Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf is my favorite - and the only non-Phoenix Suns - point guard in the NBA between Kevin Johnson and Steve Nash. But of all of them, I respect him the most because he transcended the game of basketball with his work ethic, self-discipline (fighting a terrible Tourette syndrome) and profound humanitarian beliefs.
I can listen to this conference over and over again: amazing story telling by the greatest shooter in the NBA! By the way he still holds the record for the most scored points in college. Only Kevin Durant came close before he graduated almost 10 years ago. Jump to 13:40 in this video and find the truth about who was the best player in the history of the game. No, he wasn't Jordan! Actually a very young guy called Chris Jackson back then beat Jordan in a 1-on-1 game at the NIKE CAMP in 1989!
Of course something had to stop him from climbing that genius ladder... Abdul-Rauf was blackballed by the NBA for his personal beliefs so his basketball appearance in USA was shortened along with our pleasure of watching high class basketball.
He went on to show his amazing skills by playing in different leagues around the world and was still an active player in 2011 at the age of 42! Sadly his best years were taken away by the organized basketball circle of the NBA and corporate America. Here's what he has to say in his defense.
