Retired NBA star Nate Robinson needs a kidney — and fast
The 11-year veteran told the Daily Mail that he “doesn’t have long to live” if he can’t find a kidney replacement and has been searching for four years.
“I know that I don’t have long if I can’t get a kidney,” Robinson told the outlet. “I know I’m not going to have long to live. So I just want to make the best of it as much as I can.”
The three-time NBA Slam Dunk champion also said that without dialysis, he would die within a “week or two.”
“Some people’s body reject dialysis. And thank God that mine accepts it and I can live … if I didn’t go to dialysis, I wouldn’t live probably longer than a week or two.
“So it’s serious, can’t miss a day. I go in for four hours, three days a week, four hours a day. And they clean my blood to get my toxins out. And they help me out a lot because that’s how I’m living.”
Robinson, who played for three seasons in Israel, Venezuela and Lebanon after leaving the NBA, revealed his battle with kidney disease two years ago, While calling the situation a “roller-coaster,” he said that dialysis can cause painful vomiting and he has been hospitalized for days because of it.
But the diminutive guard says he’s trying to stay positive amid the fight.
“The (dialysis) machine has been helping my longevity and my life right now,” he said. “I’m just enjoying the times where I do feel healthy. I try to get out there with my kids, see my family and play basketball do the things that I love.
“And I still try to do all the things that I can to stay and feel normal as I can, stay as human as I can.”
Robinson played for the Knicks, Celtics, Thunder, Warriors, Bulls, Nuggets, Clippers and Pelicans during his career, but was best known for his feats in the annual Slam Dunk contest on all-star weekend.
Despite standing just 5-foot-9, he won the competition in 2006, 2009 and 2010.
In 2020, Robinson stepped into the boxing ring with Jake Paul and suffered a second-round knockout at the hands of the YouTuber-turned-pro-fighter.