Ali’s passing takes Jim Brown, Abdul-Jabbar down memory lane (The Associated Press)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jim Brown both got the call on June 4, which was strangely appropriate, along with simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming. The death of Muhammad Ali last week sent Abdul-Jabbar and Brown – the NBA’s all-time scoring leader and a four-time NFL MVP, legends both who looked at the former heavyweight champion as one themselves – strolling down memory lane, back to June 4, 1967 and a sunny day that they spent together in Cleveland. The ”Ali Summit,” as it would be eventually become known, a day where Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor), Brown, Bill Russell and others lobbed questions at Ali for hours to learn about his social stances and political convictions and ultimately determine why they, these other titans of sport and icons in the African-American community, should support him.