Motivation Quote by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“Center is a very tough position to play” reads like understatement from someone who made difficulty look routine. Coming from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it’s less a complaint than a quiet correction to how fans flatten the game: the center isn’t just the tallest guy closest to the rim, he’s the pressure point every possession runs through.

The intent is almost pedagogical. Kareem is reminding you that the job description is contradictory on purpose. You’re asked to be both anchor and engine: protect the paint, rebound, set bruising screens, score efficiently with your back to the basket, and do it while referees swallow the whistle because “big men can take it.” Centers absorb contact like a tax, and the league historically treats that punishment as part of the role, not a foul.

The subtext is about invisibility. Great center play often looks like “nothing happened”: a drive that never comes because you’re in the right spot, a pass that doesn’t get thrown, an offense bent out of shape by your mere presence. Kareem’s own skyhook was the glamorous artifact, but the labor around it was constant negotiation with double teams, physicality, and the responsibility of being the defense’s last line.

Context matters, too: he played through an era of cramped spacing, hand-checking, and nightly wrestling matches in the paint, then watched the sport drift toward perimeter freedom. The line doubles as a defense of an endangered craft and a nudge to respect the players doing the unflashy work that makes everyone else’s highlights possible.