With all of these record breaking stats, Jabbar retired from playing basketball in 1989. After this retirement, Kareem was in several movies two of which are the movies Game of Death (a martial arts film) and the comedy called Airplane. Although the basketball legend did not get away from the sport he loved most, in December 2009 Kareem was diagnosed with a rare type leukemia. This was a rare cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Though, in February of 2011, the doctors declared that Jabbar was cancer free. In conclusion, Kareem Abdul Jabbar was someone who started off playing basketball at a very young age and retired in 1989 with record breaking statistics and six championship rings. Jabbar was known as a very skilled athlete and will always be known as a basketball