{"id":8907,"date":"2017-10-27T00:44:02","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T00:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onepathnetwork.com\/?p=8907"},"modified":"2021-07-16T12:24:28","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T12:24:28","slug":"muslim-nba-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onepathnetwork.com\/au\/society\/muslim-nba-player\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s it like to be Muslim in the NBA"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/amp-jwplayer>\n

What\u2019s it like to be Muslim in the NBA?<\/span><\/h1>\nWith the NBA Season only just beginning, we take a look at the most famous NBA Muslim players who made their ways into the Hall of Fame without having to compromise their Muslim faith.\n

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf<\/b><\/h2>\nPlayed in the NBA from 1990 to 2001 with the Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings, and Vancouver Grizzlies.<\/span><\/i>\n\nAbdul Rauf first became curious in Islam after his college basketball coach gave him the autobiography of Malcolm X.<\/span>\n\nDuring his rookie year with the NBA, he started reading the Quran and soon after converted to Islam.<\/span>\n\nIn 1996 he was suspended for refusing to stand for the national anthem. \u00a0He protested \u201cYou can\u2019t be for God and for oppression. It\u2019s clear in the Quran, Islam is the only way,\u201d<\/span>\n\nAfter negotiating with the NBA, he agreed to return. However this time, he chose to recite a prayer during the anthem instead.<\/span>\n\nThis decision nevertheless eventually led to him being sidelined at the peak of his career and cost him millions of dollars he would have otherwise made.<\/span>\n
\u201c(Islam) puts everything into perspective\u2026 From the way I worship, to the way I communicate, to the way I give to charity, to the way I look at life. Visiting the elderly. Visiting orphans. It governs everything I do in a positive way.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\n\nAbdul Rauf<\/i><\/strong><\/blockquote>\n

Hakeem Olajuwon<\/b><\/h2>\nNBA Hall of Famer played from 1984 to 2002.<\/span><\/i>\n\nOlajuwon was born as a Muslim in Nigeria and grew up in an \u201cIslamic environment.\u201d<\/span>\n\nHe would study the Quran every day, be reading it in airplanes and before and after his games. He would also fast, Ramadan, even when it fell in playing season. <\/span>\n\nHe surprisingly felt he played better when fasting, and in February 1995, which coincided with Ramadan, he won NBA player of the month.<\/span>\n\nIn 1994, he led his team to win the championships and was named MVP. He, however, chose to auction off his championship ring, due to Islam\u2019s prohibition on men wearing gold.<\/span>\n\nThe following season, upon winning the championship again, the NBA offered him a platinum ring, yet he auctioned it off as well.<\/span>\n\nWhen asked what his favourite verse in the Quran was, he replied:<\/span>\n
\u201cOh, you who believe, if you obey and fear Allah, he will grant you Furqan [criterion to judge between right and wrong] and will expiate for you your sins and forgive you and Allah is the Owner of a Great Bounty.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\n\nQuran 8:29<\/i><\/strong>\n\n\u201cBeing a Muslim gives you structure and discipline in your life. It makes you God-conscious, which regulates all of your actions. Islam is a complete religion which gives you a solution to every situation you may face in life…The Islamic principles are the most upright way of life, and when you practice that, it will reflect in your character.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\n\nOlajuwon<\/i><\/strong><\/blockquote>\n

Kareem Abdul Jabbar<\/b><\/h2>\nPlayed 20 seasons in the NBA and is the leading point scorer of all time.<\/span><\/i>\n\nHe converted to Islam after being inspired by the autobiography of Malcolm X while in college. <\/span>\n\nHe also changed his name from Lew Alcindor to Kareem Abdul Jabbar in 1971 as a symbol of his new found identity.<\/span>\n\nBy going public with his conversion, he believed that he was adding his voice to the civil rights movement to denounce slavery and the religious institutions that supported it.<\/span>\n\nDespite this, he states that he was drawn to the spiritually fulfilling personal aspects of Islam.<\/span>\n\nHis conversion upset many of his friends and family who felt he was rejecting his American culture, but he, in fact, was only reconnecting with his African roots and abandoning the ideologies of his former slave masters.<\/span>\n\nIn 1972, he travelled to both Libya and Saudi Arabia to study Arabic and learn the Quran for himself.<\/span>\n\n_____________________________<\/span>\n\n \n

Current Muslim NBA Players<\/b><\/h2>\nCurrently, there are at least 12 NBA players who are Muslim according to the online magazine Muslim Matters and other media outlets:<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Player<\/b><\/td>\nTeam<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Enes Kanter<\/span><\/td>\nNew York Knicks (center)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kenneth Faried<\/span><\/td>\nDenver Nuggets (forward)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gorgui Dieng<\/span><\/td>\nMinnesota Timberwolves (center)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dion Waiters<\/span><\/td>\nMiami Heat (guard)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Al-Farouq Aminu<\/span><\/td>\nPortland Trail Blazers (forward)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jusuf Nurkic<\/span><\/td>\nPortland Trail Blazers (center)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Omer Asik<\/span><\/td>\nNew Orleans Pelicans (center)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ersan Ilyasova<\/span><\/td>\nAtlanta Hawks (forward)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dennis Schroder<\/span><\/td>\nAtlanta Hawks (guard)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Salah Mejri<\/span><\/td>\nDallas Mavericks (center)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mirza Teletovic<\/span><\/td>\nMilwaukee Bucks (forward)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rondae-Hollis Jefferson<\/span><\/td>\nBrooklyn Nets (forward)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \n\nSource: <\/span><\/i>The Undefeated \u201cBeing Muslim in the NBA\u201d Marc J Spears.<\/span><\/i> <\/a>\n\nAl Jazeera \u201cWhy Kareem Abdul Jabbar converted to Islam\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/a>\n\nMay Allah bless all these inspirational men along with the many other NBA Muslim players that weren\u2019t mentioned in this list.<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s it like to be Muslim in the NBA? With the NBA Season only just beginning, we take a look at the most famous NBA Muslim players who made their ways into the Hall of Fame without having to compromise their Muslim faith. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Played in the NBA from 1990 to 2001 with the […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow4-bBDA:productID":"","content-type":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":["https:\/\/news-api.apple.com\/sections\/f1402f44-8994-4c23-83de-48d0d766f08f"],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[77],"series":[],"speaker":[],"coauthors":[140],"class_list":["post-8907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","tag-latest","post_format-post-format-video","entry"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/onepathnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Muslims_NBA.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/onepathnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Mums-on-the-RunV3.jpg?fit=2160%2C2160&ssl=1","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":[],"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/onepathnetwork.com\/au\/feed\/podcast\/mums-on-the-run","embedCode":"

What\u2019s it like to be Muslim in the NBA<\/a><\/blockquote>