NBA veteran Nate Robinson has revealed that he underwent a kidney transplant this week following years of renal failure.
The 40-year-old former basketball star — who played for multiple teams and notably won the league’s Slam Dunk Contest three times during his 11-year NBA career — announced on Instagram via a celebratory post that he was getting a new kidney on Friday, Feb. 7.
ESPN has since reported that Robinson received his new organ from a live donor during an hours-long transplant at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Throughout Friday and Saturday, Robinson has continued to share congratulatory messages on Instagram from loved ones and fellow NBA alumni.
A rep for Robinson did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday.
In an Instagram message to fans this week, Robinson revealed that his surgery was scheduled for Friday, noting that he was “here to celebrate and thank the LORD for all he has done in my life.”
“Today is the day I get my new kidney,” Robinson wrote. “Thank you to all the people that sent prayers and texted my phone giving me encouragement & love !!! Ur a foo if you [don’t] believe in GOD and the miracles he performs !! Amen 🙏🏾.”
After fellow NBA alumni Jamal Crawford, Wilson Chandler, Dwyane Wade, Rip Hamilton and Chris Webber all commented well wishes to the former dunk contest champ, Robinson shared a selfie to his Instagram Stories featuring his mother — who he called the “one & only” — together in the hospital.
He then proceeded to repost well wishes from friends, including one from fellow former NBA point guard Carlos Arroyo. Several of the messages were reposted Saturday, after Robinson’s operation.
Robinson, who was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2006, previously spoke with Men’s Health in 2024 about his organ failure. At the time, he shared that his kidneys had been functioning at less than 15% of their optimal capacity since failing in 2018.
The former basketball star and father described his condition as dealing with “charley-horse-like cramps all over his body” and “violent vomiting and shortness of breath.” He also called the idea of finding an organ match “scary” for him.
“We both got to go under the knife, and a lot of people don’t make it. I would hate for somebody to give me that kidney and die to go through this. That would hurt me so much,” Robinson said. “For someone to have to die for me to live. I don’t know if I’m ready for it. In my dreams, my family members give me a kidney, and they all ended up passing away. That kind of f—– with me.”
Robinson also said, when discussing his condition, that he wanted to “stay alive for the next 40 years” for his children, adding, “Be a grandpa, see my kids’ kids, take them to the gym, tell them the stories of when I was in the NBA around [LeBron James] and [Kobe Bryant] and all these guys. I gotta fight for it.”
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As CNN reported, Robinson — who played in the NBA between 2005 and 2015 — did not speak publicly about his condition until 2022 and has been regularly receiving dialysis since 2021. Per ESPN, after he revealed he needed a donor in 2024, the basketball star’s alma mater of the University of Washington saw several offers of people willing to help.
“Later on in life, when I get a kidney, I’m going to be looking back, like, ‘Damn, I really went through all this.’ That kidney I get, I’m going to cherish it,” he told ESPN in 2024. “I’m going to treat it like a baby. I’m going to do everything I’m supposed to do.”
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