Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has never been one to shy away from criticizing other people. The Los Angeles Lakers legend has spent the last few years being a vocal activist, speaking his mind on various important topics. It's one of the reasons why many current and former players have so much respect for him.

Earlier on Sunday, a reporter asked Kareem Abdul-Jabbar something about current Lakers star LeBron James. Abdul-Jabbar would praise LeBron to start, but he'd dish out some criticism of the star towards the end of his answer.

“Some of the great things that he’s done, he’s standing on both sides of the fence almost, you know? It makes it hard for me to accept that when he’s committed himself to a different take on everything. It’s hard to figure out where he’s standing. You’ve got to check him out every time.”

In particular, Kareem would slam the Lakers star's controversial Instagram post regarding the difference between a common cold and COVID-19. After his comments started trending on Twitter, the Lakers legend tweeted out his response, saying that his comments were “blown out of proportion”.

“Today a reporter asked me a question about Lebron James and I regret my off-handed response which has been blown out of proportion. For years I’ve expressed my deep admiration and respect for LeBron as a community leader and athlete. That hasn’t changed and never will.”

Being able to speak your mind freely is a strength, for sure. However, the Lakers legend exhibited something rare these days; apologizing if you felt you made a mistake. While no one could certainly fault Kareem for criticizing LeBron in that matter, perhaps the former felt he was being too harsh on the latter. Hence, the well-worded apology tweet.