NBA Star Caris LeVert Makes Miraculous Return to the Basketball Court Seven Weeks After Surgery for Kidney Cancer; Says He’s ‘Grateful’

"I'm grateful to be playing the game I love again," LeVert said Friday at a team press conference. "It's going to mean a lot. Basketball is my love. It's what I love to do. It's just going to be just a joy of playing the game. I can't wait to get out there, and I'm sure it'll be a great night for all of us."

LeVert, who is 26 years old, was diagnosed with cancer in a routine physical examination after he was traded from the Brooklyn Nets to Indiana in mid-January and had surgery on Jan. 26. He was not experiencing symptoms prior to his diagnosis. The Pacers said in a news release that LeVert does not require further treatment for his cancer.

"Definitely grateful that it was found when it was, and I want to move forward from it," LeVert said. "Obviously, we can sit here all day and say if we wouldn't have found it, this would've happened or this wouldn't have happened, but nobody knows."

LeVert, who played four years of college basketball at the University of Michigan,  called himself "naturally someone with high spirits," and tried to maintain a positive attitude.

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"I always saw the light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "I knew that the pain I was feeling after surgery, and the pain I was feeling not physically just mentally not playing, I knew that wouldn't last forever. I knew that this day would come where I would be feeling up to playing again and helping the team out. …

"I was down for a couple of days, but it wasn't something that kept me down for a long time. It wasn't something that was too tough for me to handle. It was definitely something was extremely tough on everyone around me, but we handled it well and we're here now."

LeVert, who is in his fifth NBA season, is on the verge of blossoming into a star. Before he was traded, he averaged 18.5 points and six assists in 12 games for Brooklyn.

"I have a great support system my family, my teammates and everyone who helped me throughout the way. I can't thank them enough," LeVert said.

Treatment Options for Kidney Cancers

Kidney and renal cell pelvic cancers can develop in adults or children, and represent about 4.2 percent of all new cancer cases per year in the U.S. about 73,820 new cases last year. The five-year survival rate for kidney and renal pelvis cancer is about 74.5 percent.

These cancers account for about 2.4 percent of cancer deaths in the U.S.  There are two main types of kidney cancer that occur in adults: renal cell cancer and transitional cell cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. Renal cell cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in tubules of the kidney.

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Signs of renal cell cancer include blood in the urine and a lump in the abdomen. Other signs of the disease may include pain in the side that doesn't go away, loss of appetite, weight loss for no known reason, and anemia.

Treatment for renal cell kidney cancer usually includes some combination surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy.

For renal cell cancer, surgery is a common treatment practice. Types of surgery include:

• Partial nephrectomy, a procedure to remove the cancer within the kidney and some of the tissue around it. A partial nephrectomy may be done to prevent loss of kidney function when the other kidney is damaged or has already been removed
• Simple nephrectomy, a surgical procedure to remove the kidney only
• Radical nephrectomy, a surgical procedure to remove the kidney, the adrenal gland, surrounding tissue, and, usually, nearby lymph nodes

 

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