‘Humpty Kareem’: NBA legend gives update after fall

(KTLA) — NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar let fans know he “just stumbled” before he broke his hip at Disney Hall on Friday.

Abdul-Jabbar was at Disney Hall in downtown Los Angeles to honor the Manhattan Transfer’s final show with a letter from Vice President Kamala Harris and his own remarks when “Humpty Kareem had a great fall,” he wrote on Substack.

“I’d like to say I fell while trying to save a child from plunging over a balcony, but I just tripped,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote. “Hard for me to accept that a once world-class athlete just stumbled. But age is the great equalizer and humbles us all.”

The basketball Hall of Famer had surgery Sunday “with no complications,” his business partner and spokeswoman, Deborah Morales, told The Associated Press on Monday.

“He will be in recovery for the next three months,” she wrote via text.

After thanking the Los Angeles Fire Department and the medical staff at UCLA Hospital for treating his injury, Abdul-Jabbar posted Harris’ letter, which hailed the Manhattan Transfer’s music as “a reflection of the ingenuity of the American people.”

For his part, Abdul-Jabbar highlighted the group’s “a cappella harmonies and scatting,” as well as their “doo-wop style, [which] reminded me of my own youth growing up in New York City.”

Despite his inability to appear Friday, the NBA Hall of Famer noted that his fall had a silver lining for the band.

“On the plus side, my fall hit all the newspapers so I made your final show even more memorable,” he wrote. “Come for the music, stay for the klutzy fall.”

“All my best to you from my hospital bed. Me and my new hip will be dancing to your tunes again. Well, gently swaying.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.