Ex-Piston, UNC big man Eric Montross battling cancer

Chapel Hill, N.C. — The family of former Detroit Piston and North Carolina big man Eric Montross says he has begun treatments for cancer.

Montross' family issued a statement through the school on Saturday announcing the 51-year-old's diagnosis, though it didn't specify the nature of the cancer.

“We are all touched by the responses our entire family has received since the news became public,” the family said. "Your support is more than appreciated; it is welcomed as a necessary part of beating cancer one day at a time. Our family is dealing with Eric’s diagnosis head-on — the only way we know how. And we are all in this fight together.”

Montross played for the Pistons from 1997-2001.

Montross is a radio analyst for UNC game broadcasts and works for the Rams Club, the fundraising arm of UNC's athletics department.

Montross was a two-time Associated Press second-team All-American with the Tar Heels. He was the starting center on the late Dean Smith's second NCAA championship squad in 1993. Montross went on to be the No. 9 overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft and played eight years in the league.