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 UCLA Health issued a statement Friday at the request of
Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time leading scorer and member of the
Basketball Hall of Fame.
Abdul-Jabbar, who turned 68 on Thursday, was admitted to Ronald
Reagan UCLA Medical Center this week with cardiovascular disease.
The operation was performed Thursday by Dr. Richard Shemin, UCLA's
chief of cardiac surgery. Shemin said the surgery was successful and
he expects Abdul-Jabbar to make a full recovery.
The 7-foot-2 Abdul-Jabbar played 20 seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks
and Los Angeles Lakers, retiring in 1989.
Abdul-Jabbar, a 19-time All-Star and six-time league MVP, won six
NBA championships -- five with the Lakers and one with the Bucks.
- - -
The Indiana Pacers won a tiebreaker over the Utah Jazz on Friday
that gives them one extra chance in the draft lottery.
In non-lottery tiebreakers, the Dallas Mavericks (50-32) edged the
Chicago Bulls for the 21st draft spot, the Memphis Grizzlies (55-27)
beat out the San Antonio Spurs for No. 25 and the Houston Rockets
(56-26) aced the Los Angeles Clippers for No. 27.
The draft lottery is May 19. The draft is June 25.
- - -
The NBA is considering extending the season by a week in 2015-16 to
alleviate the number of back-to-back games, commissioner Adam Silver
said Friday at the Board of Governors meeting in New York.
Silver said the league probably will make a decision by early May.
He said the league should be able to reduce the number of
back-to-back sets next year to 16 per team, which would be the
lowest ever. He also said the league thinks it can reduce to one the
number of times teams play four times in five nights.
Silver also said the league could shorten the preseason starting in
2016 so the season can begin earlier.
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Brooklyn Nets forward Mirza Teletovic has been cleared to resume
basketball activities and could return for the playoffs.
Teletovic has been out since being diagnosed with blood clots in his
lungs in January.
In 40 games (four starts) this season, Teletovic averaged 8.5
points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
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Dallas Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons plans to play in Saturday
night's series opener against the Houston Rockets.
Parsons, who missed the final six games of the regular season due to
a sore right knee, practiced Friday for the first time since leaving
an April 2 game.
Parsons is the Mavs' third-leading scorer with 15.7 points per game.
He also averaged 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists.
- - -
Atlanta Hawks guard/forward Thabo Sefolosha underwent surgery on
Friday to repair a fractured right fibula and ligament damage
suffered during his arrest April 9.
The Hawks said Sefolosha will miss the playoffs.
Sefolosha was injured in the early morning hours outside a Manhattan
nightclub, where a police report states he was resisting arrest.
Sefolosha said police caused the injury. (Editing by Gene Cherry)
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