Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at Fort Bragg speaking Thursday for the children's literacy organization, "Reading is Fundamental" to children, parents and educators at the Irwin Intermediate School.

The NBA hall of famer talked about his father who was assigned to Fort Bragg from 1941 to 1943. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talked about how proud he was of what his father did for the U.S.

"One of the reasons I wanted to come to Fort Bragg, is my dad was stationed here," Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said at Fort Bragg.

He spoke about his recently released children's book "Sasquatch in the Paint." "The character has to figure out what he's going to do with his future." After speaking about his book, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went on to discuss the importance of education:

"Your education is the foundation of everything that you're going to do the rest of your life," he said. "Going on to college and figuring out how you want to participate in the economy is something you're all going to have to figure out one time or another, so you should start thinking about it now."

The former L.A. Lakers' forward was a six-time M.V.P. and NBA champion, also hoisting two M.V.P. trophies during those championship series.

He also said that he has no hard feelings about not having any opportunities to coach in the NBA or NCAA.