Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf claims Colin Kaepernick felt freer than ever after the National Anthem kneel

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, the NBA star who used to play for the Denver Nuggets and also refused to stand for the "Star Spangled Banner" song claims Colin Kaepernick felt the "most freedom" after he kneeled for the National Anthem.

When Colin Kaepernick made his statement by kneeling to protest police brutality, racial injustice, and inequality for African Americans in the country, was initially compared to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, who also did it for socio-political reasons.

Colin Kaepernick and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf share similar views

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf spoke to TMZ and said "We never talked a lot, but we did meet up in the Bay Area when he was going through what he did,"

He elaborated "We had a mutual friend. We met in like a private office. We spoke for about an hour. We just shared information and if it resonated, we took it."

One of the takeaways from Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's meeting with Kaepernick

"The biggest takeaway for me during that whole night was when he said this is the most freedom he's ever felt in his life. I said to him, 'well, it's because of this freedom that allows people like yourself and those who came before us and those who'll come after us to take those risks and do what you did.'"

Mahmoud claims that he felt a certain kind of kindship as they were both protesting for things to change with a non-violent gesture so they ed each other's causes.

Abdul-Rauf believes Kaepernick still got it

Abdul-Rauf is adamant that Kaepernick could still be able to play in the NFL even if he is 35 years old.

"I would imagine he still does because when you grow up like we did," Mahmoud elaborated ... "many of us start young. And so we train and that becomes a life for us. It's in our DNA. You just don't turn that off."

Stand Documentary

Abdul-Rauf has a new documentary coming up on how he made it from the bottom to the top of the NBA while fighting poverty, and a nervous system disorder (Tourette syndrome).