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ESPN icon Dick Vitale has a health update for fans, and it's awesome, baby.
The 86-year-old college basketball analyst is still cancer free as of his latest check-up, he announced on Monday.
“Positive news today after my scoping & examination by Dr Steven Zeitels in Boston,” he wrote via X alongside a trio of photos of himself at the doctor's office. “He said my vocal cords are the same as last exam CANCER FREE🙏🙏🙏 answered!”
Vitale has spent the better part of the last four years battling cancer, beginning in 2021 when he had surgery to remove a melanoma. Later that year, he was diagnosed with lymphoma, and doctors found pre-cancerous dysplasia and ulcerous lesions on his vocal cords. The treatment caused him to lose his voice, sidelining him from his college basketball duties.
In 2023, Vitale underwent treatment for laryngeal cancer, followed by lymph node cancer in 2024. Last December, he announced that doctors declared him cancer free once again, and seven months later, that remains the case.
Vitale made his return to the broadcast booth in February 2025. Calling a college basketball game for ESPN live for the first time in almost two years, he was courtside at Littlejohn Coliseum for Clemson's upset win over Cooper Flagg and Duke. The crowd gave him a massive ovation when the arena PA announcer introduced him, and he later expressed his gratitude on the air.
“I want to say thanks to all the people,” Vitale said at the time. “The reception here has been really off the charts. I'm sorry for being so emotional. I can't tell you how excited I am to be here. … This is like my Super Bowl. To be able to sit courtside and do a game, it beats the hell out of chemotherapy and radiation.”
He then had a message for viewers at home also battling cancer.
“And I want to say to all cancer patients out there: Please, think positive and have faith. And keep fighting and fighting.”
