On Tuesday morning, basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar announced that he is battling a rare form of cancer.

The all-star NBA legend was diagnosed with a rare type of blood cancer known as Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia late last year. He has not spoken about his battle publicly until now, and hopes to inspire others as new treatments are available to patients with the disease.

The type of cancer Kareem faces affects the blood and bone marrow.