Former NBA star guard Nate Robinson says he "doesn't have long to live" if he doesn't receive a kidney transplant.
"I know that I don't have long if I can't get a kidney," Robinson told Jake Nisse of 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.
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"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 told the "Playmaker" podcast that he learned he would eventually face kidney failure later in life due to high blood pressure when he was with the New York Knicks in 2006.
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The warning didn't stop Robinson from captivating NBA fans with an electric career, though.
Robinson, 39, played 11 seasons in the NBA for eight different teams, including the Knicks, Celtics, Thunder, Warriors, Bulls, Nuggets, Clippers and Pelicans. Robinson made a name for himself in New York, becoming the first player in history to win the Slam Dunk Contest three times.
In 2022, he announced he had been suffering from kidney failure since 2018.
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Robinson shared that his disease causes frequent, painful vomiting to the point where it he is often hospitalized.
Along with dialysis, a strict diet has become an important part of maintaining his health.
"It's a whole bunch you got to watch," he said. You got to have measurements of everything that you eat and drink. You can't have too much, you can't have too [little].
"I changed my diet, just try to eat better, staying away from a lot of processed foods, just trying to eat fruits and grilled food, grilled chicken and grilled fish, just healthier stuff. That's the way I can survive and stay alive as long as I can."
Despite the gravity of his prognosis, Robinson is keeping his disease in perspective knowing that others in his position aren't as fortunate.
"I don't take it for granted,' he said. I just stay as humble as I can, and I just thank God for every opportunity... every day is a blessing to be alive and to be able to do what I do every day.
"Because some people, they go in for kidneys, go into the hospital, and they never come out."
