December 11, 2024

Dick Vitale celebrates a happy end to his cancer treatment

ABC/ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale sits at mid-court prior to an NCAA college basketball game between the Baylor Bears and the Villanova Wildcats on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, in Waco, Texas. (Ray Carlin/AP)

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This is awesome, baby!

College basketball announcer extraordinaire Dick Vitale is celebrating a win of his own in Sarasota, Fla. The bombastic 82-year-old Passaic, N.J., native tweeted that his doctor had given him the good news that he seems to have slam-dunked lymphoma.

J”ust rec’d GREAT NEWS vs Lymphoma from Dr Brown,” Vitale tweeted. “He said that after analyzing by bloodwork that I’m clear to RING THE BELL.This is MY March Madness Championship.”

That was a reference to the men’s NCAA tournament that recently ended following a month of intense college basketball.

Ringing a bell at the end of cancer treatment is common at many medical centers.

Vitale thanked his doctor, the staff at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, his family and everyone who sent him prayers and love, which he expressed several emoticons in his tweet. The bombastic basketball fanatic said in October that he had been diagnosed with cancer for second time in a matter or months. He said that he believed the cancers — melanoma followed by lymphoma — were unrelated.

“With all that said, I consider myself very lucky,” Vitale wrote in an essay for ESPN.