NBA icon Dwyane Wade reveals cancer diagnosis, surgery

CHICAGO (CBS) — Chicago native and former Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade revealed Thursday that he was diagnosed with cancer a little over a year ago and lost part of his kidney as a result.

On his “The WY Network” podcast, Wade, 43, said post-retirement from the NBA, he was no longer getting regular physicals as he had in his playing days.

But Wade’s father had battled prostate cancer, so Wade said on the podcast that he decided go for a checkup and asked the doctor to investigate everything he was feeling and experiencing — in particular slow and weak urination.

“Because I did the full-body scan, they were able to see my entire body, my entire inside, and they were able to see something that was on my kidney — on my right kidney,” Wade said on the podcast.

Wade also found out he needed to have kidney surgery. He went in for the surgery on Dec. 18, 2023, and found out that the tumor was indeed cancerous.

He had 40% of his right kidney removed in the surgery — and he said on the podcast that it was a challenge for him in many ways.

“My own journey to have that surgery, I think it was the first time my family — my dad, my kids — they saw me weak,” Wade said. “That moment was probably the weakest one I’ve ever felt in my life.”

But he said he has been making a point of living differently and to the fullest ever since. Wade also emphasized the need for men in particular to check in and take time out for themselves with regard to health.

Wade is a native of Chicago’s South Side. His childhood home was at 59th Street and Prairie Avenue in the Washington Park neighborhood. He and his family later lived in south suburban Robbins.

Wade put Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn on the basketball map, winning a pair of conference titles, and went on to Marquette University in Milwaukee — where he took the Marquette Golden Eagles to the NCAA Final Four in 2003.

He was drafted by the Miami Heat that same year as the fifth overall pick, and played with the Heat for 13 straight seasons — winning NBA titles with the team.

Wade was signed to the Bulls for a two-year deal in 2016, but only played in his hometown for one. He negotiated a contract buyout the following year and moved to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Wade returned to the Heat in 2018 and finished his playing career in Miami.

In 2023, Wade joined the ownership group for the Chicago Sky.