Reginald C. Lewis (November 21, 1965 – July 27, 1993) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

from

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

Early life

Born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

, Lewis attended high school at Dunbar High School, where he played basketball alongside future NBA players Muggsy Bogues and David Wingate. The 1981–82 Dunbar Poets finished the season at 29–0 during Lewis' junior season and finished 31–0 during his senior season, and were ranked first in the nation by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''.

College career

Lewis attended

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North Ca ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Over his four years at Northeastern, Lewis scored 2,708 points, still the all-time record at the university. His Northeastern teams won the ECAC North all four seasons and played in the NCAA men's basketball tournament every year. The 1983–84 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. His uniform number was retired and hangs in tribute in

Matthews Arena Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the world's oldest multi-purpose athletic building still in use, as well as the oldest arena in use for ice hockey. The arena opened in 1910 on what ...

(the home of Northeastern University's men's basketball team and the Celtics' original home arena in 1946). As a Celtic, he and his family lived in

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest ...

. He was a second cousin of PJ Dozier, who wore the jersey number 35 as a member of the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

in honor of Lewis.

Professional career

Boston Celtics (1987–1993)

Lewis was drafted in the first round, 22nd overall, by the Boston Celtics in the

1987 NBA draft The 1987 NBA draft was held on June 22, 1987, in New York City. This draft included two future members of the NBA 50 Greatest Players list, David Robinson and Scottie Pippen, as well as fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, who was named to t ...

. The Celtics were looking to add some youth to the team, especially for the aging "Big 3" of

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

, Kevin McHale, and

Robert Parish Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player who played 21 seasons as a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), tied for second most in league history. He played an NBA-record 1,6 ...

. This need became more urgent after

Len Bias Leonard Kevin Bias (November 18, 1963June 19, 1986) was an American college basketball player who attended the University of Maryland. During his four years playing for Maryland, he was named a first-team All-American. Two days after being selec ...

, the 2nd overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft, died of a

cocaine overdose Cocaine intoxication refers to the subjective, desired and adverse effects of cocaine on the mind and behavior of users. Both self-induced and involuntary cocaine intoxication have medical and legal implications (even in absence of relevant adver ...

. As a rookie, Lewis played sporadically, averaging 8.3 minutes per game under coach

K. C. Jones K. C. Jones (May 25, 1932 – December 25, 2020) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known for his association with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA), with whom he won 11 of his 12 ...

. By his second season, thanks in part to a new coach (and an injury to Bird), Lewis averaged over 30 minutes and scored 18.5 points per game. Lewis was selected to play in his first and only

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is a basketball exhibition game hosted every February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's star players. It is the featured event of NBA All-Star Weekend, ...

held in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

. He played 15 minutes, scoring 7 points and grabbing 4 rebounds. Lewis averaged 20.8 points in each of his last two seasons with the Celtics, and finished with a career average of 17.6 points per contest. His no. 35 jersey was retired by the Celtics, making him one of only two Celtics to have a retired number without winning a championship with the team, the other player being

Ed Macauley Charles Edward Macauley (March 22, 1928 – November 8, 2011) was a professional basketball player and coach. His playing nickname was "Easy Ed". Early life Macauley spent his prep school days at St. Louis University High School, then went on to ...

. On April 29, 1993, in Game 1 of the Celtics' playoff series against the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

, Lewis suddenly collapsed on the court and remained on the ground for several seconds. After he finally got up, he looked perplexed and dazed as he headed to the Celtics bench. Lewis returned briefly to the game but was eventually pulled due to dizziness and shortness of breath. He left the game having scored 17 points in 13 minutes of action in what turned out to be his final NBA game. 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. Lewis was diagnosed with "focal

cardiomyopathy Cardiomyopathy is a group of diseases that affect the heart muscle. Early on there may be few or no symptoms. As the disease worsens, shortness of breath, feeling tired, and swelling of the legs may occur, due to the onset of heart failure. ...

", a disease of the heart muscle that can cause irregular heartbeat and heart failure. Lewis was told his condition was most likely career-ending. However, he later sought a second opinion from Dr. Gilbert Mudge at

Brigham and Women's Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is the second largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two ...

, who diagnosed Lewis with neurocardiogenic syncope, a less serious non-fatal condition instead. As a result, Lewis began working out in preparation for returning for the 1994 season. Mudge was later cleared of any wrongdoing, and he insisted he had never authorized Lewis to resume workouts.

Death

On July 27, 1993, during off-season practice at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , p ...

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, ...

, Lewis suffered

sudden cardiac death Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

on the basketball court at the age of 27 years old. James Crowley, a Brandeis University police officer who happened upon the gym on a routine patrol, and another Brandeis University police officer attempted to revive Lewis by using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but they were unsuccessful. Lewis is buried in an unmarked grave in

Forest Hills Cemetery Forest Hills Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery, greenspace, arboretum and sculpture garden located in the Forest Hills section of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery was established in 1848 as a publ ...

Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of the former Town of Roxbury, now also a part of the City of Boston. The commu ...

. His death was attributed to

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, or HOCM when obstructive) is a condition in which the heart becomes thickened without an obvious cause. The parts of the heart most commonly affected are the interventricular septum and the ventricles. This r ...

, a structural heart defect that is the most common cause of death in young athletes.

Aftermath

Following Lewis' death, questions were raised about whether he had used cocaine, and whether cocaine use had contributed to his death. The ''Wall Street Journal'' reported that physicians "suspected that cocaine killed Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis...but they were thwarted by actions by his family and a 'dismissive' policy toward drugs by the NBA." The ''Journal'' added the following:

Whether Mr. Lewis died from a heart damaged by cocaine -- as many doctors suspected then and now -- cannot be definitively shown. 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.

The Boston Celtics responded by expressing sadness about the "vicious attack on Reggie Lewis and his family" and threatening "to file a $100 million lawsuit against the reporter, ''The Wall Street Journal'' and its parent company, Dow Jones and Co. Inc." Dr. Gilbert Mudge, a doctor who treated Lewis, was sued for malpractice in connection with Lewis' death; in written responses to questions from the attorneys for Donna Harris-Lewis, Mudge said that "16 days before Lewis collapsed from a heart attack in 1993, he acknowledged having used cocaine, but said he had stopped." On the other hand, the doctor who performed the autopsy on Lewis testified that the

scarring A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a na ...

on his heart was inconsistent with cocaine use, and other doctors reached the same conclusion though they "stopped short of saying he never used drugs." Also, Lewis's heart tissue tested positive for adenovirus during his autopsy. After Lewis' death, the

Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center The Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center (RLTAC) is an indoor track and indoor basketball stadium in Roxbury, Massachusetts, partially funded by the state of Massachusetts. It is home to numerous Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Associat ...

was opened in

Roxbury, Boston Roxbury () is a neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for neighborhood services coordination. The city states that Roxbury ser ...

. The center was funded partially by Lewis and has hosted major indoor track and field competitions, the

Boston Indoor Games The New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, formerly known as the Boston Indoor Games, is an annual indoor track and field meet which is held in late January or early February at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. It was first held in Roxbury, a ...

, home basketball games for Roxbury Community College, and

track and field events. On March 22, 1995, the

retired Lewis' jersey. Lewis had worn the number 35 for his entire career. During the ceremony, former teammate Dee Brown made a speech while two other former teammates, Sherman Douglas and Xavier McDaniel, held up Lewis' framed jersey. Lewis' contract remained on the Celtics' salary cap for two full seasons after his death because at the time the NBA did not have a provision to void contracts if an active player died; NBA Commissioner

David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...

said that the remaining NBA teams should approve an exemption for Lewis' contract but the rest of the league, many of whom had spent years or even decades losing to the Celtics on the court, said that they would do no such thing to help Boston. The rules have since been changed so that a similar case would result in a deceased player's contract being paid by league insurance.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 49 , , 0 , , 8.3 , , .466 , , .000 , , .702 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .3 , , .3 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 57 , , 32.8 , , .486 , , .136 , , .787 , , 4.7 , , 2.7 , , 1.5 , , .9 , , 18.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 54 , , 31.9 , , .496 , , .267 , , .808 , , 4.4 , , 2.8 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , 17.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 79 , , 36.4 , , .491 , , .077 , , .826 , , 5.2 , , 2.5 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , 18.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 37.4 , , .503 , , .238 , , .851 , , 4.8 , , 2.3 , , 1.5 , , 1.3 , , 20.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 80 , , 39.3 , , .470 , , .233 , , .867 , , 4.3 , , 3.7 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 20.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 450 , , 352 , , 32.6 , , .488 , , .200 , , .824 , , 4.3 , , 2.6 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , 17.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 1 , , 0 , , 15.0 , , .429 , , – , , .500 , , 4.0 , , 2.0 , , – , , 1.0 , , 7.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 0 , , 5.8 , , .382 , , .000 , , .600 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .3 , , .2 , , 2.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 3 , , 41.7 , , .473 , , .000 , , .692 , , 7.0 , , 3.7 , , 1.7 , , .0 , , 20.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 5 , , 40.0 , , .597 , , .000 , , .771 , , 5.0 , , 4.4 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , 20.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 11 , , 11 , , 42.0 , , .487 , , .000 , , .824 , , 6.2 , , 2.9 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , 22.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 10 , , 40.8 , , .528 , , .333 , , .762 , , 4.3 , , 3.9 , , 2.4 , , .8 , , 28.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 1 , , 13.0 , , .636 , , .000 , , .750 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 1.0 , , 17.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 42 , , 30 , , 30.4 , , .510 , , .133 , , .777 , , 4.2 , , 2.6 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , 17.5

References

External links

The Journal's Reggie Lewis Bombshell

Remembering Reggie Lewis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Reggie 1965 births 1993 deaths African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Baltimore Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players National Basketball Association All-Stars National Basketball Association players with retired numbers Northeastern Huskies men's basketball players Small forwards Sports deaths in Massachusetts Sportspeople from Dedham, Massachusetts 20th-century African-American sportspeople Deaths from cardiomyopathy

Early life

College career

Professional career

Boston Celtics (1987–1993)

Death

Aftermath

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links