Wade reveals kidney surgery

Hall of Fame player Dwyane Wade said doctors performed a December 2023 surgery on his kidney to remove a tumor later determined to be cancerous.

“Thank God that I did do the surgery,” Wade said on his “The Why With Dwyane Wade” podcast episode released Thursday.

Wade said he had not had regular physical exams in a few years before seeing a doctor due to stomach and urinary issues. A full body scan discovered what he described as a “cyst/tumor” that led to the surgery, which Wade said removed 40% of his right kidney.

“I think it was the first time my family — my dad, my kids — they saw me weak,” he said. “That moment was probably the weakest point I’ve ever felt in my life. The moments I was by myself, I was struggling, dog. Struggling.

“And one thing you never want to do as a man, you never want your family to see you as weak. You don’t want to be perceived weak and you don’t want to be seen in your weak moments. But I had to.”

NHL salary cap rising

NEW YORK — The NHL salary cap is going up significantly next season, with even bigger increases set for the coming years.

The league and the Players’ Association on Friday released the cap numbers for the next three seasons: $95.5 million in 2025-26, $104 million in ’26-27 and $113.5 million in ’27-28. The cap is $88 million this season, and each leap is the biggest since it was implemented in 2005 at $39 million.

Petrokina wins skating crown

TALLINN, Estonia — Niina Petrokina fell, got back up, and completed the skate of her life.

A freak fall on a transition between jumps threatened to derail Petrokina’s bid for the European figure skating title but she recovered with a program that otherwise bordered on flawless to win a surprise gold medal on Friday.

It was a highlight for figure skating fans at an event which has largely been overshadowed by the deaths of skaters, coaches and their families in a mid-air collision between a passenger jet and military helicopter near Washington, D.C.

Straka leads by 3 strokes

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Sepp Straka got most of his work done before the weather started to turn Friday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, posting another 7-under 65 for a three-shot lead that left Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and everyone having to chase him.

Straka, coming off a win two weeks ago in the California desert, showed a game that works just fine at sea level in less-than-ideal conditions, particularly the final hour.

Out came the mittens and beanies. Down came the temperature, accompanied by a little rain.

McIlroy went from challenging for the lead to making four bogeys in a six-hole stretch, before he finished his wild back nine at Pebble Beach with a 25-foot eagle putt to salvage a 70 that left him six shots behind.

Elsewhere in golf

n A Lim Kim made enough birdies in an up-and-down second round to maintain a cushion between herself and top-ranked Nelly Korda on Friday at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, the LGPA Tour season opener.

The Associated Press