In Game 3, with Bird unable to play because of back woes, he torched the Cavs for 36 points and seven assists. Follow @TIME. Because of the differing views, Lewis had a team of L.A. specialists review the data. Robert Harley, Harris-Lewis' lawyer, has denied the basketball star used drugs. * The Celtics at the time were deeply in debt and in the midst of negotiations to sell a television station. This need became more urgent after Len Bias, the 2nd overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft, died of a cocaine overdose.[5]. Boston Celtics/Reggie Lewis Reports - 1993 - YouTube The news of 27-year-old Reggie Lewis's fatal heart attack on Tuesday, July 27, hit the citizens of Boston and the basketball community as a whole like a blow to the solar plexussome kind of sudden pain that, in the . Lewis denied using drugs. -- Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets and Claude Lemieux of the New Jersey Devils were suspended and fined by the NHL for separate incidents last weekend. Many cases go undiagnosed, Abraham adds, because the young athletes healthy appearance and peak physical condition may mask their underlying sickness. Two Brandeis University police officers found Lewis and attempted to revive him using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but they were unsuccessful. Marta Figueras-Dotti ended 11 years of frustration on the LPGA Tour with a victory in the Hawaiian Ladies Open at Ewa Beach. 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 . 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 . I got clearance to shoot again. Indeed, Lewis had fainted during a game a few months before, prompting a much-publicized debate on his heart health and foreshadowing his death. He was 27. According to depositions, Lewis and his teammate Andre LeFleur first delayed taking a school-administered drug test. Lewis was one of the exceptions. "Players tried to intimidate him, make it personal. Dumars was on a roster that included Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman and John Salley, and their supersized personalities often overshadowed his accomplishments. 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. 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. A $15 million insurance policy on his contract would not pay off if his disability was linked to drugs. It wasn't until the second overtime that the old master, Bird, came to life and ripped off nine points to enable the Celtics to hang on for a 135-132 win. African-American players at special risk of death from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Sudden Death of Baltimore Basketball Player Reggie Lewis Spurs Coach to Screen Other Young Players For Heart Defects - 01/14/2010. 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 died when several different problems caused . Meet me at Brandeis. I said Ill be down there, man. But it has agreed to a compromise that would provide the information with the proviso certain information be kept confidential. Young people are not supposed to die, especially when they are in what we believe to be peak physical form, says Wade, current coordinator of athletics for the Baltimore City Public School System. All Rights Reserved. [21], After Lewis' death, the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center was opened in Roxbury, Boston. ", Asked if anyone else had ever blocked four of his shots in one game, Jordan answered, "No one had ever done it before, and no one has done it since.". In addition, Mr. Lewis was born with a heart murmur, which. As a Celtic, he and his family lived in Dedham, Massachusetts. A Boston Celtics dynasty came to a close. Reggie Lewis's death shocked Boston and the Celtics . An electrocardiogram, or EKG, to assess the hearts electrical rhythms will also be given. He tried to return to action that night, but the Celtics medical staff pulled him again when he suffered dizziness and shortness of breath. Like Sportscasting on Facebook. According to the Journal, the partnership found itself with a capital deficit of $28.1 million in the summer of 1993. He never relinquished his own aggressiveness. "It's more than just very flimsy as a cause of death," he said. When it happened again, this time on a pull-up jumper, Jordan became irked. Calhoun firmly believes Lewis would have been a Hall of Famer. The Tragic Death of NBA All-Star Reggie Lewis Shaped - Sportscasting The story of how Reggie Lewis is one of the most heartbreaking stories you will ever hear. But it said the official cause of Mr. Lewis' death -- heart damage because of a viral infection -- has been rejected by cardiologists who examined him after a fainting spell during a game months before his death or later after his death. The following day, the Celtics gathered a dozen heart specialists through New England Baptist Hospital, a dream team of doctors, according to The Boston Globe. "Reggie Lewis' death was not caused by cocaine ingestion, nor was the damage to the heart at all typical of that known to be caused by cocaine usage," Dr. Richard Evans said. Lewis transferred to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where another team, this one led by Dr. Gilbert Mudge, diagnosed him with a less-harmful neurological condition. He soon left to seek care at another hospital. Abraham will lead the Hopkins team on Saturday. "To me, this was an example of gutless journalism, yellow journalism -- based fully on a complete disregard for the truth. What is evident: The official cause of death, a heart damaged by a common-cold virus, is a medically nonsensical finding by a coroner who was under intense pressure from the Lewis family to exclude any implication of drug use. display: none; "He was on his way to being one of the best 2-guards in the league," said friend and former teammate Brian Shaw. As the trio got older, Lewis got better. Lewis had worn the number 35 for his entire career. Enter the last name, specialty or keyword for your search below. During a 1993 playoff game against the Charlotte Hornets, Lewis fell to the floor with nobody around him. This article is about the professional basketball player. . Mr. Lewis, whose $1 billion acquisition in 1987 of the Beatrice . To those who knew Reggie Lewis best, fond memories are always front and 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. On March 31, 1991, the Bulls strutted into the Boston Garden with a 53-17 record (they would go on to win 61 games). When someone with his talent does that to you, you can live with it., We lost All-Star Reggie Lewis 29 years ago today. In a long report, the Journal said part of the answer as to why a treatable heart ailment ended in tragedy could lie in "the willingness of family members, lawyers, Celtics officials and some doctors to sidestep the possible cause of Mr. Lewis collapse.". That was it.". "Looking down, (Dr. Kessler) told the group there had been legal threats made by the Lewis family and that he was bound by Massachusetts law not to discuss the case," the Journal reported. "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. Doctors who reviewed the records agree that cocaine did not kill basketball player Reggie Lewis, the state's chief medical examiner said yesterday. "He was a model citizen. He never relinquished his own aggressiveness. "I was in Chicago when I got the news," Jordan said. They knew Reggie Lewis was no slouch. That clause was never invoked in Mr. Lewis' case, despite the mounting medical evidence, the Journal said. 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. Mr. Lewis' widow, Donna Harris-Lewis, said at the same news conference that she is "disappointed that a national publication would print rumors, innuendoes. In a single dose or over years, cocaine will damage the heart. The following day they were tested again, and finally passed. It was considered career-ending. In older patients, dead tissue might indicate damage from arteriosclerosis, abnormal thickening and loss of elasticity of the walls of the arteries. Dr. Baughman said a diagnosis of cocaine use could not be made unless there was evidence of specific cocaine-induced damage to the heart -- caused by spasms in the arteries -- and evidence the person was using cocaine. I had the privilege of watching Reggie accomplish some astounding things on the basketball court. None of his teammates dared to rib him about a skinny kid from Baltimore blocking four of his shots. Lewis died at age 27 after he collapsed while shooting baskets. "Reggie and I were really close friends," Derrick Lewis said. A lawyer for Lewis' family denied the allegation, the article said. 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. Although the myocarditis had healed, Kessler told the newspaper that Lewis heart remained scared and enlarged when he collapsed and died while shooting baskets at Brandeis University in the Boston area. But the information presented regarding Reggie Lewis is true, and we found a . He launched jumpers for about an hour. December 29, 1998 / 10:15 PM / AP. There was the 1984 NCAA tournament game against VCU, when he was close to unstoppable. 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. What Killed Reggie Lewis? Dr. Stanton Kessler, the deputy medical examiner, told the Journal that he stood by his findings. 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. "We felt it was our duty to abide by our pledge of confidentiality," Janet Hookailo, the spokeswoman, said Tuesday. Reggie Lewis's death still hurts, 20 years later. [8], The following day, Lewis checked into New England Baptist Hospital, where he underwent a series of tests by more than a dozen heart specialists, who the Celtics called their "dream team" of doctors. Midway through his first season in the NBA, I asked him how he was holding up. He slashed to the hole, ripped away offensive rebounds and seized the game by its throat. Reggie Lewis Wikipedia Republished // WIKI 2 Jordan was about to win his fifth consecutive scoring title and his first NBA championship. [6], His no. "It's thought to be the most common cause of unexplained heart damage in young, otherwise healthy people. 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. From Staff and Wire Reports. They shared an agent, bought their houses at the same time, picked out new BMWs just days apart. He didn't do it.". The Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Johns Hopkins Health System. The Celtics were looking to add some youth to the team, especially for the aging "Big 3" of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish. Stanton C. Kessler, the associate chief medical examiner of Massachusetts who signed the death certificate, told the New York Times that a virus was found in Lewis heart and it caused myocarditis, an inflammation that scars and enlarges the heart. "I saw it happen all the time," Shaw said. 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. She also denied the Journal's report, attributed to his doctors, that her husband refused drug tests while hospitalized. "Indeed, since Reggie's death, local and out-of-town reporters have combed our campus for evidence of drug use or association by Reggie. Lewis started all 82 games and shot better than 50% from the floor that season. As far as Reggie using drugs, he never used any drugs, no kind of way, never in his lifetime did anything like that happen. He stumbled to his feet and was dazed and confused. 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. How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! 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. 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. For other uses, see, Reggie Lewis portrait from the Celtics yearbook, America East Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year, List of basketball players who died during their careers, "Fallen Celtic: Remembering Reggie Lewis", "The Reggie Lewis Aftermath Boston Mourns, Puzzles And Opines Over Celtics Star's Death", "Celtics sign PJ Dozier to a two-way contract", "With Len Bias-Reggie Lewis Duo, Boston Celtics Could Have Owned 1990s", "Every retired number for the Celtics and who wore it", "To those who knew Reggie Lewis best, fond memories are always front and center", "Officer Defends Arrest of Harvard Professor", "Young athletes urged to get screened for heart trouble", "Report: Doctors Suspected That Cocaine Killed Celtics' Lewis", "Cocaine claim could spur insurance probe", "Deadly Silence: How the Inner Circles, Of Medicine and Sports, Failed a Stricken Star", "Doctors: Drugs Did Not Kill Reggie Lewis", "At Face Value, Board Makes Celtics Pay For Their Success", "Bosh, Heat part ways over year after last game", Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reggie_Lewis&oldid=1144474244, National Basketball Association All-Stars, National Basketball Association players with retired numbers, Northeastern Huskies men's basketball players, 20th-century African-American sportspeople, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Career statistics and player information from, This page was last edited on 13 March 2023, at 23:36. Selanne was suspended for two games and Lemieux for three. 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. "Joe never talked trash," Jordan said. The otherwise healthy 27-year-old managed to achieve a great deal during his six-year career with the association, becoming an All-Star, a Celtics captain, and a mentor to underprivileged youth. Vaccines & Boosters | Testing | Visitor Guidelines | Coronavirus. Find a doctor at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center or Johns Hopkins Community Physicians. Teammate Dee Brown called the Wall Street Journal article "a bunch of crap.". "It was so surprising, so sad. But Reggie never said a word. This NBA Player Died on The Court.. - YouTube The Celtics plan to retire Mr. Lewis' uniform number during halftime of a game on March 22, a ceremony the club says will go on as scheduled. As a result, Lewis began working out in preparation for returning for the 1994 season. After breaking the Northeastern scoring record, he was drafted 22nd by the Boston Celtics but played only 8.3 minutes a game in his 1987-88, his rookie season. display: block; (In an ironic twist, Rolando's son, Jeremy Lamb, would later play for Calhoun at UConn). Third-seeded Michael Chang defeated No. Lewis returned briefly to the game but was eventually pulled due to dizziness and shortness of breath. Boston Celtics small forward who tragically died of heart failure on the court at the age of 27. But not in time for Lewis to have had an automated defibrillator implanted, a device that can electrically shock the heart back to pumping after it has stopped. Haarhuis defeated Jaime Yzaga, 6-3, 6-3. . Yesterday, the Boston Globe reported that, according to the autopsy report, Lewis died of myocarditis, an inflammation of heart muscle tissue. Autopsy confirms Lewis had serious heart defects Specific ailment still On July 27, 1993, during off-season practice at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, Lewis suffered sudden cardiac death on the basketball court at the age of 27 years old. . "For something like this to come out to just tarnish an image, it doesn't even have to be true. Reggie and Shaw talked for hours about what they needed to do to introduce themselves into the discussion of great players in the league. . Reggie Lewis was born in Baltimore. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? More than 110,000 high school students in Maryland are active in sports, and, according to Abraham, the stress of athletic competition poses ultra-dangerous risks to those who have inherited tendencies to develop overly enlarged and thickened hearts, hypertrophic cardiomyopathies, or similar abnormalities. Per ESPN, Lewis proved that he could pull off insane feats throughout his tenure. He denied it. "Every time I thought I had him beat, he'd recover and get up on me. At the age of 27, Lewis died while still a member of the Celtics, and his number was posthumously retired by the team. He called me literally the day he died, and I was at Jordans Furniture remember Jordans Furniture? "The Celtics are saddened by the vicious attack on Reggie Lewis and his family.". A single dose can increase heart rate and blood pressure, narrow the arteries and cause a heart attack. "Michael would have 37 and Reggie would have 32, so all the talk was about MJ, but Reggie was right there.". The Celtics had created a marketing poster declaring the "Changing of the Guards," featuring Lewis and Shaw towering over the parquet, with championship banners in the background. Philips is providing the 20 ultrasound machines and 15 electrocardiographs for EKG screening, plus supplies, needed for the event.