One of the faces of ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale said Wednesday that he has vocal cord cancer and will need to undergo six weeks of radiation to treat it.
“I’m sorry to share that I received tough news today from Dr. Steven Zeitels about my throat,” Vitale wrote on social media. “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 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,” Vitale wrote in a statement posted on social media.
Vitale, one of the most recognizable voices in US sports announcing, known for his creative and one-of-a-kind delivery, and love and passion for the game, has previously had lengthy battles with lymphoma and melanoma.
In 2021, Vitale was diagnosed with lymphoma, months after he had multiple surgeries to remove melanoma. He detailed his treatments and recovery on social media, posting photos of doctor visits and hospital stays while issuing motivational tips recorded before he was put on voice rest. Last year, he announced that he was cancer-free.
However, the 84-year-old Hall of Famer revealed that after undergoing tests in the hospital, a pathology report deduced that he had vocal cord cancer, saying that he plans “on winning this battle like I did vs Melanoma & Lymphoma!”
“This time last year, I was on the ESPYS stage, asking everyone to help in the cancer fight. 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.”
Last year, Vitale was honored at the ESPYs as the winner of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance, the award is named after Vitale’s longtime friend, Jim Valvano, another coach turned analyst who died of cancer on April 28, 1993.
Vitale added: “I’m grateful to my immediate family as well as my ESPN family for their incredible support, and so appreciative of the outstanding team of medical experts whose dedication has such a positive impact on so many lives.”
Vitale has been with ESPN since 1979, the year the network launched. He called ESPN’s first college basketball broadcast.
According to Johns Hopkins, an estimated 10,000 cases of vocal cord cancer are diagnosed in the US each year.
