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Legendary college basketball announcer Dick Vitale revealed that he’s been diagnosed with vocal cord cancer.
It marks his third bout with cancer in two years. Vitale announced that he received treatment for melanoma in August 2021 and was additionally diagnosed with lymphoma months later in October 2021. He was declared “cancer free” in August 2022, but doctors recently advised Vitale to undergo vocal cord surgery after “past issues” returned.
“The tests on the tissues they removed showed that I have vocal cord cancer and will need 6 weeks of radiation to treat it,” the 84-year-old announced on Twitter Wednesday. “Dr. (Steven Zeitels) tells me that it has an extremely high cure rate, and that radiation, not more surgery, is the best path.”
Vitale said his goal of being ready to commentate college basketball games for his 45th year on ESPN hasn’t changed, despite a cancer diagnosis that impacts his signature voice.
“I plan to fight like hell to be ready to call games when the college hoops season tips off in the Fall,” he wrote, adding, “I plan on winning this battle like I did vs. Melanoma & Lymphoma.”
Vitale’s health update coincides Wednesday with the 2023 ESPY Awards, the same place he accepted the 2022 Jimmy V Award for Perseverance for his battle with cancer, the disease that claimed the life of his best friend Jim Valvano in 1993.
“This time last year, I was on the ESPYs stage, asking everyone to help in the cancer fight,” Vitale wrote. “This terrible disease strikes so many of our loved ones, and it’s now knocked on my door three different times. More research will continue to help in this fight.”
2022 ESPY AWARDS:Top moments, including Dick Vitale’s moving speech, Klay Thompson’s tribute to Kobe Bryant
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