NBA Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Recovering from Surgery After Scary Fall
76-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is recovering after another health scare. The NBA legend suffered from a fall while attending a concert on Friday evening. He was taken to the hospital and had to undergo surgery for a broken hip. His longtime business partner Deborah Morales confirmed that he is now out of surgery and recovering well.
She said, “He is recovering just fine. We are all deeply appreciative of all the support for Kareem, especially from the Los Angeles Fire Department who assisted Kareem on site and the amazing medical team and doctors at UCLA Hospital who are taking great care of Kareem now.”
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Now, Abdul-Jabbar himself shared an update and joked about the incident. He said, in part, “You may have heard that Humpty Kareem had a great fall. It’s true. I was at The Manhattan Transfer’s final public concert at Disney Hall, ready to read a letter from Kamala Harris and provide some praise of my own for a group I love and admire. But I fell and was carted off to UCLA Hospital with a broken hip.” He added that he’d “like to say I fell while trying to save a child from plunging over a balcony, but I just tripped. Hard for me to accept that a once world-class athlete just stumbled. But age is the great equalizer and humbles us all.”
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The 7-foot-2 former athlete has faced some scary health issues in the past decade or so. In 2009, he revealed that he was diagnosed with a cancer of the blood called chronic myeloid leukemia. A few years later, he shared that he was cancer-free, but confirmed that he would likely never be fully cancer-free but his levels were as good as they could be. In 2020, he shared that he had prostate cancer, and this year, he said he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation after experiencing fatigue, shortness of breath, and an irregular heartbeat.
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Abdul-Jabbar began his basketball career in 1969 with the Milwaukee Bucks. He later played for the Los Angeles Lakers and became one of the most iconic players of all time. He held the all-time scoring record for 39 years until he was beaten by LeBron James in February. After retiring in 1989, he has spent most of his time doing social activism work and writing books. He has also served as a cultural ambassador for the United States. In his personal life, he has five children with three different women including his ex-wife Habiba Abdul-Jabbar.
Wishing him a very speedy recovery and better health in the new year!
Where Are They Now - The Seventies
June 2022
Who can forget all the great TV shows, movies and music of the ‘70s?
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