Chris Herren
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Christopher Albert Herren (born September 27, 1975) is an American former 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 and
motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...
. He played in the
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball 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 in the United St ...
and several leagues overseas.


Youth and high school

Herren attended B.M.C. Durfee High School in
Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
, from 1990 to 1994. His family's history at Durfee includes his father, grandfather, older brother, and three uncles who played basketball. Herren finished his career at Durfee High with a total of 2,073 points, the most career points in school history. In his senior year, Herren was named ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' and
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player of the year. He also was named to the McDonald's All-America Team. Herren was the central figure in a book about Durfee High basketball entitled ''Fall River Dreams''.


College basketball


Boston College (1994)

Herren turned down offers from the
University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...
and
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
to play at
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
.Unguarded. Dir. Jonathan Hock. Team Marketing, 2011. DVD. Entering Boston College, Herren was featured in ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'', hyping his possible success. Before playing, Herren failed a drug test for marijuana and cocaine use. On November 25, 1994, in his first game for Boston College, Herren scored 14 points in 21 minutes of playing time, but broke his wrist and was ruled out for the entire 1994–1995 season. Within three months of his injury, Herren failed two more drug tests for marijuana and cocaine use, and was subsequently expelled from the team and the university.


Fresno State (1995–1999)

After being kicked out of Boston College, Herren transferred to
Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...
to play basketball under coach
Jerry Tarkanian Jerry Tarkanian (August 8, 1930 – February 11, 2015) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball for 31 seasons over five decades at three schools. He spent the majority of his career coaching with the UNLV Runnin' Rebe ...
. Here he was hailed as much as at BC, featured in ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine. After sitting out a year, per NCAA transfer rules, Herren first made news in the Fresno Bee for his involvement in a disturbance at a local bar. Herren impressed everyone at practice, and when Herren made his debut, as a sophomore, on December 10, 1996, for the Bulldogs. he averaged 31 points per game over his last four games and finished the season averaging 17.5 ppg. On November 25, 1997, Herren was found to have failed another drug test. After going to a rehabilitation center for 21 days, Herren returned to the team on January 10, 1998. This particular season was featured in the FoxSports documentary “Between the Madness.” Viewers got an excellent insight to the charismatic Herren as he turned the tables on Mike Wallace, interviewing him. Both his exploits on and off the court as well as his mid-season crash after failing that drug test were featured in the two hour doc, culled together from over 600 hours of footage. Herren finished the season strong, willing Fresno State into the National Invitation Tournament by leading the Bulldogs past Hawaii. Herren led the squad into Madison Square Garden but the Bulldogs fell short. In a later press conference Herren announced his plan to stay at Fresno State another year. During his senior season, Herren scored 29 points in the second round of the Great Alaska Shootout against No. 1 ranked Duke. Fresno lost the game, 93–82, which was nationally televised. Overall, Herren played in 86 games at Fresno State where he averaged 15.1 points and 5.1 assists per game.


Professional basketball (1999–2006)

After his senior year at Fresno State, Herren entered the NBA draft and was selected by the
Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...
in the second round with the 33rd overall pick. The following year as a member of the
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 ...
, Herren received his first time as a regular starter. After starting 2–3, coach
Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA D ...
inserted him into the starting lineup. He started seven games in a row, resulting in a 4–3 record while playing 29 minutes per night. He was later released by the Celtics. Herren ended up playing 70 games from 1999 to 2001 as a member of the Nuggets and Celtics. Overall, he averaged 3.2 points and 2.4 assists per game for his NBA career. Herren went to play professionally for teams in Italy, Poland, Turkey, China, Germany and Iran. Herren once scored 63 points in a CBA game for the Beijing Ducks. NBA season statistics


Drug usage and recovery

Herren struggled with substance use for much of his career. While playing for the Boston Celtics, he started to use painkillers such as
OxyContin Oxycodone, sold under various brand names such as Roxicodone and OxyContin (which is the extended release form), is a strong, semi-synthetic opioid used medically for treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is highly addictive and a commonly ...
,
Vicodin Hydrocodone/paracetamol (also known as hydrocodone/acetaminophen) is the combination of the pain medications hydrocodone and paracetamol (acetaminophen). It is used to treat moderate to severe pain. It is taken by mouth. Recreational use is co ...
, and
Percocet Oxycodone/paracetamol, sold under the brand name Percocet among others, is a fixed-dose combination of the opioid oxycodone with paracetamol (acetaminophen), used to treat moderate to severe pain. In 2020, it was the 69th most commonly prescri ...
. In December 2007, Herren was charged with possession of
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
after passing out in the drive thru of a Dunkin' Donuts in
Portsmouth, Rhode Island Portsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,871 at the 2020 U.S. census. Portsmouth is the second-oldest municipality in Rhode Island, after Providence; it was one of the four colonies which merged ...
. In June 2008 in Fall River, he overdosed on heroin and crashed into a utility pole. According to paramedics, he was allegedly dead for thirty seconds. After completing intensive rehabilitation programs, Herren has been alcohol and drug-free since August 1, 2008. In June 2009, he launched Hoop Dreams with Chris Herren, a basketball player development company to mentor players on and off the court. Herren wrote a book with ''
Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island, and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspape ...
'' columnist Bill Reynolds titled ''Basketball Junkie: A Memoir'', documenting his career on and off the court. ''Basketball Junkie'' was released in May 2011.Book Details Rise of Celtics
''South Coast Today'', published November 13, 2010
In 2011, ESPN aired a documentary, ''Unguarded'', directed by Jonathan Hock, based upon Herren's basketball career and drug-related issues. On March 20, 2012, it was announced that ''Unguarded'' had been nominated for two
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
s: Outstanding Sports Documentary and Outstanding Editing. Herren now travels the United States sharing his story through Herren Talks, averaging 200 talks a year. Herren’s goal is to educate and inspire students in a way they’ll actually listen. Herren has spoken to over a million students and others, while also advocating for curriculum change to help youth get to the core of the need for alcohol and drug abuse - mental health and PTSD awareness. In 2011, Herren founded the nonprofit Herren Project. In 2018, he also founded Herren Wellness, a residential health and wellness program.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Herren, Chris 1975 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Iran American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players American motivational speakers Basketball Löwen Braunschweig players Basketball players from Massachusetts Beijing Ducks players B.M.C. Durfee High School alumni Boston Celtics players Boston College Eagles men's basketball players Denver Nuggets draft picks Denver Nuggets players Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna players Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball players Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players Jiangsu Dragons players KK Włocławek players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Sportspeople from Fall River, Massachusetts