The Literarian Gazette: You have a wonderful Substack.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Thank you.
TLG: You write elegantly and eruditely on all kinds of topics — on history, on politics, a bit on sports. It’s really a pleasure to read.
KAJ: Coming from you Literarian, that really means a lot.
TLG: And you’ve reached 230,000 subscribers on Substack, which is a staggering number.
KAJ: I am grateful for each and every one of them.
TLG: So what tricks and tips would you give people who are just starting on Substack?
KAJ: Well, you know, there’s no magic bullet here. I would attribute my growth to a range of different things. I’m fairly active on Notes and take advantage of the engagement opportunities there, I keep to a regular publication schedule, which I think my subscribers appreciate — posting same time of the day, same time of the week, that kind of thing — and then I was also for a very long time the NBA All-Time scoring leader.
TLG: So I did want to ask you a bit about that.
KAJ: Ok.
TLG: Do you think that that contributes to your Substack growth?
KAJ: Well, it’s hard to know, you know. I mean, it’s not like the Dashboard breaks down my subscriber metrics by whether more people are responding to my regular production schedule or to my having one of the most signature shots in league history. I guess you can say it’s one factor among several.
TLG: Fair enough. So there are a lot of people out there who are thinking about starting Substacks but are frightened. They think to themselves, ‘I really want to be a writer, but I don’t know if I’m ever going to reach 200,000 subscribers.’ What kind of advice would you give people who are just starting out?
KAJ: Well, you know, I would start by working your way around the key. You don’t need to hit a jump shot from everywhere but you need to be lethal enough that they can’t just give you the shot, and then of course you need to work on using your body to drive towards the hoop. Once you can really dominate in the low post, and against NCAA-quality defenders, then you’re well on your way to eventual Substack growth.
TLG: So that’s it then? Set the all-time New York City high school scoring record —
KAJ: That never hurts —
TLG: Then get drafted number one —
KAJ: Yeah —
TLG: And you’re on your way to Substack stardom?
KAJ: I would say that’s necessary but not sufficient. I mean, there are a lot of top-notch high school and maybe even college-level athletes who are on this platform but haven’t really broken through — like you don’t see their names in the category leaderboards, that kind of thing —
TLG: So what would you say the difference is?
KAJ: Well, I would say that setting the NBA all-time scoring record has something to do with it. But, you know, not everybody needs to set the all-time scoring record — only one person at a time can have that at a time. But there are a lot of other paths to Substack growth. Persistence is really important. Never giving up. Having a 20-year NBA career, with two different franchises, then parlaying that into a small but memorable Hollywood side career, but most importantly showing up to play every single night, remembering to box out on rebounds, giving it everything you have on both sides of the ball — I would say those are the kinds of ingredients out of which great Substacks are made.
TLG: What about free throws?
KAJ: Yes, if I had gotten up to 80% from the line who knows where my Substack would be now, but I got away with not being as great at free throws because the other parts of my game were so strong. I guess my message to up-and-coming Substackers would be, don’t obsess too much over free throws if you can make it rain somewhere else.
TLG: That seems like very good advice.
KAJ: And listen to coach. You always have to pay attention to what your coach says.
TLG: Now you’ve always been an avid reader.
KAJ: Yes.
TLG: What — ?
KAJ: History, biography, politics, whatever I could get my hands on really. I’d read in my hotel room on the road, I’d read as part of my locker room ritual waiting for tipoff.
TLG: Was all that reading vital to your eventual Substack?
KAJ: Oh essential. My Substack wouldn’t be anywhere close to where it is without putting all that reading preparation in all those years ago. For anybody else just sitting around waiting for tipoff, I can’t stress enough the importance of reading and getting that preparation in.
TLG: So which would you say is more important to your Substack growth — all that time spending reading or having been a Los Angeles Laker?
KAJ: Well, it’s kind of combination really. You can’t really have one without the other, you know what I mean? I would say on balance it’s having been a Los Angeles Laker, but the two contribute in their own way. That shouldn’t disincentive anybody who puts a lot of time into reading but happens never to have been a Los Angeles Laker.
TLG: Yeah, so if you’re giving advice to anybody who’s in that non-Los Angeles Laker category, what might you tell them?
KAJ: Well, you definitely don’t have to have been a Laker to be very successful on Substack.
TLG: No?
KAJ: Sure. Look at the leaderboards. Let’s see who’s up there. Patti Smith is #12 in Culture. She was never a Laker. Pamela Anderson is #9 in Philosophy. I’m pretty sure she was never a Laker either.
TLG: What do you attribute their growth to?
KAJ: Well, Philosophy’s a tough field. I can only assume she read a lot of Hegel, and probably about the same amount of Schopenhauer, put in her time with the great 20th interpreters, Walter Kaufmann, Kojève, those kinds of people, but not so much so that she came to depend on their interpretations. Pretty much the same way that everybody else has risen through the ranks in the Philosophy category.
TLG: Wasn’t she also on that show Baywatch?
KAJ: Oh she was, wasn’t she?
TLG: Do you think that has anything to do with her success in Substack Philosophy?
KAJ: Well, it’s hard to say. We don’t have any hard evidence for that one way or the other.
TLG: Right —
KAJ: I mean, Pamela’s a good writer. I always look forward to what she writes on self-growth and overcoming obstacles.
TLG: And you think her running through the surf with a 34D rack makes any difference to her Substack growth?
KAJ: Well, who knows, maybe on the margins?
TLG: What about Patti?
KAJ: I mean, I think Patti’s writing speaks for itself. It’s a timeless tale of young lovers living in an apartment under the elevated train that really speaks to a moment in New York City history. Anybody could have written that and it would have broken Substack — and the whole literary world — the way that Patti’s writing has.
TLG: Yeah, I see that. Do you think, though, it has anything to do with her success that her lover was Robert Mapplethorpe and that she went on to be the top female rock star of the 1970s?
KAJ: Your questions always get into these kinds of things. I mean I guess sure? It probably doesn’t hurt, but I also feel like the writing stands on its merits, don’t you?
TLG: No sure of course. I didn’t mean to offend.
KAJ: Not at all. It’s just that everybody gets a little hung up on the Laker thing — or in Pamela’s case the Baywatch thing or in Patti’s the rock star thing.
TLG: But in the end everybody’s just a Substacker like everybody else?
KAJ: Yeah exactly. Everybody starts the same way and finishes the same way. You want to be a writer, you start by keeping a notebook. Then eventually you work up the courage to put those notes into coherent thoughts. Then eventually you work up the courage to press publish. Then you monitor your dashboard stats like a lunatic. Maybe at some point you just so happen to have been a Baywatch babe or to have written ‘Horses’ or, at some stage or other, to have set the NBA all-time scoring record. But in the end it doesn’t really matter, you know? You end up a Substacker just like every other Substacker.
TLG: It’s like the one place where everybody’s completely equal?
KAJ: Something like that.
Needless to say, any resemblance to real persons in this piece is purely coincidental.
Dunk!
Ha!