Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once got punished by the NBA for sucker punching rival center Kent Benson. As a Democrat apologist for Hollywood Reporter, he now prefers to sucker punch former President Donald Trump and the MAGA crowd. Abdul-Jabbar says he participated in the Biden inauguration because he wanted to relaunch the ship of state with a real captain at the helm. The Hall of Fame hooper wrote that as a participant in President Biden’s inauguration ceremony, he felt honored “to be an active part of the relaunching of the ship of state with a real sea-worthy captain at the helm (think salty Capt. Lee of Below Deck), not a sea-sick imposter who stole the uniform and bluffed his way into the wheelhouse.” The year 2020 was like … “(A) horror movie in which a terrified family battles relentless brain-eating zombies all night, but finally emerges victorious into the bright sun of the dawn. For me, the inauguration of Joe Biden is like that hopeful dawn in which those with brains still intact emerge from the darkness to reclaim our country and everything it stands for.” Abdul-Jabbar participated in the Celebrating America special on ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, MSNBC and PBS and read Abraham Lincoln’s 1854  speech about “the monstrous injustice of slavery.” He wrote that he couldn’t help but wonder what Lincoln would have thought about a Black man reading his words to the entire nation he so ably defended against “insurrectionists.” The master of the skyhook referenced the late Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream of “a unified and equitable America.’’ “I’m hoping the inauguration, with its display of diversity, inclusion and eager hopefulness, will be that inspirational nudge for some skeptics.’’ Inspiration for the 11,000 freshly unemployed Keystone Pipeline workers, it won’t be. Inspiration for the unborn children who will never see the light of day thanks to Biden’s buttressing of abortion, it won’t be. Without being asked, Abdul-Jabbar tried to speak for many Americans in claiming that “the last four years have felt like we were jammed into a tight barrel with a small breathing hole while someone tried to plug up the hole. It was hard to dream, or even encourage others to dream, because the Trump administration worked so hard to suppress the basic rights of so many groups, including women, LGBTQ+, Muslims, Blacks, Latinx and immigrants …” Seems like he should have taken up a hobby. He accused Trump of lying, foot-dragging and incompetence leading to 400,000 pandemic deaths, many preventable. Despite President Trump presiding over incredible economic success, the lanky Democrat dismissed it as perks for the rich. Average American incomes languished, said Abdul-Jabbar, conveniently giving an undeserved pass to shut-it-all down Democrat governors who damaged the economy. Abdul-Jabbar thinks Biden has kick-started the end of divisiveness and stunningly believes America is more united than most people think. Perhaps he hasn’t noticed the left-wing media monopoly and the muting of conservative voices by Big Tech. Here’s more of his drivel: “Only about a third are true believing MAGA puppets who have been used as unwitting tools by billionaire Republicans and ambitious, unscrupulous Republican politicians looking to shove democracy into a meat-grinder if it means squeezing out a couple more cents of profit or power. It works in their favor to make America believe that they have a lot more popular support and therefore political clout than they actually do …” Election deniers are easily manipulated by trigger words like "freedom," "socialist," "radical left" — vague and meaningless words, Abdul-Jabbar droned on. He asked what freedoms they lack and if they are afraid of voter suppression and police brutality. They just want to strap guns on their ankles and go maskless to the grocery stores. Abdul-Jabbar is happy to be living in a new age of reason that is based on evidence and which suddenly began Jan. 20.