NBA Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Battles Cancer

In very sad news, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar announced this week he had an incurable form of cancer. Kareem, who is 62 years old, has been privately battling the disease for a very long time. The type of cancer he has is called chronic myelogenous leukemia which is common in elderly patients compared to other demographics. Fortunately for Kareem, he is expected to live a normal healthy life since doctors analyze his blood regularly along with daily medication. Kareem is just the kind of person who would seem to live a long life since he has such positive energy in my opinion. Kareem is currently working with Lakers management and hopes to someday be a coach in the National Basketball Association.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was best known for his dominance in the National Basketball Association throughout the 1970s and the 1980s. He went to school at the University of Los Angeles prior to his professional career with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. He was playing the under the wing of basketball coaching legend John Wooden at UCLA from 1966-69. Together, they won three consecutive NCAA titles by accumulating an overall win-loss record of 88-2. After Abdul-Jabbar's final NCAA title, he was the number one overall pick in the NBA Draft. He was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks under the name Lew Alcindor back in 1969.

In 1971, Lew Alcindor decided to convert to Islam and adopted the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after the Bucks won their first and only championship. During Kareem's stint with the Bucks, he managed to win the rookie of the year award, one championship, and three MVP titles. Since Kareem changed his name to what it is now during in the early 70s, he asked to be traded to either the Lakers or Knicks due to their cities familiarity with culture. Once he started playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's dominance skyrocketed as he gained many more championships alongside superstars such as Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Coach Pat Riley. From there on, he won five more titles and four more MVP awards. Kareem's most notable move in the game of basketball was his skyhook which was almost impossible to stop in both the 1970s and 1980s. This move has never been used occasionally by any player since his retirement back in 1989. Kareem has been an assistant coach for the LA Lakers since 2005.

Information concerning Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's cancer was gathered from cnn.com

Mini bio and stats was collected from "The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia"