The procedure required precision because Hughes’ lesion had formed on the worst possible spot, on the vibratory edge of one of his vocal cords. Only about 20,000 people in the U.S. every year come down with the disease that often afflicts those who make a living with their voices — singer Roger Daltrey of the Who and ESPN analyst Dick Vitale are among past sufferers — and the cause remains unknown. Hughes never smoked, drank casually and worked out often enough that his jump shot is feared at local gyms. Yet he was afflicted with dysplasia.