Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - never hated him but his UCLA team dominated in 67-69 when we had some really good teams lead by Dan Issel. However KAJ had a long career in the pros. Being the same age I started to pull for him when he hit 40. At the same time I was trying to play company league basketball and he became my inspiration. I kept telling myself - if Jabbar can still play pro ball at my age, then I should be able to still get through a company league game. I always enjoy listening to his interviews - he's a really cool dude IMO.