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Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Former NBA All-Star and champion Dwyane Wade on Thursday announced he had 40% of his right kidney removed along with a cancerous tumor in December 2023. Wade, 43, announced the cancer diagnosis and surgery on his "The Why With Dwayne Wade" podcast, WITI, People and Sports Illustrated reported.
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"I went to get checked out," Wade said. "I went in and I was like, 'Doc, I want to know everything about my body, head to toe."
He said he had "some things that I'm feeling" at the time, including "some stomach issues."
Wade said his father similarly had gone "through something" and knew he might, too.
"They were able to see something that was on my ... right kidney when I went in," Wade said.
That "something" was a tumor that could not be biopsied without surgically removing it.
Wade said he visited several doctors and made the decision to undergo surgery because the tumor was cancerous.
"So I have one kidney, and I have another kidney that is 60%," Wade said. "They took 40% of my kidney to make sure that they could get all the cancer off of it."
Wade was a 13-time NBA All-Star shooting guard for the Miami Heat and helped the team win NBA titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
He also briefly played for the Chicago Bulls in 2016 and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017 before returning to the Heat for his final season in 2018-19.
The Chicago native played college basketball for Marquette University in Milwaukee and was drafted fifth overall by the Miami Heat during the 2003 NBA draft.
Many consider the 2003 NBA draft class to be the best ever and included several future Hall of-Fame members, including LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Bosh and Wade.
Carmelo Anthony also was drafted in 2003 and is expected to be made a member of the NBA Hall of Fame this year, Sports Illustrated reported.
Wade was enshrined in the NBA Hall of Fame on Aug. 12, 2023.
