CLEVELAND — Daniel Smith, or Smitty as he’s known to his friends, is used to playing tough opponents.

“I’ve been playing pickup basketball all my adult life,” Smith said.

But a diagnosis 12 years ago led him to go up against cancer.

“Naturally, I thought, ‘Oh not me. That can’t happen to me,’” he said.

He’d noticed a lump on his neck while shaving.

“I blew it off - didn’t pay any attention to it,” he said.

He didn’t realize it could be something serious until finally seeing a doctor.

“He felt that lump and he looked me square in the eye and said ‘What the hell is that?’” Smith said.

Smith was diagnosed with tonsil cancer due to HPV.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, HPV is the most common STI in the United States.

Smith believes he got it before he got married.

The virus can lay dormant for decades but can cause cancer later in life.

There is a vaccine that can prevent certain types of HPV.

The CDC recommends two doses at ages 11 and 12, given six to 12 months apart.

Since its introduction in the U.S. in 2006, among teen girls, HPV infections that cause the most HPV cancers are down 88%. Among young adult women, HPV infections that cause most HPV cancers are down 81%.

Smith underwent throat radiation and needed to be on strong pain medication, but said even liquid morphine didn’t bring him relief or help him sleep.

Smith became unable to swallow and ended up needing a feeding tube while undergoing treatment. The radiation treatment also left lasting side effects, including a gravelly voice.

“I’ve done voice therapy and speech therapy and swallowing therapy. My voice is more gravelly than it would be,” he said.

But radiation treatment and a cancer diagnosis have not kept Smith from making moves on the court.

“It’s not holding me back,” Smith said.