New York Knicks president Donnie Walsh underwent successful surgery in late June to remove a cancerous part of his tongue, the New York Post has reported.
"My doctor says he got it all," Walsh, 67, told the newspaper. "Luckily, it was caught quickly before it could spread."
Walsh, hired by the Knicks in April to replace Isiah Thomas, told the Post he felt like he has "marbles in his mouth," and that his tongue remains slightly numb, three months after the hour-long operation performed at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Walsh said the cancer was diagnosed after a routine physical he had upon joining the Knicks.
"If they have to cut my tongue out I'm going to leave New York without telling anybody, fly home to Indianapolis, go straight to my backyard and never come off the property again," Walsh said he told himself, according to the Post.
The next few weeks, however, proved vital for Walsh and the Knicks, who hired coach Mike D'Antoni in early May.
He then had surgery, and promptly dumped a 50-year-old smoking habit.