Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- Quadruple Bypass at Alma Mater

breaking news

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar underwent emergency heart surgery -- a quadruple coronary bypass at UCLA Medical Center ... and it sounds like he came through with flying colors.

The hospital says the hoops Hall of Famer was admitted earlier this week, and had the lifesaving surgery on Thursday ... to clear major blockage of his heart. Fittingly, for the UCLA legend ... the surgery was performed by the hospital's chief of cardiac surgery, Dr. Richard Shemin.

Doctors say Kareem is expected to make a full recovery ... and he's already looking forward to getting back to normal life activities soon.