Former NBA star Nate Robinson said he might not have long to live if he can't get a kidney replacement. The three-time slam dunk champion has been dealing with kidney failure for about six years.
"I know that I don't have long if I can't get a kidney," Robinson said in an interview with the Daily Mail. "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."
Robinson opened up about renal kidney failure in 2022. At the time, he said he had been dealing with it privately for four years but he was ready to be the voice for others going through the same thing. Earlier this year, Robinson was the AT&T Chief Dunk Officer for NBA All-Star weekend and talked some more about how after all these years he is still looking for a kidney.
“I can’t quit this…” Nate Robinson on his health 🙏
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He has been using a dialysis machine, which sometimes can lead to painful vomiting that leaves him hospitalized for a day or two. But despite the side effects, he is thankful for the treatment.
"Some people's body reject dialysis. And thank God that mine accepts it and I can live..." Robinson told the Daily Mail. "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 said he is trying to feel as normal as possible and "stay as human" as he can. Aside from the dialysis machine, one of the biggest things for him has been eating healthier by avoiding processed foods. He also feels he has to keep going and not quit because he "doesn't know how" and also wants to be an inspiration for others.
"It's got me to slow down a lot where I can take my time to appreciate life itself," Robinson said on the OG Show. "Dealing with this situation with my kidneys, it's opened my eyes where I can talk about it and help others.... I can be somebody's reason to keep fighting and keep going, because it's a wear and tear on you, mentally."
