Miami Heat legend Alonzo Mourning is recovering following an operation to have his prostate removed after being diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer.
The Hall of Famer recently spoke to ESPN and revealed he’s now cancer-free in the wake of a surgical procedure and counts himself fortunate as the disease had not spread beyond his prostate capsule.
Zo, who is now an executive with the Heat, has sounded out a warning to men, urging them to get checked. The seven-time All-Star credits a routine prostate cancer screening for successfully ridding his body of the disease.
Prostate cancer is responsible for the deaths of one in 44 men in the United States, and Mourning has encouraged men over the age of 45 to get their PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood tests done regularly.
“What scares me about this disease is that there are so many men walking around feeling great and have that cancer in them and they don’t know it,” the 54-year-old said in an interview with ESPN. “The only way to find out is to get their blood tested and get their PSA checked. There are 3.3 million men living in the U.S. with prostate cancer, and many don’t even know it. I was one of those guys.”
Fans have been showing support following this revelation, with many of them happy he was able to beat the disease, especially after his other health ordeals.
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Mourning, who built a reputation as one of the fiercest competitors in the league during his playing days, was able to play after a kidney transplant 21 years ago. He even helped the Heat win their first championship after an operation that would have left most athletes afraid to return to the court.
Alonzo Mourning Recalls Finding Out He Had Cancer
The former NBA star said his urologist told him his PSA scores were “creeping up” back in late 2022. Shortly after that, he received a call from a urologic oncologist, who told him he had a Gleason score of eight, which is indicative of a high prostate cancer grade.
“And Dr. Punnen tells me, ‘I want to get a PET scan immediately to make sure cancer hasn’t spread through your body,'” he said. “I was in shock. I can’t tell you enough about how well my body felt. I was in top-notch shape — running sprints, strong. The doctor told me that he couldn’t believe I had had a kidney transplant.
“My partner, Mariona, is waiting for me outside the PET scan, and we are nervous as hell. I’m sitting in the machine with my arms over my head and my mind racing — waiting for the technician to read the scan. We ended up in a cold waiting room waiting for the tech to come in and finally he looks at us and says he’s got good news: The cancer is still in the [prostate] capsule and hasn’t spread.”
Alonzo Mourning underwent surgery in March and is recovering well after a procedure that allowed the cancer to be removed before it was able to spread.
“We live in a world where it’s taboo among men to talk about health issues,” he added. “If I didn’t get routine checkups, I probably wouldn’t be here to talk about this. I want men to be proactive with their health.”
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