kareem-adbul-jabbar-leukemiaKareem Abdul-Jabbar, my father’s favorite basketball player and the leading scorer in NBA history, revealed that he has leukemia. In an interview on GMA, Jabbar said that when he found out last December, he thought it was a “death sentence.” But like his former teammate who has HIV, Magic Johnson, Jabbar is doing well today. I took in my first NBA game on Dec. 17, 1985 with my Dad when the Lakers visited the Knicks. LA won, as Jabbar bested 1st year pro Patrick Ewing (at least that’s how I remember it). The game was scintillating, and afterward, we memorably walked about 20 blocks in freezing weather and marveled at how a 38-year-old Jabbar looked so graceful flipping that skyhook over the awesome young rookie from Georgetown. That’s the day I began to love the NBA. [LAT, NYT]