Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has always been very vocal about pressing issues impacting the society. The Los Angeles Lakers legend calls it as he sees it, especially when it concerns the general public. In his recent blog, Abdul-Jabbar slammed several notable celebrities for supposedly impacting the nation’s life expectancy by spreading health-related misinformation during COVID-19.

Kareem condemned notable figures across sports, politics, and pop culture for being irresponsible with their platforms, that according to him, ended up taking people’s lives. The 76-year-old called out prominent figures like Joe Rogan, Novak Djokovic, Aaron Rodgers, and Nicki Minaj, among others, in his impassioned tirade.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar slams celebrities for supposedly affecting the nation’s health

The 6x NBA Champion didn’t mince his words while holding some big names accountable for the thousands of deaths in America. Kareem called out people who used their influence to spread their untested opinions as facts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cap started by dropping names of some big names, like Joe Rogan, Nicki Minaj, Aaron Rodgers, Novak Djokovic, Eric Clapton, Rand Paul, Donald Trump et al.

Abdul-Jabbar accused these celebrities of spreading misinformation regarding the COVID vaccines, which influenced their followers to not take the much-needed vaccination. The 19x All-Star said that if they kept their opinion undisclosed, a lot of damage could have been avoided. Kareem’s tirade against the aforementioned celebrities came in the wake of FDA commissioner Robert Califf ascribing the country’s reduced life expectancy to the rampant spread of health misinformation.

“Thank you Joe Rogan, Nicki Minaj, Aaron Rodgers, Novak Djokovic,…whose medical misinformation—according to a study published in the journal BMJ Health & Care Informatics—discouraged people from getting COVID-19 vaccinations,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote in his Substack. “Over a million people have died in the U.S. from COVID-19, with 104 million contracting the disease. About 1,300 are still dying each week in the U.S. from COVID-19, with over 100,000 new cases a week,” he added.

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The popular author thinks that celebrities playing doctor was one of the major contributors behind the nation’s deteriorating health, “Success breeds arrogance. Someone becomes rich and famous playing a sport or acting in movies…they suddenly think they must be pretty smart.”

He also blamed people for blindly following these celebrities with a platform. He said that people foolishly believe everything they hear and that is one major reason for “a lower life expectancy” in the US.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lists other reasons behind lower life expectancy in the US

Although Abdul-Jabbar went against major celebrities, blaming them for their ignorant behavior, he also listed other reasons why the US has a lower life expectancy. Again referring to the same study, he said, “racism, income, and education disparity” among others are major reasons behind this crisis. Abdul-Jabbar compared irresponsible celebrity behavior to the Wizard of Oz. He said that much like Oz, these people use culture war as a distraction. He added that they would do everything but make an attempt to save people’s lives.

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