EXCLUSIVE: Basketball Hero Dwyane Wade 'Sweating Bullets' His Cancer Will Return After Narrowly Surviving Disease in 2023 — With Docs Advising Him to Get Regular Check-Ups to 'Put His Frantic Mind at Ease'
Dwyane Wade is said to be gripped with fear his cancer will return.
Feb. 28 2025, Published 8:30 a.m. ET
Pro-basketball icon Dwyane Wade sank a post-career buzzer-beater when doctors found a cancerous kidney tumor in time to save his life – but RadarOnline.com can reveal he's living in fear that the Scourge will return.
Wade, 43, retired from the Miami Heat in 2019 then went on to host the TV game show The Cube.
But despite pleas from his Bad Boys actress wife, Gabrielle Union, 52, Dwyane skipped scheduled medical checkups, sources said.
Gabrielle Union is urging Dwyane Wade to focus on the present, not fears over his past.
An insider added: "He was poked and prodded by doctors for so many years as an athlete, he figured it would be OK to take a break from it."
But when the father of five finally got a workup in 2023 after experiencing stomachaches and low urine flow, doctors found a large tumor on his right kidney. After surgery, which wound up removing 40 percent of the organ, docs determined the mass was cancerous.
Although the hoop great's life was spared, sources said Wade worries the grim reaper is breathing down his neck.
The Miami Heat icon dreads a cancer relapse despite life-saving surgery.
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"He's sweating bullets, fearing that his cancer will return," confided the friend. "Gabrielle and his older kids tell him he should just be thankful he's alive and to live for today, but he can't seem to get some dark scenarios out of his head."
Experts say that's not unusual for cancer survivors.
Noted oncologist Dr. Jerome Spunberg told us: "Many patients feel anxious and vulnerable after cancer surgery.
"The best thing Dwyane can do is get regular checkups to determine that he's cancer- free, which will ease his mind over time."
