Dick Vitale Celebrates After Learning He’s Cancer-Free
Man. This is the kind of news that makes you want to pump your fist at your desk like a crazy person.
Dick Vitale is cancer-free. Again.
The 85-year-old ESPN legend announced Thursday that his latest PET scan came back clean, and if you’ve followed Dickie V’s health journey over the past few years, you know how massive this is. The man has been through hell and back—four separate cancer diagnoses since 2021—and he’s still standing.
“SANTA CLAUS came early,” Vitale posted on X Thursday morning. “Dr Rick Brown called and said that my PET SCAN at 7 AM came back CLEAN OF CANCER! OMG thanks so much to ALL of YOU for your prayers. Yes I’m cutting the nets down baby it’s my National Championship!”
Cutting the nets down. Of course that’s how he’d frame it. That’s so perfectly Dickie V.
Look, I’ll be honest—I wasn’t always the biggest Vitale fan growing up. Sometimes his enthusiasm felt like a lot. Like dude, take a breath. But the older I get, the more I appreciate what he brings to college basketball. The genuine love for the game. The encyclopedic knowledge of every program. The relationships he’s built with coaches and players over literally decades.
And the way he’s handled this whole cancer thing? That’s changed how I see him entirely.
Since 2021, Vitale has battled melanoma, lymphoma, and vocal cord cancer. That last one threatened to take away the thing he’s most known for—his voice. He missed entire seasons while going through treatment. At one point doctors weren’t sure he’d ever call another game.
But he came back. February 2024, Duke vs. Clemson. You could hear his voice wasn’t quite the same, a little raspier, but the energy was all there. The passion was all there. I’m not gonna lie, I got a little emotional watching it.
What gets me about Vitale is that he hasn’t just fought cancer for himself. He’s used his platform to raise millions for pediatric cancer research through the V Foundation. Every time he goes through another scan, another diagnosis, another round of treatment, he’s talking about it publicly. Not for sympathy—for awareness. For the kids who are going through the same thing.
In his video announcing the news, you could hear his voice crack. “It brought me to tears when he delivered it because as cancer patients, you know that call is nerve-wracking. It’s life changing.”
Four times this man has sat by the phone waiting to find out if his cancer came back. Four times he’s gotten that call. And he’s still out here, still hyped about college basketball, still screaming about PTPers and diaper dandies and all the stuff that makes him Dickie V.
The college basketball world immediately rallied around him on social media. Coaches, players, media members—everyone sending congrats and love. Because whatever you think about his broadcasting style, there’s no denying he’s one of the good ones. A genuine dude in an industry that doesn’t always reward genuine people.
At 85, with everything he’s been through, nobody would blame Vitale if he decided to hang it up. But something tells me we’ll see him courtside this season, tie crooked, voice booming, absolutely losing his mind over some freshman guard.
And honestly? I can’t wait.
Congrats Dickie V. You earned this one, baby.
