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Basketball Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Hospitalized With Broken Hip
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar speaks onstage at the Dolby Theatre on Nov. 15, 2015 in Hollywood.
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Rachel Murray
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Getty Images
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Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was hospitalized Friday night after falling and breaking his hip in Los Angeles.
The Basketball Hall of Famer, who is one of the NBA's highest all-time scorers, was attending a concert at the time, according to his longtime business partner, Deborah Morales.
"Kareem had an accidental fall and broke his hip," Morales said in a statement posted Saturday on Abdul-Jabbar's X feed, formerly Twitter. "He will have surgery today. We are all deeply appreciative of all the support for Kareem, especially from the Los Angeles Fire Department who assisted Kareem on site and the amazing medical team and doctors at UCLA Hospital who are taking great care of Kareem now."
The longtime Los Angeles Lakers center, 76, launched his professional basketball career with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969. He went on to lead the Lakers to five NBA championships in the 1980s. He held the NBA's record for highest all-time scorer for 39 years until LeBron James snatched the title away from Abdul-Jabbar earlier this year.
Abdul-Jabbar is also a social activist who has written more than a dozen books. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Barack Obama in 2016.
Fans took to social media to express their concern for the athlete, who has also faced cancer, and to wish him a speedy recovery.
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