“NOT LEGIT!”: CBB insider Dick Vitale urges fans not to fall for a fake Go Fund campaign amid cancer battle

ESPN analyst Dick Vitale, who is in a long-running battle with cancer, fell victim to an online scam. In his tweet on Friday, Vitale revealed that someone was pretending to be his personal assistant.

The scammer (@micheal_phil112) has been contacting the broadcaster's followers, asking them to donate money to his GoFundMe to help with his cancer treatment. Dick Vitale wrote on his X account:

"This message for a GO FUND on my behalf is NOT LEGIT! This guy says he is my personal assistant - please followers Do not respond to him as I have NO IDEA WHO THIS IS . HE IS A FRAUD & he is now contacting my followers on Instagram - Facebook - email."

Dick Vitale was recently diagnosed with cancer in his lymph nodes and underwent surgery on Tuesday to remove them. Previously, he had undergone surgeries for melanoma in 2021 and later was diagnosed with lymphoma. In 2022, Vitale was declared cancer-free and was set to return to calling basketball games, which he has been doing since 1979.

However, doctors found cancer cells in his vocal cords in 2023 and Vitale underwent six weeks of radiation therapy. In March of this year, Dick Vitale's physician, Dr. Steven Zeitels, cleared him for work as per a video Vitale shared on X:

"Your left vocal cord is now tremendous. You should be able to begin announcing again. You can get back to what you love to do."

Dick Vitale provides post-surgery update

However, the latest cancer diagnosis will delay Dick Vitale's return to the basketball court. On Thursday, the analyst updated fans on X that his treatment process will take longer than expected.

"Dr BROWN oncologist & Dr VOSLAR surgeon who removed the cancerous lymph node in my neck gave me the PATHOLOGY report. Dr Voslar removed 26 lymph nodes that surrounded the cancerous one & 1 has comeback with a chance to be cancerous. Both Dr’s suggest to do 6weeks RADIATION," he wrote.

Vitale added that his case is going to be analyzed by the tumor board at the Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

"They will study under microscopic the 26 lymph nodes that were removed & especially the one that is potentially cancerous . After that I will follow the treatment that is recommended. They are leaning to 6 weeks of Radiation to wipe out any chance of cancer spreading. Not what I wanted to hear but I will NEVER EVER GIVE UP."

Dick Vitale has been associated with ESPN since its launch in 1979 and called the network's first college basketball game the same year. Over the course of his decades-long career, he has called thousands of games.

Vitale is also a dedicated philanthropist. He serves as one of the Board of Directors on The V Foundation for Cancer Research, a non-profit organization founded by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, after his death from cancer in 1993.