Basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia last December.Kareem who is the all-time NBA leader in points is considered to be one of the greatest centers of all time. Born as Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor in Inwood, New York was a gifted and determined athlete. At Power Memorial High School to three state championships and a 71 game winning streak. He finished his high school career with a 79-2 record. After high school Kareem continued his tradition of excellence at UCLA with legendary coach John Wooden. As a Bruin Kareem led his team from 1966 to 1969 to a 88-2 record and received many accolades being named player of the year in 67 and 69, received first team all-American votes the three years he played and was named the first ever Naismith college player of year in 69. He was the USBA college player of the year, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association player of the year in 68 and won the Helms Foundation player of the year award three times as well. Jabbar received all these honors while he lead the Bruins to three straight NCAA titles. Kareem left more than his mark on the game of college basketball by having the NCAA banned the dunk because of his dominance and still leads UCLA in many different scoring statistics till this day. After his illustrious college career every team wanted the big man to play for there team. The Harlem Globetrotters offered him 1 million dollars, the Milwaukee Bucks drafted him to the NBA and the New Jersey Nets drafted him to the ABA. Kareem made the decision to go with the Bucks where he won the Rookie of the Year Award by averaging 28.8 points a game and 14.5 rebounds per game. He then won final's MVP in 1971 and back to back season MVP trophies in 71 and 72. Kareem was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers where he continued his legacy by winning one more finals MVP, four more season MVP and five more championship trophies. Look we all know Kareem for his sports goggles, his patented sky hook and his role in the movies Airplane and Game of death, but after a twenty year basketball career he has done many different coaching jobs and even written a book titled My Life. I'm glad to have been to Laker's basketball games to see such a great player and person. I am super happy to hear that at 62 years old Kareem's leukemia is not life threatening and he will not have to make drastic changes to his lifestyle. This way Kareem can continue to mentor young basketball athletes and spread his knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance.
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