Behind The Box Score

After dominating the NBA for 19 years, and being the all-time leader in points scored, this is one defender Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hasn’t faced before. On Monday, he told the AP that he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and is currently receiving treatment. His doctor told him that: “You have a very good chance to live your life out and not have to make any drastic changes to your lifestyle.” Abdul Jabaar, 62, collected 6 MVP titles and won three NCAA titles while playing for the great John Wooden at UCLA. Currently he is a special assistant with the Lakers, but doesn’t plan on cutting back on his work load any time soon.

Abdul-Jabaar went to the doctor last December after he began having weird feelings. “I was getting hot flashes and sweats on a regular basis. That’s not normal, even for my age.” He is currently trying to promote awareness for the disease, and has become a spokesperson for Novartis, the company that makes the drug to treat the illness that 22,000 people in America currently live with. He went on to say, “I’ve never been a person to share my private life. But I can help save lives. It’s incumbent on someone like me to talk about this.”