NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been a busy man since retiring from basketball after 33 seasons (Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers) in 1989. He’s worked as a coach and a scout, and off the court, he’s tried acting (Airplane!), politics (cultural ambassador), and writing. Most recently, he became a contributing writing at The Hollywood Reporter where he writes about the intersection of pop culture, politics and race.
In January, just days before reality TV personality Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States, Abdul-Jabbar wrote about the reality TV franchise The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. In his article, “The Bachelor Is Killing Romance in America,” he wrote: “There are many lucrative business reasons for the pimping out of unrealistic romantic love in American popular culture, but the plastic face of it is the trendy Bachelor and Bachelorette franchise.” He added, “there is an insidious darkness beneath the fairytale pabulum they are serving up.” Keep that in mind as Abdul-Jabbar spends a day with the male suitors on The Bachelorette, Season 13, the first season to feature an African-American woman. The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8pm on ABC.
