Former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar names Star Trek: Discovery as one of the best morale-boosting TV dramas

Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou and Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has named Star Trek: Discovery as one of the best morale-boosting TV dramas for people of color.

The former NBA star and current author and columnist, publicized his choice in an article for The Hollywood Reporter, yesterday. In the article, he used the backdrops of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing nationwide protests against racial injustice to highlight that “Good shows can boost a community's morale and self-esteem — and make them feel connected to people like them and valued by people not like them." He then highlighted a list of six shows that he said were “vastly entertaining and also promote a positive sense of ethnic identity about who we are and our importance in society.”

Of Star Trek: Discovery, Abdul-Jabbar said: “This incarnation of the Star Trek universe is the most consciously diverse, but it's also the most creative in terms of story-telling and jaw-dropping plot twists. The Black protagonist (Sonequa Martin-Green) is a daring and sometimes impulsive female science officer whose career is Dickensian in its ups and downs. Add Michelle Yeoh in dual roles — both of them badass — and you have great stories and great role models.”

The other series Abdul-Jabbar recommended were CBS All Access’ The Good Fight, Netflix’s Giri/Haji, HBO’s Watchmen, the BBC and AMC’s Killing Eve, and Showtime’s Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. It’s worth noting that three of the six shows he recommended are from ViacomCBS, who recently pledged $5 million to social justice organizations.