Basketball is an endurance sport, and you have to learn to control your breath; that’s the essence of yoga, too. So, I consciously began using yoga techniques in my practice and playing. I think yoga helped reduce the number and severity of injuries I suffered. As preventative medicine, it’s unequaled.

Abdul-Jabbar links elite basketball performance to disciplines usually associated with contemplative practice: breath control, sustained stamina, and bodily awareness. By calling basketball an “endurance sport,” he reframes success as something built on pacing and physiological regulation rather than bursts of athleticism alone. Yoga, in his account, becomes both a performance tool (better breathing and focus under fatigue) and a longevity strategy (fewer and less severe injuries). The quote also reflects a broader shift in modern sports culture toward cross-training and “preventative” approaches—treating recovery, mobility, and mindfulness as integral to competition rather than ancillary to it.