TO BRAZIL BY AFRICAN SLAVES HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO. >> HE WAS STEPH CURRY FIRST OF CURRY. >> QUICKNESS. HE WAS A CREATIVE PLAYER. >> HE WAS NOT GOOD. HE WAS GREAT. >> HE WASN'T GOOD, HE WAS GREAT. ALL THOSE PRICES FOR FORMER DENVER NUGGETS POINT GUARD -- WHO HAD LED THE TEAM IN SCORING AND WAS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST IN THE GAME. THE PRICE TURN TO CRITICISM IN 1996 WHEN THE IRAN SIR -- CHOOSING TO STRETCH OR STAY IN THE LOCKER ROOM. >> I NOTICED THAT HE WAS NOT STANDING FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM. >> HE BELIEVES THE FLAG SYMBOLIZES OPPRESSION. >> IT MY SAYING EVERYTHING IN AMERICA IS? BED IN NO. WHERE THE BED IS, AS A MUSLIM, YOU DON'T STAND FOR. >> THAT CLIP IS FROM THE NEW SHOWTIME DOCUMENTARY ABOUT STAND, THE RISE AND FALL OF ABDULLAH. WELCOME TO THE SHOW. >> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. >> LET US START FROM THE BEGINNING. HUMBLE BEGINNINGS IN MISSISSIPPI. WHAT DID IT TAKE FOR YOU TO CLIMB TO THE HIGHEST HEIGHTS OF BASKETBALL? >> MY MOM WAS GOING THROUGH -- THE IMPORTANCE OF MY BELIEF IN GOD. EVEN AS A CHILD THAT WAS SOMETHING I FOCUSED ON RELENTLESSLY. AND THEN THE WORK ETHIC, WAKING UP EVERY MORNING, MAKING THE DECISION THAT THIS WAS WHAT I WANTED TO DO. ALSO HAVING A FEELING THAT IT WAS LIFE OR DEATH. IF I DON'T MAKE IT, I KNOW MY LIFE -- THAT KEPT PROPELLING ME FORWAR. >> DURING YOUR TIME IN THE LEAGUE, YOU CONVERTED TO ISLAM. IT CHANGED YOUR NAME, DECIDED TO NO LONGER STAND FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM. WHAT CAUSED YOU TO DO THAT? >> I BEGAN TO READ. I BECAME A MUSLIM. RAMADAN CAME AROUND, I HAD FINISHED, THE WHOLE DIALOGUE. KNOWLEDGE HAS A WAY OF WHEN YOU ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION, YOU DEVELOP CONFIDENCE. THE CONFIDENCE TURNS INTO COURAGE. EVENTUALLY, YOU REALIZE I HAVE GOT TO DO SOMETHING WITH INFORMATION. >> YOU WERE A LEADING SCORER ON THE DENVER NUGGETS. WAS THERE A TIME WHEN YOU STARTED TO THINK ABOUT THE REPERCUSSIONS AND RISKS OF YOUR ACTIONS? >> OF COURSE. IN READING HISTORY, YOU SEE. JON CARLOS, MUHAMMAD ALI, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A PERSON SPEAKS THEIR CONSCIENCE. . I WAS NOT UNAWARE OF IT. AT THE SAME TIME, YOU HAVE THIS DELUSIONAL HOPE THAT MAYBE THINGS HAVE CHANGED, PEOPLE UNDERSTAND NOW. BUT YOU ARE QUICKLY A WEEKEND TO THAT'S NOT THE CASE WHEN YOU ARTICULATE CERTAIN THINGS. >> OVERTIME, YOU ARE ULTIMATELY TRADED THEN CUT. YOU HAD TO PLAY OVERSEAS. KIND OF WALK US THROUGH THAT TIME, YOUR MENTALITY AND OUTLOOK THEN. >> OH MY. IT WAS SOME OF THE TOUGHEST MOMENTS OF MY LIFE. NOT BEING ABLE TO GET A JOB IN THE NBA, THAN GOING OVERSEAS. BECAUSE THEY KNOW YOU CAN'T GET THAT JOB, AND THEY ARE GETTING YOU FOR CHIEF, RIGHT? AND THEN YOU SPEND MOST OF YOUR LIFE HONING SKILLS TO DO THAT. YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE, IN A SENS, THERE IS NOT MUCH ELSE YOU CAN DO. AND SO THE MONEY -- BECAUSE WE, AFRICAN AMERICANS, WE DON'T HAVE GENERATIONAL WEALTH. WE TAKE CARE OF A LOT OF FAMILIES. WE DON'T HAVE THINGS, THE MONEY GOES FAST. AND THERE WAS A PERIOD WHEN I LOST EVERYTHING. I KEPT IT QUIET AND KEPT ASKING GOD TO GUIDE MY STEPS. HERE I AM. >> OF COURSE, THERE ARE INEVITABLE COMPARISONS BETWEEN YOU AND COLIN KAEPERNICK. HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT THERE IS ABOUT 20 YEARS BETWEEN THE TWO SITUATIONS -- HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT HIS HAS ENDED UP DIFFERENTLY FROM YOUR? >> I THINK THE DIFFERENCES WHEN I WAS TAKING MY POSITION AT THE TIME, THERE WAS NO SOCIAL MEDI. THE MEDIA COULD CONTROL THE NARRATIVE MORE. SOCIAL MEDIA THINGS HAVE SHIFTED. IT WASN'T AS EASILY CONTROLLED AND I WAS TALKING TO DOCTOR AREA TO PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE, I NEVER HEARD THAT BEFORE. WHEN MUHAMMAD ALI TOOK A STAND, THERE WAS A BLACK POWER MOVEMENT TO FRAME IT, WHEN COLIN KAEPERNICK THERE WAS THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT. WHEN YOU AND HODGES DID IT, THERE WAS NO MOVEMENT. IT WAS LIKE YOU WERE IN THE OCEAN ALL BY YOURSELF. THAT'S INTERESTING. I THINK THE DIFFERENCE IS SOCIAL MEDIA. AND THE ATTENTION. I HAD A LOT OF MALES, DEATH THREATS, ALSO A LOT OF SUPPORT NOW. BLACK, WHITE, WOMAN, MAN. YOU WOULD NEVER HAVE KNOWN BECAUSE SOCIAL MEDIA WASN'T ALIVE THEN. >> WHEN YOU LOOK BACK ON JUST HOW YOU WERE VILIFIED, ARE THERE THINGS THAT YOU SAY, YOU KNOW I WOULD HAVE DONE THIS DIFFERENTLY? >> WITH THE LUXURY OF HINDSIGH, I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE THOUGHT THAT I COULD HAVE BEEN MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE, MORE ARTICULATE. IN TERMS OF MAKING THE DECISIO, NO, I WOULD STILL HAVE MADE THE DECISION. AFTERWARDS, I NEVER STOP. YEAH. I THINK TEAMS ARE IMPORTANT. I LOVE WHAT KAEPERNICK DID IN TERMS OF KNOWING YOUR RIGHTS. THEN FOLLOWING UP, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT IF I HAD THE CHANCE OF DOING IT AGAIN, I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE DONE SOMETHING DOWN THOSE LINES. >> DO YOU STILL PLAY BASKETBAL? >> YEAH. OF COURSE. >> DO YOU FEEL AT ALL THAT THE NBA OWES YOU AN APOLOGY? >> THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION. I WILL LEAVE THAT UP TO THE NB. I WILL NOT BEG THEM FOR AN APOLOGY. BUT AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, APOLOGIES, IN AND OF THEMSELVE, BY THEMSELVES, MEAN NOTHING. IT IS SOMEONE APOLOGIZING FOR SLAVERY BUT THERE IS NO REPARATION. FAMILIES WERE DESTROYED. THERE COULD HAVE BEEN HELD. A PERSON'S CAREER WAS DESTROYE. IF THEY WERE CONSCIOUS AND WANTED TO DO THE RIGHT THING, THAT'S WHAT THEY WOULD DO. >> HOW DID THE DOCUMENTARY COME ABOUT? >> I THINK THE TIMING WAS RIGHT. AND DUE TO ALL THIS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD, WITH ATHLETES BEING MORE VOCAL. BUT I'M ALSO 53 NOW. I HAVE LIVED, I HAVE EXPERIENCED MORE. I AM IN A POSITION TO ARTICULATE WHAT I WENT THROUGH COMPARED TO WHEN I WAS YOUNGER. >> WHAT IS NEXT FOR YOU? >> OH, WOW. I AM LOOKING TO, AT SOME POINT, YOU DO A PODCAST. I'M WRITING ANOTHER BOOK. I DO A LOT OF SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS. I'M LOOKING TO TRAVEL THE WORLD TO DO THAT ON DIFFERENT TOPICS. JUST TRYING TO STAY BUSY. >> MAHMOUD, THE STEPH CURRY BEFORE STEPH CURRY, AS THEY SAY. >> I AM HUMBLED. >> WE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND SHARING YOUR STORY. WE LET OUR VIEWERS KNOW