Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says people should lay off the Seattle Seahawks for a tweet comparing the team's NFC Championship Game win to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
The Seahawks deleted the tweet after an uproar on social media and issued an apology.
Appearing on CNN's
"Erin Burnett OutFront" on Monday to discuss how Muslims should be able to handle criticism of their religion without resorting to violence, Abdul-Jabbar also said people shouldn't be so sensitive about the Seahawks tweet.
"You know, someone was trying to make a comparison there and maybe they went too far. These things happen. You know, in the heat of the moment, these things can happen," he said.
"I think we can't be that hypercritical," he added. "If you try to read into everything, that type of sensitivity, nobody is going to say anything."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.