Michael Wilbon, one of the biggest stars at ESPN, remains in positive spirits after facing some recent health challenges.
Wilbon was diagnosed with Type II diabetes after suffering a heart attack 15 years ago.
“One of the things that you really have to be on top of, and I probably wasn’t like I should’ve been, is foot care,” Wilbon told The Post in a phone interview.
“Last April I developed a diabetic ulcer in my left foot, which was successfully repaired, but it takes some weeks to recover.
“The surgeon told me at the time, ‘You could have this happen on your right side,’ and sure enough … this year it happened in late January on the right foot, and I had to have surgery.”
Since that time, the Wilbon has been on a scooter — he noted on Instagram that he’s using the same one that injured Lakers star LeBron James has been scooting around on — or on crutches.
“When you’re 64 years old, you’re not gonna come back from that overnight — I don’t know if you would at 44 either,” Wilbon said.
Wilbon has been appearing remotely on “Pardon the Interruption” and “NBA Countdown” from his home in Scottsdale, but said that he would resume traveling this coming week.
He felt fortunate that this house has no flights of stairs, compared to his four-story home in suburban Washington, D.C.
While Wilbon has done some “PTI” shows remotely while traveling for NBA or other purposes for a long time now, he was bemused about the role reversal where he’s been working from home a bulk of the time compared to the pandemic, where many TV personalities were remote but he went into the studio a vast majority of the time.
“I can still work,” he said gratefully. “Am I going to games right now? No, but I probably wouldn’t be going to many games in March anyways before the playoffs.”
Asked if there was a timetable on when he expects to walk again, Wilbon responded, “A timetable? No, but shortly, I certainly hope so, in the next couple weeks.”
While many might dwell on the “why me” aspect of this scenario, Wilbon was upbeat.
“I’m lucky,” he said.
“I have the best in healthcare. It looks like I’m gonna be OK so there’s no reason to be in despair.
“I get annoyed. I get impatient. But, I can’t afford to be impatient. Do I get annoyed and impatient? Hell yeah, but I’m in good spirits.”
Wilbon and on-screen partner Tony Kornheiser have had remarkable continuity on “PTI,” a program that launched in 2001 after it was created by a group that included Mark Shapiro, Jim Cohen and Erik Rydholm, who remains the show’s executive producer.
Not only does the show still exist, but it is far-and-away ESPN’s most popular weekday talk show.
From September to December, “PTI” averaged 708,000 viewers per day, up three percent from 2021.
The show drew 1.1 million viewers on January 16, its highest audience in over five years.
“I do marvel. I’m grateful,” Wilbon said of the show’s longevity.
The show benefits from its 5:30 p.m. ET time slot and the format where people leaving work can catch up on the day’s sports stories in an easily digestible form, and viewers gravitate toward Wilbon and Kornheiser’s personalities.
“It’s a relationship show, which is different,” Wilbon said of his chemistry with Kornheiser, which dates back over 40 years to their time together at the Washington Post.
“People identify with one or the other or both. That’s a part of it.
“The other part is, people tell us, they don’t have time for an hour or two hours or all day — they want something that they can digest, and it’s 30 minutes.
The generality of the show also has appeal.
“Tony and I aren’t people who cover one sport, which is what TV is now,” Wilbon said, including his own network, ESPN, in his commentary.
“People cover one thing. I talk to young journalists, reporters and broadcasts all the time. They cover one thing.”
