Former ESPN’s top NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, which contributed to his decision to retire from the media, he revealed to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix.
Wojnarowski left ESPN in September to become the general manager of his alma mater, St. Bonaventure’s men’s basketball team.
In his retirement statement, Wojnarowski posted on X, he did not specifically discuss his health condition but dropped a hint about it.
“Time isn’t in endless supply and I want to spend mine in ways that are more personally meaningful,” he wrote.
“That was about the cancer,” he told Sports Illustrated.
Mannix reported Wojnarowski’s health ordeal started in February when he went for a physical examination.
Blood tests revealed an elevated PSA, or prostate-specific antigen. His doctor sent him for an MRI. Nothing showed up. He took another PSA test. Still high. This time the doctor recommended a biopsy, which in March revealed early-stage cancer. He learned the news minutes before a remote appearance on NBA Countdown. Head foggy, he did the hit.
While it contributed to his decision to retire, Wojnarowski made it clear it was not the main reason.
He said he was burned out from the rigors of his previous very demanding job, which prevented him from living a normal life.
“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,” Wojnarowski told Sports Illustrated.
Longtime NFL Insider’s Death Made Woj Rethink His Priorities
Wojnarowski, 55, revealed in the Sports Illustrated profile that the death of longtime NFL insider Chris Mortensen from throat cancer made him rethink his life’s priorities.
Mortensen spent more than three decades at ESPN. When Woj arrived in Bristol in 2017, Mortensen was among the first to welcome him. Many ESPNers made the trip to Arkansas. What Woj was struck by was how many did not. “It made me remember that the job isn’t everything,” Woj says. “In the end it’s just going to be your family and close friends. And it’s also, like, nobody gives a s—. Nobody remembers [breaking stories] in the end. It’s just vapor.”
Wojnarowski was confronted by his own mortality with his own battle against cancer.
Fortunately for Wojnarowski, he caught wind of the prostate cancer at an early stage.
“When you hear cancer, you think about it going through your body like Pac-Man,” Woj told Sports Illustrated. “Prostate cancer it generally stays confined to your prostate and is typically slow growing.”
Wojnarowski told Sports Illustrated the cancer is “pretty limited in scope.”
He still tirelessly fulfills his obligations as the Bonnies general manager while undergoing quarterly checkups and regular monitoring.
Wojnarowski said he was instructed to improve his eating habits, exercise more and get better sleep.
Woj Has Great Chances of Surviving Cancer Battle
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the survival rate for prostate cancer “is among the best of all cancers.”
The five-year relative survival rate is nearly 100%, while 10 years is at 98% and 15 years at 95%.
In Wojnarowski’s case, the earlier it was caught, the more likely he would get successful treatment and remain disease-free.
Wojnarowski told Sports Illustrated that surgery is still an option, but only if he can’t mentally deal with having the cancer inside him, his doctors told him.
John Hopkins Medicine noted that after surgery, “PSA levels should drop to zero.” But if it rises above 0.2 ng/mL, the cancer is considered recurrent.
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