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Former ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski revealed he was diagnosed with prostate with cancer in March, six months prior to announcing his surprising retirement from reporting, in a Sports Illustrated feature profile published on Thursday (December 5).
Wojnarowski, 55, said he underwent a biopsy following two blood tests, which revealed an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and his diagnosis was revealed to him just prior to making a remote live television appearance on NBA Countdown earlier this year.
“When you hear cancer, you think about it going through your body like Pac-Man,” Wojnarowski told Sports Illustrated. “Prostate cancer, it generally stays confined to your prostate and is typically slow growing.”
Wojnarowski noted that the cancer is "pretty limited in scope" and that he's asymptomatic and doesn't need surgery, but will have it monitored. The veteran journalist announced his sudden retirement in September, having accepted a job as the general manager of the men's basketball program at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, where he previously worked closely with the school in recent years.
"It is a thrill of a lifetime to be able to return to a university and community that I love in a role of service to our student-athletes, coaches and institution," Wojnarowski told ESPN at the time. "I am hopeful that I can bring value in a lot of areas to our basketball program and open doors for our young men's futures in ways both professionally and personally."
Wojnarowski joined ESPN as a senior NBA insider in July 2017, having previously spent nearly a decade at Yahoo Sports, which included two as the editor of The Vertical, as well as nearly 10 years at The Record, several at The Fresno Bee and The Waterbury Republican-American. The veteran journalist reportedly walked "away from around $20 million," according to the Athletic's Andrew Marchand.
Wojnarowski was replaced by his former mentee turned rival Shams Charania in October.