LOS ANGELES (AFP) — National Basketball Association legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said he is recovering from hip replacement surgery after falling at a concert, but his Substack account of the incident showed his sense of humor is intact.

"Humpty Kareem had a great fall," Abdul-Jabbar quipped in the first sentence of his Substack post on Monday that described his fall at a Manhattan Transfer concert in Los Angeles on Friday.

"I would like to say I fell while trying to save a child from plunging over a balcony, but I just tripped," the six-time NBA champion wrote.

"Hard for me to accept that a once world-class athlete just stumbled. But age is the great equalizer and humbles us all."

"Now, I'm a world-class patient in a bed convalescing from a hip replacement like 450,000 other Americans every year."

The 76-year-old said he was scheduled to speak at the concert, which was the vocal quartet's final performance in a decades-long career.

"But I fell and was carted off to UCLA Hospital with a broken hip," he said.

Deborah Morales, Abdul-Jabbar's business partner and spokesperson, had issued a statement on Saturday saying he had suffered a broken hip and would undergo surgery.

She told CNN on Sunday that he was "recovering just fine" and on Monday Abdul-Jabbar posted on Substack, where he regularly writes about sports, politics and culture.

"I will be taking a week or so off over the holidays to fully recuperate and spend time with my family," Abdul-Jabbar wrote. "When I return, it will be with a shiny new hip and a lot of shiny thoughts to share."

The iconic 7-foot-2 superstar center made his NBA debut with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969 and in 1971 led the Bucks to their first NBA crown.

Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975 and together with playmaker Magic Johnson combined for a "Showtime" era to bring the Lakers five titles in the 1980s before retiring in 1989.