings on the Wall: Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White." This isn't the first time Abdul-Jabbar has supported another athlete. He stood behind Muhammad Ali's decision to refuse induction into the military during the Vietnam War.
Kareem: Some of the issues just haven't changed, it's been a little bit of time and we're moving faster and we have social media but the same issues are still here.
In an op-ed in the Washington Post Tuesday, Abdul-Jabbar wrote that instead of slamming Kaepernick, we should be more horrified that 50 years later we're still talking about racial inequality.
Kareem: We're still talking about it and still trying to fix it.