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Six NBA championships. Six NBA MVPs. Two Finals MVPs and the NBA’s all-time scoring record. NBA fans are very much aware of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s most notable on-the-court accomplishments but equally impressive is his literary résumé off of it.

The Hall of Famer’s latest book, On the Shoulders of Giants, My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance, is his sixth publishing venture in which he chronicles the flourishing African-American cultural movement of art, music, dance and social commentary he witnessed first hand as a child growing up in Harlem. In a recent NBA Store visit, Abdul-Jabbar spoke about this critical period and why he needed to write this book.

Abdul-Jabbar: It was my attempt to explain who I am and why I am who I am. A lot of my life people have seen me as a mystery man and this enabled me to explain the things that helped form me.

Abdul-Jabbar's book cover.

Abdul-Jabbar: When I was in high school, between my junior and senior year, I took part in a program that was designed to show the kids in Harlem how to make it a better place. In order to do that, we had to learn a few things. I was in a journalism workshop and I had to write about Harlem. I found out at that point that I didn’t know much about the history of Harlem. All I knew of it was the black neighborhood that I lived in. At that point I started reading about Harlem’s past and the Harlem Renaissance jumped out at me. I had read a little bit of W.E.B DuBois and Langston Hughes, and I knew that they were famous authors, but I didn’t know that they were part of a larger movement that thrived and was centered in Harlem from approximately 1920 to 1940.

Abdul-Jabbar: Some of the artists and photographers included Romare Bearden, the Smith brothers and James Van Der Zee. Political activists included Adam Clayton Powell Sr., Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Marcus Garvey. Then you had Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston, who were all authors that wrote poetry and prose, both novels and non-fiction. It was really a very amazing output from a very small community, which was an extraordinary statement. It had so much to do with Black Americans finally having the opportunity to show America and the world that they were more than just field hands.

Abdul-Jabbar: The music of the Harlem Renaissance included Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Fats Waller. That’s jazz. It’s still a major art form throughout the world and it has given birth to R&B and rap and a few other things. So those influences are still evolving and being felt. In other areas, the political activism that led to the successful efforts of the civil rights movement really started with people like Garvey and Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. and Jr. There was so much to it. One additional element that I talk about was the fact that Black American athletes, they were looking for equality too. The Negro Leagues and the black basketball teams, they went about trying to prove to America that in their fields, they were equal to the best. It all was all about the same thing – giving Black Americans the opportunity to show the world that they belonged and that they counted for something.

Abdul-Jabbar: I have to say I have an incredible musical education because of my father. He went to the Julliard School of Music and there he learned classical music, so I heard that along with Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstein, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Sarah Vaughn. I heard all those sounds in my home. Music is really something that makes people whole. As they say, music soothes the soul of the savage beast, and it’s a very true statement.

Abdul-Jabbar: I did both. My father would take me with him to rehearsal sometimes. So I would be at rehearsal and people like Dizzy Gillespie or Art Blakey would be there. Some of his friends were backing up Sarah Vaughn at the Apollo at one point. My dad took me while they were rehearsing in the afternoon, led me back by Sarah’s dressing room and allowed me to go in and say hello to her. I was so shy at four years old, but I knew who she was. I knew she was a star. It was a thrill for me to go in and meet her. Being in Harlem at that time, you would see superheroes walking by you with a bag of groceries. Somebody from Duke Ellington’s band could be standing six feet away for you waiting for the same light that you were waiting for. It was a pretty amazing place.

Abdul-Jabbar: I think it is the same for any author – getting the research done and figuring out how you want to tell a story. There are a lot of authors in the world, so it’s difficult to find a unique niche to present your take on things. That is always a challenge for any author.

Abdul-Jabbar's famous "skyhook." Rich Pilling/NBAE

Abdul-Jabbar: The youth are the ones I really want to get to because there is a disconnect here. Today’s youth are told to get rich or die trying and they really shouldn’t take that attitude forward with them. The whole idea of finding some values that will enable them to focus their ambitions and their talents in a positive direction is very important. In learning about some of the people that went before them, I think they can go a long way to making that happen.

Abdul-Jabbar: That’s what a historian is supposed to be doing. I studied history at UCLA and the whole idea was to make it relevant and accessible.

Abdul-Jabbar: I gave all the members their own copy. Phil was generous enough to give me a quote to put on the book jacket.