NBA Legend Alonzo Mourning Cancer-Free After Surgery to Remove Prostate

Hall of Fame center Alonzo Mourning underwent surgery in March to remove his prostate after being diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer.

Mourning revealed he is now cancer-free after the procedure and said he wants to advocate for men to have their prostate cancer screening.

“What scares me about this disease is that there are so many men walking around feeling great and have that cancer in them and they don’t know it,” Mourning told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. “The only way to find out is to get their blood tested and get their PSA checked. There are 3.3 million men living in the U.S. with prostate cancer, and many don’t even know it. I was one of those guys.”

Mourning, who has a family history of prostate cancer, began seeing a urologist regularly in 2021. During that time, he started undergoing prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and screening for cancer.

Concerning test scores led to a biopsy in February that revealed cancer. Mourning then underwent further testing that determined the cancer did not spread to the rest of his body and underwent a removal of his prostate in March.

“Life was good and amazing for me, but I had ignored getting checked and let this go, the cancer would’ve spread through my body,” Mourning said. “Unfortunately, as men, we don’t like to go to the doctor, but this is the only way to find out what’s going on in your body. Prostate and even colon cancer are silent killers and many men won’t get those diagnosis until it’s too late.

“We live in a world where it’s taboo among men to talk about health issues. If I didn’t get routine checkups, I probably wouldn’t be here to talk about this. I want men to be proactive with their health.”

Mourning previously underwent a kidney transplant in 2003.