Legendary ESPN announcer Dick Vitale, 85, reveals major cancer update - sports news foot

Legendary college basketball announcer Dick Vitale has received an early Christmas present, as he revealed on Thursday that he is cancer-free.

Vitale, 85, has been diagnosed with cancer four times in the last three years, and announced in June that he had cancer in his lymph nodes.

Now, however, he’s been given a clean bill of health as he celebrated on social media.

‘SANTA CLAUS came early as Dr Rick Brown called & said that my PET SCAN at 7 AM came back CLEAN OF CANCER !,’ he wrote on X. ‘OMG thanks so much to ALL of YOU for your [prayers] Yes I’m cutting the nets down baby it’s my National Championship!

Vitale made the announcement while promoting the V Foundation for Cancer Research, named for the late college basketball coach Jim Valvano – who died of cancer in 1993.

Vitale, who shared photos earlier in the day of him undergoing a PET scan, underwent successful surgery for a cancerous lymph node back in July. 

The legendary Dick Vitale,85,  informed his fans on Thursday that he was cancer-free

Vitale was absent from the booth last season as he dealt with the effects of vocal cord cancer

It’s unclear if Vitale – who missed the 2023-24 college season due to the effects of vocal cord cancer – will return to the booth for ESPN.

But the network’s official X account replied to his good news on Thursday.

‘You just made our week,@DickieV!,’ they wrote. ‘You’re an ESPN legend and we’re so, so happy to hear this news. It’s Awesome, baby, with a capital A!’

Vitale, a former college and NBA coach, joined ESPN 45 years ago during the 1979-80 college season.

Considered a legend of the hoops world, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. 

His fight with cancer began in 2021, as he was treated for lymphoma and melanoma before being declared cancer-free the following year.

He then fought off vocal cord cord cancer after being diagnosed with the disease in July 2023, but announced this past June that he was dealing with cancer in his lymph nodes.