ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale revealed Wednesday that he has vocal cord cancer.
Vitale, 84, revealed the diagnosis on social media, adding that he’ll need to six weeks of radiation treatments and plans to “fight like hell.” Vitale said this “terrible disease … has knocked on my door three different times.” Vitale said he hopes to be able to call games in the fall.
This is Vitale third bout with cancer. Vitale was diagnosed with melanoma in the summer of 2021 and was subsequently diagnosed with lymphoma requiring multiple surgeries months later. Vitale announced in August that he was cancer-free.
The treatments for lymphoma caused Vitale to contract vocal cord dysplasia in 2022, forcing him to miss the second half of the 2021-22 season off from ESPN to rest his voice.
Vitale has been with ESPN since 1979, the year the network started broadcasting.
