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The Lakers' special coach and former great for the Lakers and UCLA made the media rounds Monday announcing that he is being treated for a rare form of leukemia. The NBA's all-time leading scorer, now 62, was diagnosed last December with chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia and his prognosis is good. He got checked after experiencing hot flashes and sweating. From AP:
Abdul-Jabbar is taking an oral medication for the disease. He is a paid spokesman for the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, which makes a drug that treats the illness.
The Good Morning America story from ABC also mentions the Novartis connection, but it doesn't make it into the Los Angeles Times story. Here's the GMA video.