However, Dr. Baughman of Johns Hopkins said that through new molecular techniques, pathologists should have been able to test Mr. Lewis' heart tissue for remnants of the virus. It has been 25 years to the day since Lewis collapsed while shooting baskets at Brandeis University and died from heart failure at a nearby hospital on July 27, 1993. Per CBS, Lewis had collapsed one time before, during a playoff game earlier that year against the Charlotte Hornets. They shared an agent, bought their houses at the same time, picked out new BMWs just days apart. Navratilova will play Julie Halard, who beat Katerina Maleeva. All Rights Reserved. Reggie Lewis, the Boston Celtics' star who collapsed with a heart ailment during a playoff game last April and was warned by doctors that he would risk his life if he ever played basketball again . ", Asked about a reported split with Tyson, promoter Don King said from his home in Florida: "There's no comment to make on that. Defense was also a strength for Lewis. He called me literally the day he died, and I was at Jordans Furniture remember Jordans Furniture? Reggie did not do drugs, period. Though his cause of death was later determined to be cardiac arrhythmia, at the time of his death, there was speculation that he had been using performance-enhancing drugs. He consistently raised his level of play during the postseason, averaging as many as 28.0 points per game in the 1991-92 playoffs. The newspaper said Lewis' death couldn't have come at a worse time for the publicly traded company that owns the NBA team, the Celtics Limited Partnership. Before his doctors got any further with the case, however, Mr. Lewis packed up, left Baptist Hospital and checked into Brigham and Women's Hospital -- a respected affiliate of Harvard University. Reggie had no choice but to learn to wait on greatness. He refused. Kennedy McKinney (26-0-1) of Memphis, Tenn., knocked out Jose Rincones (19-2-2) of Venezuela in the fifth round at Johannesburg, South Africa, and retained the International Boxing Federation super-bantamweight title. "Basically, what the diagnosis comes down to is circumstantial evidence. Mr. Lewis died from a cerebral hemorrhage related to the cancer, his company said. Reggie went 15-of-17 from the floor and was within seconds of a Sweet 16 berth before Rolando Lamb shattered Northeastern's dreams with a turnaround 17-foot leaner off an inbounds play as time expired. Doctor Knew Lewis Used Cocaine. Lewis scored 20.8 points per game in both of his final seasons with the Celtics. This article is about the professional basketball player. Many cases go undiagnosed, Abraham adds, because the young athletes healthy appearance and peak physical condition may mask their underlying sickness. He was kind and caring, and this is the way I'll remember him and I encourage everybody to do the same," she said at a news conference at the Celtics' offices. Like Sportscasting on Facebook. "He had success against Jordan in other games, too," Shaw said. "But he was a worker. Lawyers for the doctors could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. Jordan, who remained curious about the budding Celtics star, made a point to chat with him in the locker room. His cause of death was cited as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a common athletic ailment where the heart thickens, eventually causing heart attacks and cardiac arrest. http://www.hopkinsheart.org/clinical-services/centers-excellence/center-excellence-hcm.html, David March 410-955-1534 office; 410-598-7056 cellular; dmarch1@jhmi.edu. This NBA Player Died on The Court.. - YouTube About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . Mr. Gavitt told Mr. Lewis' doctors that the ailing star "couldn't be forced into it." However, he later sought a second opinion from Dr. Gilbert Mudge at Brigham and Women's Hospital, who diagnosed Lewis with neurocardiogenic syncope, a less serious non-fatal condition instead. The checkup will include a basic questionnaire to review any past history of chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting spells, instances of sudden cardiac death in relatives, weight and blood pressure measurements, and tests for unusual heartbeats or murmurs. When Reggie Lewis collapsed and died on July 27, 1993, at the age of 27, he was already a husband, a father, a community leader, an NBA All-Star and a Celtics captain. "Reggie was a model citizen and an intelligent and wise man. #inline-recirc-item--id-b3f182ca-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { "No, nobody did," Jordan said. Lewis's tragic death The 198384 Huskies advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, falling one point shy of the Sweet 16 when Rolando Lamb scored at the buzzer to lift VCU over the Huskies. Per ESPN, Lewis proved that he could pull off insane feats throughout his tenure. The team stood to lose millions of dollars if Mr. Lewis were unable to play basketball because of drug abuse. His shocking death triggered unprecedented spasms of grief throughout Boston, where he left an indelible imprint on the inner-city kids he mentored, kids whose dreams were not unlike his own. That is how I will remember him," Ms. Harris-Lewis said. Reginald F. Lewis, 50, Is Dead; Financier Led Beatrice Takeover "He was a model citizen. In the last decade, Abraham has treated dozens of athletes with overly enlarged hearts. [7], On April 29, 1993, in Game 1 of the Celtics' playoff series against the Charlotte Hornets, Lewis suddenly collapsed on the court and remained on the ground for several seconds. In the initial shock, the death of basketball star Reggie Lewis last week seemed a grim parable of the seductive power of professional sports -- of an athlete so devoted to a game and its rewards that he would distort medical truth in order to keep playing. He left having scored 17 points in 13 minutes. "We wish to try the case on the facts of Reggie Lewis' medical treatment," Harley told the Boston Herald. Reginald C. Lewis (November 21, 1965 - July 27, 1993) was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association 's Boston Celtics from 1987 to 1993. Then, there were the financial interests. She said that the school promised privacy to people who spoke to the commission and that releasing the files would cripple the school's ability to conduct future confidential internal investigations. Lewis' coach and a teammate said they knew nothing about the reported cocaine use. Chang will face Paul Haarhuis, who has never won a singles title, in the final. Autopsy results found Lewis had a large, extensively scarred heart, and the cause of that scar tissue is still not known. "There was a lot of pressure on him, but it didn't seem to faze him at all.". "When someone with his talent does that to you, you can live with it. Reggie Lewis - Wikipedia A heart arrhythmia . He never relinquished his own aggressiveness. "Furthermore, there is no conceivable way that the NBA's anti-drug program had anything to do with the issue of whether Reggie Lewis was tested or could have been tested upon his admission to the hospital," Granik said. Following the death information, people wonder what Reggie Lewis's cause of death was. Family details how they keep Reggie Lewis' legacy alive on the 25th "I'm fine," he answered, in his sweet, lazy Baltimore drawl. When a group of eminent cardiac pathologists met in Boston last year to discuss the issue of sudden death and athletes' hearts, they asked Kessler to discuss his conclusions in Lewis' death. Wade has lent his support and will join volunteers and heart disease experts from Johns Hopkins in Marylands only screening program to detect early signs of life-threatening heart abnormalities in student athletes. He initially went unrecruited by most Division I programs -- except by dogged Northeastern coach Jim Calhoun, who saw something special in the slender, shy wing player. Derrick Lewis, no relation to Reggie Lewis but a former teammate at Dunbar and Northeastern, said the late player had nothing to do with drugs. All five consulting physicians in the case, plus three medical labs, agreed that drugs were not involved in the death of the Boston Celtics' captain, Evans said. Colombias team was encouraged when doctors said a knee cartilage tear suffered by midfielder Carlos Valderrama, 32, wasnt as severe as feared and he should be ready for the World Cup. The preliminary autopsy found that Lewis' heart was "abnormal, enlarged and extensively scarred" and that "preliminary drug screenings show no evidence of drug abuse.". Lewis got another, more satisfying opinion and was diagnosed with a non-fatal condition called neurocardiogenic syncope. He then began working out later that summer, preparing for the 1993-94 season. Our goal is to make this not only an annual program in Maryland, but to serve as a model for other programs to start across the country, state by state, city by city, if necessary, Abraham says, noting that other countries, such as Italy and Japan, have since the early 1980s run regular school programs to screen teenage athletes and non-athletes for possible heart problems. }, First published on December 29, 1998 / 10:15 PM. Doctors link cocaine use to Lewis' death, report says The NBA's drug policy, however, does not allow its veteran players to be tested for drugs without probable cause. . The center was funded partially by Lewis and has hosted major indoor track and field competitions, the Boston Indoor Games, home basketball games for Roxbury Community College, and Northeastern University track and field events. Would he shake you with that explosive first step and attack the rim, or would he suddenly pull up after one devastating dribble and hoist his trademark praying mantis jumper? SF tourists go in droves to In-N-Out. While not citing any direct evidence of drug use, doctors involved in Lewis' diagnosis, treatment and autopsy told the paper they suspected cocaine damaged his heart, causing him to collapse during a 1993 playoff game. "I have many, many examples of patients like that who had a relatively sudden onset of a viral inflammation of the heart and went on to have either sudden death or sudden heart trouble," said Dr. Baughman. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [10] One of the officers was James Crowley. Mike Tyson, his boxing future the subject of great speculation, will read a statement, but not answer questions, at a news conference tomorrow in Cleveland. "I was trying to be aggressive with him. The next day, he entered Boston's New England Baptist Hospital for a battery of tests. display: none; Since Reggie Lewis collapsed and died on a practice court in 1993, there have been rumors that the Boston Celtics star's death was . That's one reason why he never used drugs. On Sunday, Lewis' third day in the hospital, a team of top doctors met and went over the test results. Meanwhile, the stolen banner bearing the retired number of Lewis was back at Boston Garden after police discovered it in the bedroom of a 16-year-old Melrose, Mass., boy. They often found out differently when he stripped the ball from them or sent their jump shot into the seats. January 14, 2010- To this day, it still shocks former Dunbar High School basketball coach Bob Wade when he thinks back to June 1993, when he first heard that his star former student, 27-year-old Reggie Lewis, 67 and 195 pounds, the top scorer and center for the Boston Celtics, had suddenly collapsed and died during basketball shoot-around. "Reggie and I were really close friends," Derrick Lewis said. The autopsy found the heart "abnormal, enlarged and extensively scarred," but there was no trace of drugs. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? Follow us on Twitter @sportscasting19 and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Twenty years later, Boston still aches for him and still wonders what might have been. To those who knew Reggie Lewis best, fond memories are always front and Here's this talented guy who had never done anything wrong, who did so much for the city of Boston, and the next thing you know, he's gone.". Baptist Hospital, meanwhile, gathered a team of a dozen cardiologists from New England hospitals to review the case. Selanne slashed Dmitri Mironov of the Toronto Maple Leafs last Saturday. "He was a gamer. He wasn't sweating profusely or working that hard, but he suddenly crumpled to the floor, gasping for breath, and then lay still. Mudge's lawyer declined to comment to the Herald on the case. Fair or Foul? a Story Linking Reggie Lewis'S Death to Possible Cocaine The Journal also reported that there "was the more specific danger that such a scandal would interfere with a crucial business deal the Celtics were negotiating at that time.". As a result, Lewis began working out in preparation for returning for the 1994 season. Though having collapsed earlier in the year, which weakens, inflames and enlarges the muscle, Lewis continued to play, not fully aware of the danger to his heart. "We felt it was our duty to abide by our pledge of confidentiality," Janet Hookailo, the spokeswoman, said Tuesday. The possibility of another one existed when the torch was passed to Reggie Lewis. Reggie Lewis's death shocked Boston and the Celtics "The defendants want to avoid facing their negligence, and to distract attention from the truth with lies and unfounded rumors.". From 1988-93, he was 1 of 6 players to post 7.5K PTS, 1.5K REBS, 1K ASTS & 500 STLS. Lewis, like so many young players of his generation, admired Jordan and hoped to emulate his ferocious commitment to the two-way game. At a Boston news conference yesterday, the team's majority stockholder, Paul Gaston, criticized the Journal for suggesting in the Page 1 article that the team sought, for financial reasons, to cover up suspicions that drug use lay behind Mr. Lewis' illness, thereby undermining his care. Reggie Lewis was born on the 21st of November, 1965. MJ dismissed Reggie's initial block as an anomaly. The 24-year-old daughter of former Celtics great Reggie Lewis never met her father, born a few months after his tragic and untimely death 25 years ago. That also began a string of eight straight years without a winning record. Our experts predict every series, 2023 NBA playoffs: Second-round series, Finals, MVP odds, 'He looks better than ever': Why the Orlando bubble was 'just the beginning' for Jamal Murray, Memphis wasn't 'fine in the West' -- getting there hinges on massive culture questions, 'Help the bear': LeBron James trolls Dillon Brooks, Memphis Grizzlies, Why the Lakers' real test begins now, after dispatching the No. Doctors who examined the late Boston Celtics player Reggie Lewis say they believed his heart quite likely was damaged by cocaine before the former Dunbar High basketball star collapsed and died of heart failure near Boston in 1993. Had Reggie Lewis lived, would there have been additional battles with Jordan to add to the highlight reel? A report in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, however, said the doctors kept silent about their suspicions under influence from the Celtics and Mr. Lewis' family, who stood to lose millions of dollars if his illness was linked to drugs. Lewis was 27 when he died in the Celtics practice gym at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., on July 27, 1993. * Medical evidence uncovered after Mr. Lewis' fainting spell in April 1993 quickly led a team of a dozen noted specialists to a diagnosis of heart scarring, and they strongly suspected it was caused by cocaine. In older patients, dead tissue might indicate damage from arteriosclerosis, abnormal thickening and loss of elasticity of the walls of the arteries. There are several thousand such sudden deaths per year in younger adults in the United States by some estimates. I had the privilege of watching Reggie accomplish some astounding things on the basketball court. [1] At the age of 27, Lewis died while still a member of the Celtics, and his number was posthumously retired by the team. In 2004, the International Olympic Committee recommended that all athletes be EKG-tested every two years for potential heart abnormalities. (In an ironic twist, Rolando's son, Jeremy Lamb, would later play for Calhoun at UConn). Lewis was selected to play in his first and only NBA All-Star Game held in Orlando, Florida in 1992. To the naked eye, nothing betrays the macabre spot where Reggie Lewis, their team captain and gentle star, collapsed while shooting baskets on July 27, soon to be dead. Lewis, an athletic swingman from nearby Northeastern University, was considered the next big Celtics star after Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish moved on. 'It's going to be epic': Stephen Curry and LeBron James face off -- again, Curry sets G7 record with 50 as Dubs move on, Hobbled Butler serves as 'decoy' late in Heat win, Grizz's Brooks doesn't regret verbal jab at LeBron, 'This one's on me': Brunson self-critical after loss, Jokic on Murray's playoffs: 'We are following him', Rivers: Embiid likely doubtful for G1 vs. Celtics, How do Stephen Curry and the Warriors keep doing this?! I called Jordan earlier this week to see if he had any recollections of a young Lewis blocking him four times. All rights reserved. In the final game of his life, in the 1993 playoffs against the Charlotte Hornets and his childhood friend Muggsy Bogues, Lewis was electric in the opening minutes. "I was in Chicago when I got the news," Jordan said. His considerable skills were matched by a silent, patient resolve that served him well. A single dose can increase heart rate and blood pressure, narrow the arteries and cause a heart attack. He made his way back onto the court later in the game but quickly came back to the bench after experiencing dizziness. Follow @TIME. How much better could he have been? Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Lakers vs. Warriors: What scouts expect in playoff series, Austin Reaves has come a long way from a tiny Arkansas town to Lakers MVP!, Game 7 mentality: Lakers close out Grizzlies to earn some rest, Plaschke: Lakers live up to their legacy with a close-out win for the ages, LeBron James and the Lakers eliminate Grizzlies in a Game 6 rout, Lakers will need to tighten defense on Morant and Bane if they want to win Game 6. "I don't give a damn what people say. reggie lewis diedreggie lewis death videodonna harris-lewisreggie lewis death videoreggie lewis death on court Reggie's not a drug user," Mr. Lewis' mother, Ms. Ritch, said last night. Contact us or find a patient care location. The following day they were tested again, and finally passed. If anything was being covered up, it was the fact he had a heart condition. "He had my number that particular night.". Marta Figueras-Dotti ended 11 years of frustration on the LPGA Tour with a victory in the Hawaiian Ladies Open at Ewa Beach. Lewis denied using drugs. BOSTON - Doctors suspected that cocaine killed Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis in 1993, but they were thwarted by actions by his family and a "dismissive" policy toward drugs by the NBA, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The virus was found in Mr. Lewis' heart during the autopsy, and Dr. Kessler's conclusion was that it caused myocarditis -- an inflammation of the heart -- scarring of the heart muscle and ultimately death. Reginald C. Lewis (November 21, 1965 July 27, 1993) was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Boston Celtics from 1987 to 1993. "I'm glad Reggie was my teammate, because he was one of them.". . Jordan said Reggie would have been a "perennial All-Star," and Shaw is convinced he could have been one of the greatest Celtics of all time. [6], His no. "The question of drug use is not new," said John A. Curry, president of Northeastern University, alma mater of Mr. Lewis and Ms. Harris-Lewis. Fellow Celtic Larry Bird had high praise for Lewis's work ethic. "If there were suspicions, it was from discussions outside of the autopsy.". I was getting some furniture, and he said, Hey man, I got clearance to play. "[19][20] Also, Lewis's heart tissue tested positive for adenovirus during his autopsy. A lawyer for Lewis' family denied the allegation, the article said. I was trying to take advantage of his passive demeanor, but he didnt back down. Meanwhile, the Journal reported, the Celtics' chief operating officer at the time, David R. Gavitt, was telling doctors that NBA rules prevented them from forcing Mr. Lewis to submit to drug testing. Each athlete will receive a cardiac ultrasound, or echocardiogram, to measure heart size and its pumping function, including blood volume, and to check for faulty valves. Selanne was suspended for two games and Lemieux for three. Lewis was one of the exceptions. Theodore Abraham, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.S.E. In addition to The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Philips Healthcare, other co-sponsors of this event are Morgan State University, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, the National Football Foundation, the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association, Friends in Red, and the Chad Foundation. "He was a tough matchup," Jordan said. His cause of death was cited as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a common athletic ailment where the heart thickens, eventually causing heart attacks and cardiac . Reginald C. Lewis (November 21, 1965 - July 27, 1993) was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Boston Celtics from 1987 to 1993. The death of Reggie Lewis, Boston Celtic captain, was the result of a viral infection severely damaging his heart, leaving him vulnerable to the kind of abnormal heart rhythm that killed him last July, according to his death certificate. When Reggie Lewis, the popular captain of basketball's most storied team, collapsed while shooting baskets and died of heart failure, the city of Boston treated him like a fallen hero. By Dan Shaughnessy Globe Staff,July 28, 2013, 12:00 a.m. 11. "He had those long arms that really bothered me. Dumars was on a roster that included Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman and John Salley, and their supersized personalities often overshadowed his accomplishments. But authorities stopped short of saying Lewis didn't use drugs. "Oh, I remember it well," Jordan laughed. There was insurance coverage of more than $15 million that could be paid to the Lewis family and the Celtics only if there was no link to drugs. The 198182 Dunbar Poets finished the season at 290 during Lewis' junior season and finished 310 during his senior season, and were ranked first in the nation by USA Today.[2]. PRO BASKETBALL; Reggie Lewis's Family Had a History of Heart Problems Their vulnerable condition precluded them from any highly strenuous activity, and the rising number of occurrences is what compelled him to organize the weekend screening. Boston Celtics small forward who tragically died of heart failure on the court at the age of 27. It also seemed an object lesson in the relativity of medical truth, and in . January 14, 2010- To this day, it still shocks former Dunbar High School basketball coach Bob Wade when he thinks back to June 1993, when he first heard that his star former student, 27-year-old Reggie Lewis, 6'7" and 195 pounds, the top scorer and center for the Boston Celtics, had suddenly collapsed and died during basketball shoot-around. He also assured doctors, from his own experience with Mr. Lewis, that he was not a drug user. Reward offered as manhunt for Texas shooting suspect reaches "dead end", Louisiana's health care deserts put women, babies at risk, doctors say, How a tall Texan became an unlikely Australian rules football star, Second convoy of U.S. citizens fleeing Khartoum arrives at Port Sudan, ISIS chief killed by Turkey's intelligence agency, Erdogan says, General Mills issues Gold Medal flour recall over salmonella concerns, Investors sue Adidas over Kanye West Yeezy deal, Tornado flips cars, downs trees after touching down in South Florida, Shaquil Barrett's 2-year-old daughter dies in drowning accident. The diagnosis was that Lewis suffered from focal cardiomyopathy, a condition of the heart muscle that could cause heart failure.