Dick Vitale was diagnosed with melanoma and lymphoma in 2021. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Dick Vitale revealed Wednesday that he has vocal cord cancer.
This is Vitale’s third cancer diagnosis. The 84-year-old legendary ESPN college basketball announcer was diagnosed with melanoma in the summer of 2021 and was subsequently diagnosed with lymphoma months later. Vitale announced in August that he was cancer free.
He said in his statement Wednesday that he planned “to fight like hell” to be back calling college basketball games for ESPN.
“I am sorry to share that I received tough news today from Dr. Zeitels about my throat,” Vitale wrote. “The tests on the tissues they removed showed that I have vocal cord cancer and will need six weeks of radiation to treat it. Dr. Z tells me that it has an extremely high cure rate and that radiation, not more surgery, is the best path.”
“I plan to fight like hell to be ready to call games when the college hoops season tips off in the fall. Dr. Z feels that scenario is entirely possible. I want to say that I have been so touched by the tweets, texts, notes and prayers and will ask all of you to continue to send positive vibes.”
You can read Vitale’s entire statement below:
Vitale was also diagnosed with vocal cord dysplasia in 2022 while he was undergoing treatments for lymphoma. He was forced to take the second half of the 2021-22 season off from ESPN to rest his voice. Vitale said that his vocal cords had become inflamed and would need surgery.
His first broadcast during the 2021-2022 season was a matchup of No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 UCLA. Vitale was overcome with emotion being on the sideline for that game after he found out he had been diagnosed with lymphoma a month earlier.
If all goes well, we’ll get to see and hear Vitale on the sidelines again when the season gets underway in a few months.
Vitale has been with ESPN since the network began broadcasting college basketball in 1979. He called the first ESPN college basketball game and has been a mainstay on the network ever since as he became one of the most iconic broadcasters in all of sports.
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