MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Heat say assistant coach Keith Smart has undergone successful surgery to remove what the team describes as a very rare type of skin cancer.
Smart has not been with the team this week, and is expected back in 2-3 weeks. The team says Smart’s prognosis calls for a full recovery.
The 51-year-old Smart, who hit the game-winning shot that led Indiana to the 1987 NCAA championship over Syracuse, is in his second year as a Heat assistant. He issued a statement thanking the staff at University of Miami Hospital and the Heat medical team, saying they “steered me in the right direction very early in the process.”
Smart’s surgery was performed on Monday.
The Heat are in Brooklyn on Wednesday night.