Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is undoubtedly one of the greatest players to have ever played the game of basketball. He is widely considered the best “Big man” of all time. While he was a dominating force in the NBA for 20 years, he also had his fair share of incidents he’d rather forget about. In fact, Jabbar once broke his hand after punching rookie Kent Benson in his first professional game.

Hockey is arguably one of the most physical and violent sports. It has given fans numerous iconic moments in regard to fights. However, Kareem doesn’t feel it is necessary for the sport to promote violence. He said stronger actions can be taken and bigger fines can be levied to put a stop to unnecessary fights.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman testified that such type of fighting actually prevents bigger acts of violence. Kareem was left dumbfounded by his comments. He said, “That’s like saying we should allow shoplifting to prevent armed robbery.”

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He believes that the commissioner made those comments because he knows it’s a big draw for the sport of hockey. He mentions that a former professional hockey player, who is a social science researcher now, conducted a study that proved Bettman’s claim to be false.

Michael Betz, an Ohio State University professor, concluded from his study that fighting did not discourage bigger acts of violence. In fact, perpetrators are more prone to committing increased acts of violence and even more unsafe penalties in the game.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar never backed down from a fight

Abdul-Jabbar added that even though he does not promote violence in sports, he himself was involved in a couple of incidents. He said, “I understand that it’s inevitable that tempers will flair during sports”.

“It’s an insult to athletes and to the sport to make outbursts of fistfighting a feature to bring in audiences,” said Abdul-Jabbar. He suggested that the leagues should discourage such incidents.

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What are your thoughts on Kareem’s comments? Let us know in the comments section below.

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