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Dwyane Wade endured the roughest year of his life in 2024 without telling many people about it. Five years after retiring from professional basketball, the Miami Heat legend revealed that he recently recovered from a cancer diagnosis that required kidney surgery.
Wade told the story on the latest release of his podcast, “The Why with Dwyane Wade.” The 13-time All-Star recalled walking into the doctor's office for a routine physical and shockingly finding out that he had cancer at just 41 years old.
“I went in and I was like, ‘Doc, I want to know everything about my body,” Wade said. “I went in for something else, but because I did the full body scan, they were able to see something inside my kidney. What I had on my kidney was a cyst, a tumor. But it was not nothing that could biopsy [or] test without surgery. So I'm sitting in the doctor, and the doctor was like, ‘You need to have kidney surgery.'”
#DwyaneWade says he had to have nearly half of one his kidneys removed from his body in order to rid himself of a cancerous mass.
Full story HERE ➡: https://t.co/mgNAHUSwf9
📽️: The Why with Dwayne Wade pic.twitter.com/JmmbWsjJX2
— TMZ (@TMZ) January 30, 2025
Wade recalled seeking multiple opinions after getting over the shock factor. Eventually, he went through with the surgical procedure, which he noted removed 40 percent of one of his kidneys.
Wade revealed he had the surgery in December 2023. He refrained from publicizing his struggles to avoid additional media attention.
“Thank God that I did the surgery because the tumor was cancerous,” Wade said. “So I have one [full] kidney, and I have another kidney that is at 60 percent. They took 40 percent of my kidney to make sure they got all the cancer off of it.”
Dwyane Wade details struggle of cancer surgery recovery
Wade titled the podcast episode of his revelation “TimeOut, Part 1: A Men's Wellness Conversation.” He used the edition of his show to shed light on men's health by opening up about the internal battles he faced during the most difficult moments of his life.
After having the surgery, Wade admitted that the most difficult part of the situation was his recovery. The 43-year-old confessed that he struggled with allowing his family to see him “weak” as he recovered from the procedure.
“I think that was the first time my family saw me weak. That moment was probably the weakest point of my life. I was struggling, dog. As a man, you never want your family to see you weak. Fortunately, for me, my family jumped in.”
Wade added that he reached out to former teammate Alonzo Mourning, who received a kidney transplant in 2003. He credited Mourning with helping him prepare for and get through his kidney surgery. Wade and Mourning played together for the final four years of the latter's career.
New editions of “The Why with Dwyane Wade” are typically released weekly. The topics of the discussions range from current NBA events to Wade's opinions on politics and economics.
