In November 2009, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar revealed he had been diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a rare type of blood cancer the previous year. “It was frightening. You hear the word leukemia and it’s something that really affects you,” he told The New York Times of his diagnosis. But while the NBA star admitted to initially being scared, he revealed to the outlet that the diagnosis was not life-threatening. “In order to really deal with this situation, you have to find a specialist and follow their instructions,” the athlete added. “You have to take your medication; you have to get your blood checked regularly so that you can be monitored.” In a 2009 interview with CNN, Abdul-Jabbar insisted that having CML did not affect his quality of life.
True to this claim, Abdul-Jabbar has continued to live a healthy life through the years. In 2018, the six-time NBA champion celebrated ten years as a cancer survivor. While he explained that Leukemia hardly goes into remission, Adbul-Jabbar told People doctors had been able to manage his diagnosis to “a microscopic level.” He added: “I feel fine, and I’m very fortunate to benefit from the medical research that enable the targeted drugs to deal with the types of leukemia that I possess,” he says. “I’m very happy to be here and very happy to be participating. I’m just trying to hang on here, and every day is a blessing.”
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This, however, is not all there is to Adbul-Jabbar’s health.
