Heat legend Dwyane Wade revealed on his podcast that he had nearly half of one of his kidneys removed because of a cancerous tumor. Wade said the procedure, which removed 40 percent of his kidney, was done in December 2023 after doctors discovered a tumor on his right kidney. “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 said. “That moment was probably the weakest point I’ve ever felt in my life.” Wade said he went to the doctor for a checkup after he turned 40 and also because he had some difficulty with urination and some stomach cramping.
Wade, who made the revelation in the most recent episode of “The Why With Dwyane Wade” podcast, said surgeons needed to remove a part of his kidney to determine if it was malignant. Wade said the recovery was brutal — “I was struggling” — but he’s now fine and cancer-free. Wade explained how he learned of the tumor: “I turned 40 and went in and said, ‘Doc, I want to know everything about my body head to toe. I got some things I’m feeling. Stomach issues. These are the things I want us to check, but also check everything.’” Wade said he told the doctor he had cramps and that his urination was slow. “I’m asking these questions because my father [had prostate cancer],” he said. “You dig deeper and find somebody in your family, grandfather, is going through something.
I went into doctors for something else, but because they did a full body scan, they were able to see my entire body and they were able to see something on my right kidney. I didn’t go in for my kidneys. “What I had on my kidney was a cyst, a tumor. It was not nothing they could biopsy or test unless they went in surgically and removed it…. “The doctor was like, ‘you need to have kidney surgery.’ Damn. “[I said] What? I was coming in about a little stream. At that moment, I had a decision to make. I asked all the questions. I sent it to multiple doctors. I did not just go to that one doctor even though that was the doctor I ended up using. I went to multiple doctors to make sure that’s what they saw. “I had a personal decision to make.
If this was cancerous, you’re 41 years old, you probably need surgery because this is something that needs to be removed so it doesn’t spread. I made the decision to have surgery.” Wade said he had surgery on Dec. 13, 2023. “My father was there to walk me into the hospital. My wife was there when I woke up. Only two people you can have in the hospital. “To find out at 41 years old I had cancer, thank God I had surgery because the tumor was cancerous. I have one kidney and the other kidney is 60 percent. They took 40 percent to make sure they took all of the cancer out.” Wade, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023, is the Heat’s all-time leader in points, assists and games played and helped lead the team to three championships.
The team unveiled a statue of Wade, outside Kaseya Center, last October. Wade is a minority owner in the Utah Jazz and has no role with the Heat. He has spoken to Amazon about a potential analyst role on the network’s NBA coverage next season.
This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 4:05 PM.
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