Abdul-Jabbar: 'More whites believe in ghosts than they do in racism'

Former NBA superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said Sunday "more whites believe in ghosts than they do in racism."

Racism is a systemic problem, he said on ABC's "This Week." Abdul-Jabbar penned an op-ed last week for Time Magazine discussing race and the racist history of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Anyone paying attention to Sterling's past, Abdul-Jabbar said, shouldn't be surprised by comments made in private. For example, the Justice Department sued Sterling in 2006 for housing discrimination. And Sterling reportedly said, “Black tenants smell and attract vermin.”

Racism is "something that’s still part of our culture and people hold onto these ideas and practices," Abdul-Jabbar said.

And the NBA, he said, has a responsibility to monitor the "temperature" of racial discrimination. "The NBA has to keep the issue in people’s minds when it’s appropriate," he said.