Five years ago, Nene was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He worked very hard to beat the disease, and that journey has shaped who he is today. Michael Lee of the Washington Post has an excellent feature story on Nene's state of mind, five years later.

Here's my favorite part:

But when the Wizards made a surprise visitto St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis a few weeks later, Nene was forced to confront his toughest physical challenge as the players walked through the patient care center and medicine room, where children received cancer treatment. There, Nene was suddenly overwhelmed by the sensations of his own chemotherapy treatments - the burning in his limbs, the goose bumps, the taste on his tongue that he described as "salty and spicy," and the fear that his organs would eventually shut down.

"It was like, amazing. A long time I don't feel like that," Nene said, before reflecting on that difficult period. "For four weeks, I was sick, I was weak. I could feel the liquid moving in the veins. I feel like a science fiction movie, where the liquid comes all over your body. It was like that."

Go check out the story.