Basketball legend Dwyane Wade on Thursday revealed he had a cancerous tumour removed from his kidney in 2023.
The retired NBA Hall of Famer shared details of his health journey for the first time on Thursday’s episode of his iHeartRadio podcast “The Way With Dwyane Wade.”
Wade, 43, said that he put off going to the doctor for a physical for years until he was inspired to go because of his father’s prostate cancer journey. He went to the doctor and shared that he had been experiencing symptoms including stomach issues, cramps, and slow urination.
“On the process of checking, like, ‘Why is my piss coming out slow, why is my stream ain’t powerful? Why is it a little weak?’” Wade said. A full-body scan revealed the “shocking” diagnosis: a “cyst/tumour” on one of his kidneys.
“And the doctor was like, ‘You need to have kidney surgery,’” he said. On Dec. 18, 2023, he underwent surgery, and ultimately had about 40% of his kidney removed. After removing the tumour, doctors confirmed it was cancerous.
“My own journey to have that surgery, I think it was the first time that my family, my dad, my kids, they saw me weak,” Wade shares. “That moment was probably the weakest point I’ve ever felt in my life.”
Even so, Wade said he believes his choice to undergo surgery was the right one.
“I had a personal decision to make, and what it was was, ‘If this is cancerous, if this tumour, this cyst is cancerous, on your kidney, you’re 41 years old, you probably need surgery because it’s something that needs to be removed so it doesn’t spread,’” Wade said.
“As a man, you never want your family to see you weak,” he says. “Don’t want to be perceived weak, don’t want to be seen in your weakest moments but I had to.”
Despite feeling weak, the experience led Wade to find “strength” in his family. He shares Zaire, 22, and Zaya, 17, with ex-wife Siovaughn Funches; son, Xavier, 11, with Aja Metoyer; daughter, Kaavia James, 6, with wife Gabrielle Union; and he is the legal guardian of his 21-year-old nephew, Dahveon Morris.
“What I saw in the midst of me going through my illness, I saw my family that may not always talk, may not always agree. I saw everybody show up for me and be there for me and in that process, in my weakness I found strength in my family,” he said.