Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is happy that he went public about dealing with a rare form of leukemia.

Abdul-Jabbar says that the outpouring of public support has been tremendous.

"The response has been really intense," he told the Associated Press. "I didn't expect it to play out this way, but it's been wonderful. I've got people's prayers and their support and they ask what they can do. People just want to connect and it's been beautiful."

The Hall of Fame center added that he's in good spirits as the chronic myeloid leukemia is in remission.

"I'm not dealing with a death sentence and that's one thing that was very important for me to communicate with everyone, that this condition can be managed," he said. "Too many people don't understand that."