In the end, he convinced us, and we decided to support him. Bill Russell summed it up for all of us:

I envy Muhammad Ali . . . He has something I have never been able to attain and something very few people possess. He has absolute and sincere faith. I’m not worried about Muhammad Ali. He is better equipped than anyone I know to withstand the trials in store for him. What I’m worried about is the rest of us.

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem. Black Cop’s Kid: An Essay (p. 26). Kindle Edition.