This NBA Player Died on The Court..

i saw a video of this nba player collapsed on the court and i was shocked i mean who wouldn't be an nba all-star only 27 years old and this all happened just three months before his tragic death so what went wrong well meet reggie lewis the nba player who lost his life on the court [Music] the story of how reggie ended up lifeless on that court started at a young age if it wasn't for his family reggie wouldn't have made it to the nba in the first place grew up in the rough streets of baltimore a murder capital of the united states in a single parent home with his mama peggy she was the inspiration for him to make a way out but not for the right reasons peggy was battling devastating addictions and reggie would catch her at home getting high this was a lot to deal with but it motivated reggie he knew it was on his shoulders to find a way out thankfully he found his life's passion and the only thing a kid could do in the projects of baltimore basketball reggie fell in love and dedicated his life to the game making a name for himself as a kid playing on local aau teams but when he made it to high school his dreams were crushed one of the most iconic true stories of all time is one about michael jordan and how he wasn't good enough to make it on his high school basketball team the greatest athlete of all time couldn't make it on a high school roster and reggie lewis the man that would go on to shut down michael jordan in the nba was also cut from his first high school team this was devastating for the kid and he could have given up right then and there but he stayed focused on the ultimate goal getting his family out of the projects and making it to the nba by the time reggie was in his junior year he thought he was too good to play for his high school team and he decided to try out for baltimore's prestigious high school dunbar high and it was at dunbar the history was made reggie joined forces with future nba players mugsy bogues david wingate and reggie williams as the sixth man in this historic high school team think about that this team had four future nba players the dunbar poets didn't lose a single game over the next two years even to this day they're regarded as the greatest high school basketball team of all time these guys were unstoppable but even with all this historic success it was hard for reggie to celebrate because every time he looked up into the stands his mama peggy was nowhere to be found she was out somewhere else battling her demons and although his mother not being there is truly heartbreaking reggie didn't give up hope he continued to use her as motivation to change their lives following high school reggie had officially made a name for himself and he had a full-ride scholarship to play over at northeastern university in boston massachusetts reggie came in with a chip on his shoulder he didn't get the same credit the other dunbar boys got because he was coming off the bench there so now that he's at northeastern reggie has a chance to play in the starting lineup he knew this was the biggest moment of his life this was his last chance to prove that he belonged in the nba reggie came into college on fire carrying northeastern to the ncaa tournament in his first year by sophomore season it was clear that this dude was an nba star in the making all night his sophomore year would also be the same year that reggie met his second half the woman who would eventually become his wife donna harris donna played a pivotal role in reggie's life serving as his backbone and becoming a new source of motivation reggie absolutely loved this woman but the other woman in his life his mama peggy she couldn't stand on him and donna couldn't stand her from the very beginning peggy felt like donna was there as an opportunist trying to ride the wave of a future nba player while donna was trying to convince reggie to cut his mom off altogether saying once an addict always an addict she was worried that his mom would try to take advantage of him as he found success and this became an internal battle for years to come the two most important people in reggie's life hated each other [Music] but reggie stayed focused he spent four years total in northeastern scoring 2708 points shattering the previous record by over 600 points and setting a record that still stands to this day he spent his entire life up to this point pushing and fighting for a chance to change his family's destiny now that he's out of college reggie finally has that chance it's time for the nba draft walking into an arena with thousands of other nba hopefuls there was only one thing that reggie could do at this point take a seat anxiously wait and pray that his name is the one that gets called nba draft [Music] 22nd pick in the 1987 nba draft select reggie lewis of northeastern our mayor reggie did it but in his eyes we all did it he wasn't doing this for himself he was doing this for his family that's the guy reggie was and that feeling resonated not just with his family but throughout his community reggie was known throughout boston as he played in northeastern but when he was drafted to the celtics he transcended became a hometown superhero when it comes to basketball the celtics were looking for a miracle their dynasty with larry bird kevin mchale and robert parish was aging and on the way out and just a year before reggie's draft the celtics suffered from a heart-wrenching tragedy when they drafted the league's next superstar lynn bias and he tragically died just a few days after the draft [Music] the entire city was crushed and they needed a glimmer of hope so the day reggie lewis was drafted he became boston's hero that same day reggie also signed a contract for 400 000 yeah that's uh probably not as much as you were expecting but it was enough to do what reggie always promised he would do get his mom out of the projects despite their difficult relationship reggie still felt it was his job to take care of her so the very first thing he bought when he got paid was a house for his mama now with his family taken care of reggie could finally focus on the mba [Music] actually uh reggie's first year in the nba was pretty slow he only got to play about eight minutes a game but it was for a good reason the celtics still had legendary hall of fame players on their team like larry bird and kevin mchale those guys were aging but they're still all-time greats so the celtics decided it'd be better to have reggie come off the bench as rookie season play eight or so minutes a game and soak up every bit of greatness he could from the legends while they were still around that's exactly what reggie did by reggie's second season he got his first chance to shine larry bird went down with an injury it was up to reggie to take everything he learned and put this team on his back [Music] from this moment on reggie was no longer a sixth man or a bench player he was a starter and he was becoming a star in the league and he secured a spot in nba history on march 31 1991 when he played the most iconic game of his career against michael jordan reggie lewis blocked the greatest basketball player in nba history four different times what if there wasn't a video of this dude i wouldn't believe it seriously reggie lewis is the only player in nba history that michael jordan couldn't figure out this is what michael jordan said his length confused me every time i thought i had him beat he'd recover and get up on me he was a tough match-up he shocked me this night proved reggie's greatness and it set the stage for what would be an epic rivalry throughout the 90s celtics vs bulls reggie vs jordan right before our eyes reggie lewis was taking the league by storm becoming an all-star signing multi-million dollar contracts his life and his family's life was forever changed but when the money really starts coming in so does every single family member every other day reggie started getting calls from a new family member and the hardest call to answer was always from his mama peggy she called one night begging for help her utilities have been turned off and she needed two thousand dollars to get back on her feet at the time she was working on her own making 11 an hour at a paper cup factory but all of her money was going to drugs and you know reggie he gave in and he gave her the two thousand dollars this was the last straw for reggie's fiance donna they were planning on getting married in just a couple of months and she had enough of reggie's family taking advantage of him so she put her foot down cut everyone off i mean everyone they got married just a couple of months later in july of 1991 and had only two guests at their wedding not a single family member they'd have their first kid reggie jr about a year after getting married and over time reggie's mother peggy reached out for help again this time she wanted to go to rehab and of course reggie couldn't say no he convinced donna that they should help her and they offered to pay the bill to get his mama some help [Music] while reggie was dealing with all these personal issues getting married starting a family he was still taking over the nba the 1991-92 season was reggie's greatest yet he was named an nba all-star and the entire world recognized him as the man that was taking the torch from larry bird and carrying the celtics dynasty he was proven to be an all-time great on the court and a hero in his community somehow reggie was still making time for the people of boston neighbors said he was a down to earth guy he could talk to him while he was walking a sun stroller around he'd hold open practices for kids to come play and shoot with them he teamed up with reebok and refurbished an entire court with new blacktop and new baskets give out turkeys on thanksgiving go to local schools and talk to the kids all while balancing his wife child career family issues reggie used his wealth and influence to not only change his family's life but the entire community of boston [Music] reggie did so much off the court but he can't forget about what he was doing on the court coming off an all-star year reggie led the celtics to the 1992-93 playoffs and this was the first season without larry bird as he just retired this was a defining year for reggie and coming into the playoffs hype was at an all-time high the energy in the arena was electrifying it was game one against the charlotte hornets second quarter and reggie was jogging up the court when all of a sudden reggie just collapsed on the court he got up looking dazed and confused was he dehydrated did he have the flu the celtics weren't sure so they took him out of the game let him rest for a few minutes and then sent him right back in and reggie went off scoring 17 points in 13 minutes but he still felt dizzy so the celtics pulled him back out of the game and sent him to the hospital to just get checked out that's where reggie went through six rounds of testing and got the results back that night with the six different tests that were ran four detected a deadly defect on the bottom of his heart news that ran chills off reggie's spine stunned him laying in the hospital thinking about his life everything that he worked so hard for this came out of nowhere and reggie wasn't convinced it was true so advisors put together an 11-man dream team of the top cardiologists in the area to try to get to the bottom of this within hours the dream team all agreed on one diagnosis reggie was suffering from focal cardiomyopathy a life-threatening damage to the heart muscle wall at the bottom of his heart and just like that reggie felt his soul leave his body as doctors told him your basketball career is over this was news that reggie just couldn't accept after everything he's been through it can't end like this so his wife donna arranged for him to be transferred from new england baptist to brigham and women's hospital where he could get a second opinion some doctors diagnosed reggie with a neurological feigning condition and said he could return to the nba at some point if he was on medication this made reggie happy but it was still difficult to just go out there and play he had so many other doctors telling him a completely different thing reggie had a wife a 10 month old son and family depending on i couldn't just give up and to make matters worse reggie's mother peggy was facing her own medical problem a blockage of a major artery with her health insurance running out she needed money to make three 188 dollar payments so peggy brought it up to reggie while he was in the hospital and he agreed to make the payments but after a conversation with his wife reggie called back to say that she'd have to wait crushing his mother permanently damaging the relationship between donna and peggy after a dream team of doctors and a second opinion reggie decided to go to los angeles and get a third round of testing a four-man team went through the process coming to the conclusion that he did have a fainting condition but three of these four doctors also agreed that he had a heart defect as well and needed to be monitored before any physical activity or basketball return what do you do if a bunch of doctors say you could die if you step on the court again but some say you'll be okay do you take the safe approach and retire give up your dream your career the future of your family reggie's life was defined by basketball him and everyone around him depended on it it wasn't long until he was spotted lightly working out running on treadmills and weight training weeks went by and the time finally came to give basketball a shot once again reggie decided to meet up with a few college buddies for some pickup games and he wasn't reckless at all by nba standards he was taking training easy but within just 5 minutes reggie started to feel out of breath he hadn't broken a sweat yet as he crumpled to the floor gasping for air reggie was under cardiac arrest pale and lifeless on the court while people at the gym rushed around trying to get in contact with paramedics police officers anyone who could rush to the scene and revive him he was eventually taken to waltham weston hospital where doctors rushed to save him jimmy myers a local sports radio host was friends with reggie and his wife donna being in the radio industry he got the news about reggie's collapse instantly as soon as he heard what happened he scrambled to call donna jimmy was frantic when she picked up the phone i told her he had something really important to tell her but donna cut him off first and yelled not until i tell you something i'm gonna be a mommy again donna was donna was pregnant again she had just found out right before getting this phone call myers swallowed hard and said donna you've got to brace yourself and broke the news of what just happened after two hours of doctors doing everything they could they gave in and reggie was pronounced dead at the age of 27. [Music] following reggie's death there was constant speculation and legal issues reggie's will left everything to his wife including over 10 million dollars in contracts to be paid by the boston celtics reggie's mom and family was hurt by this things got so bad that fights broke out on the way to the funeral lawsuits were filed over doctors giving the wrong opinion in the community in boston was deeply hurt media showcased his funeral live and there was an estimated 15 000 fans throughout northeastern university reggie's college home court where his body laid 7 000 people attended the service and thousands more lined the 4.7 mile path that reggie's funeral followed to the cemetery all because reggie lewis was so much bigger than basketball the biggest question everyone had was why did reggie try to play basketball again so soon why didn't he just take it slow and safe the answer to that question is the same thing that motivated him from the beginning his family he did all of this for his family so when it came down to do i risk my life to keep taking care of my family reggie said yes you took that risk and ultimately his sudden death became the nba's greatest tragedy and one that people still feel to this very day [Music] you

Channel: REBOUND

Views: 5,050,366

Rating: 4.9040108 out of 5

Keywords: nba, rebound central, reggie lewis, celtics, died on the court

Id: 6Lfj0vh-lCA

Length: 18min 40sec (1120 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 07 2020