Former ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March, just six months before his unexpected retirement from the network.
Wojnarowski, 55, revealed the news in a Sports Illustrated profile published Thursday, telling SI's Chris Mannix that a memorable line from his retirement statement in September was a reference to his cancer diagnosis.
"Time isn't in endless supply," the statement read.
Wojnarowski had a physical in February, when his blood tests revealed an elevated level of PSA, or prostate-specific antigen, according to SI. A biopsy in March revealed early-stage cancer, a diagnosis Wojnarowski learned of minutes before he appeared on "NBA Countdown."
Wojnarowski told Mannix that the prognosis, however, is good.
"When you hear 'cancer,' you think about it going through your body like Pac-Man," Wojnarowski told Mannix. "Prostate cancer, it generally stays confined to your prostate and is typically slow growing."
Wojnarowski is asymptomatic, and his treatment consists of active surveillance, according to SI. He has been advised to improve his eating habits, exercise more and get better sleep. He could opt to have surgery, SI reported, but the only reason to have it would be if he were unable to mentally cope with the idea of having the cancer inside him.
But the diagnosis wasn't the reason for Wojnarowski's retirement, according to the profile.
"I didn’t want to spend one more day of my life waiting on someone’s MRI or hitting an agent at 1 a.m. about an ankle sprain," he told Mannix.
Even though Wojnarowski left a $7.3 million annual salary with ESPN to make only $75,000 a year in the newly created position of general manager of the men’s basketball program at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure University — essentially a 99% pay cut — SI said his family was "ready for him to go."
"In the end it’s just going to be your family and close friends. And it’s also, like, nobody gives a s---," Wojnarowski told Mannix. "Nobody remembers (breaking stories) in the end. It’s just vapor."
ESPN has since hired Shams Charania, Wojnarowski’s former colleague at Yahoo Sports, as its new NBA Insider.
