Nuggets' Nene Hilario diagnosed with testicular cancer
By Matthew Pusard
Brazilian power forward Nene has had a lot of unfortunate injuries in his career, including a torn ligament in his thumb this season, and his luck continues to be poor. Nene originally took a leave of absence on January 11th for unspecified reasons, but 3 days later, he had surgery to remove a tumor on his right testicle. At this time, there has been no official statement from Nene or his doctors on whether it was malignant or benign, but the Associated Press reports that the biopsy showed that the mass was benign.
Nene was fortunate to have his tumor diagnosed when he did. Nene was selected for a random drug test and an abnormality in the test led to the diagnosis of the tumor. It was caught early, according to doctors.
Nene is also fortunate to be with an understanding team. Nuggets coach George Karl has been there before too. Karl was diagnosed with prostate cancer back in July of 2005 and also had surgery to remove it. Additionally, Karl's son, Coby, a rookie playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, battled papillary carcinoma. The younger Karl received chemotherapy and surgery for his cancer during his senior year of college.
Nene is currently on an indefinite leave of absence and there is no guarantee that he will return to the team soon even if the tumor is benign as reported. When asked about the possibility of a swift return by Nene, George Karl stated, "I've heard both sides, that he might and he might not. But I don't want to speculate."
The Nuggets have been very inconsistent with the lack of Nene's presence on the court. Since Nene took his leave of absence, the team is 2-2. Their wins were high scoring shootouts with Utah and Orlando, two strong playoff contenders, but the 2 losses were to the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks, both teams with losing records.
Kenyon Martin has also missed the past 2 games with a staph infection in his buttocks. Center Marcus Camby has stepped up with Nene and Martin out, posting 2 20+ rebound games in the past 3 games, including a 24 rebound, 11 block performance versus Utah. Linas Kleiza has also made his mark without the 2 big men by scoring a career-high 41 points with 9 rebounds against Utah as well.
The Nuggets are currently in 2nd place in their division, behind the Portland Trailblazers. They are .5 games behind the Trailblazers, but hold the 7th best record in the Western Conference.
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