Nate Robinson needs a kidney.
In a new interview with Men’s Healthpublished on Tuesday, the former NBA star opens up about living with kidney failure and his desperate search for a kidney. Since his kidneys failed six years ago, the 40-year-old has been trying to get a replacement kidney to save his life.
“He tells me that if he doesn’t get a kidney soon, death is the next door he will walk through,” Men’s Health‘s Tyler R. Tynes writes.
Robinson was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2006. On the days his body would crash, often passing out from dehydration and incessant vomiting, the three-time slam dunk champion would check himself into hospitals, then check out and proceed with business as usual. During his NBA days, from 2005 to 2015, signs that his kidney function was declining were there, but Robinson never believed the warnings from doctors that his kidneys would likely fail in his 30s.
“I felt like I was Superman. I never thought I would get sick,” Robinson tells the outlet, noting he was always a healthy kid and that high blood pressure doesn’t run in his family.
Despite his health setbacks, Robinson started taking blood-pressure medication and continued playing in the NBA until his retirement. He played 11 seasons for eight NBA teams before his final game in 2015. After leaving the league, he continued to play professionally around the world until 2018 — when his kidneys failed.
Robinson delayed treatment, and two years later he got sick “worse than he could have imagined” after catching COVID-19.
“When I got back home to Seattle, I went straight to the hospital,” the father of three says. “It was bad, bro. I was in the hospital for a week. My body, my insides just… stopped working and sh*t.”
That’s when doctors gave him the prognosis.
“They told me I might as well start dialysis today,” he continues. “‘Your kidneys are working too hard; they’re deteriorating as we speak. The only way you will walk out of here alive is if you start dialysis.’ It was the only thing I had left.”
After Robinson started dialysis, he isolated himself from his friends and family, and his mind raced constantly as he worried about his future.
“I was so angry in the beginning,” he says. “I was so mean.”
He continues, “I didn’t want to bring that darkness to [my family]. I had a kick in the a** from my lady. She told me they were here to love me, they understood what I was going through, but you can’t be mean to yourself, and you can’t be mean to us. And I didn’t notice it until they called me out on it. Sometimes you need that; you need to know when you’re f**kin’ up. I was acting a certain way where I couldn’t see it.”
Since they’ve failed, Robinson’s kidneys have been functioning at less than 15 percent of their optimal capacity. Depending on the day, Robinson may experience charley-horse-like cramps all over his body, violent vomiting or shortness of breath. He hopes to get on the Washington state kidney-transplant waitlist, and eventually the national list, soon.
Robinson’s chance of receiving a kidney and his body accepting it is unknown. His concern surrounds the disparities in Black kidney-transplant recipients. Black people often struggle to find a kidney before their body fully shuts down.
“The Black people I know that go through this—[getting a kidney] is always harder for them,” Robinson says. “For some reason, they make it harder for us, bro. To get healthy, to get a kidney, to do anything. Our people go through tough times.”
Black people are three times as likely as white people to develop kidney failure—making up around one third of people with kidney failure in the U.S. despite accounting for only about 14 percent of the total population, according to the outlet. Black patients have historically experienced longer transplant wait times than their white counterparts, with Black men in particular experiencing a higher risk of hospitalization and death.
Now, Robinson says he counts his blessings and will continue to fight for his life.
“I’ve never been a quitter,” he says. “And I ain’t gon’ start now.”
He adds, “I’m gonna be a testimony to somebody. My story doesn’t end here.”
Robinson last made headlines when he was knocked out cold by Jake Paul, whose highly anticipated fight with Mike Tyson was recently rescheduled on Netflix for November after the former world heavyweight champion suffered a medical scare that prompted them to postpone.
In May, speaking to Tyson during a press conference, where he said he doesn’t see Paul as a “formidable opponent” and to expect carnage, really bad stuff.” Ahead of his press conference with Tyson, paul said, “I’m just humbled and honored and grateful for this opportunity and thankful for Mike — it just shows that hard work pays off.” At their press conference, Paul predicted that he will “win in devastating fashion.”
