Back in 1979 when ESPN first launched their network, Dick Vitale was there to call the very first college basketball broadcast the network ever aired. He has been with ESPN ever since and is truly the voice of basketball.

Unfortunately, Vitale’s health has been suffering in recent years. Back in 2021, he announced that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma. He ended up having multiple surgeries to remove the melanoma, and he shared his journey to recovery on social media. Part of his recovery included voice rest.

One year later, in 2022, Vitale announced the good news that he was cancer free. He was able to return to ESPN to call more basketball games. His first game back was pretty emotional for him.

Unfortunately, one year later, in 2023, Vitale has more bad news to share. He turned to social media to share the sad news that he has once again been diagnosed with cancer, this time it’s vocal cord cancer.

Despite the diagnosis, Vitale is choosing to think positive. He wrote, “I plan on winning this battle like I did vs Melanoma & Lymphoma!” Vitale also shared that his doctor, Dr Zeitels, believes that he has a very good chance of being ready to call games again this fall. He also told Vitale that this type of cancer “has an extremely high cure rate, and that radiation, not more surgery, is the best path.”

The plan is for Vitale to undergo radiation for six weeks. He will also need to be on vocal rest.

This is an update on my meeting today with Dr ZEITELS. Though I was disappointed with the pathology report, I plan on winning this battle like I did vs Melanoma & Lymphoma ! pic.twitter.com/pu61XJSm43

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) July 12, 2023

In the meantime, you can listen to some of Vitale’s best calls during basketball games on ESPN in the video compilation below.

Here’s hoping for a full and speedy recovery.