‘I Didn’t Wanna Cry!’ Emotional Dick Vitale Returns to the Booth in First Game After Cancer Diagnosis

An emotional Dick Vitale returned to the broadcast booth on Tuesday night for the first time since being diagnosed with lymphoma in October. Vitale, 82, is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

Vitale and his broadcast partner Dave O’Brien were about to call a highly anticipated matchup between #1 Gonzaga and #2 UCLA in Las Vegas.

“Dickie, it is so great to see you,” said O’Brien. “I know that you would not miss this. All of you are aware that Dick is battling cancer. The fact that you’ve made it out to Las Vegas for a game that I know you had circled for a long, long time. It’s just awesome. Great to see you.”

Vitale, who had barely held it together during O’Brien’s intro, was overwhelmed by the moment.

“It’s great being here, Dave,” said Vitale. “I didn’t wanna cry! I can’t believe I’m sitting here. It’s just really a big thrill for me. I wanna to thank all you people, sending me so many great messages. ESPN, [ESPN President] Jimmy Pitaro, all of my buddies at ESPN. I wanna thank, certainly, my family and all the fans. My, you’ve been unbelievable. On October 12th – I’ll be honest with you – when they walked in and told me I had cancer, they thought it was bile duct cancer and it really was going to be a serious surgery and all. I never dreamt at 82 that I’d ever be courtside again. But to be here today, I’m sorry. I hope I don’t cause a problem out there, but I mean, it’s a little emotional.”

“Don’t apologize for anything,” said O’Brien.

“Well, and the game is the big thing,” said Vitale. “Let’s get this game going, talk some basketball.”

Watch above via ESPN.