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 (appro ...

player for the

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

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 Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

from

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. At the age of 27, Lewis died while still a member of the Celtics, and his number was posthumously retired by the team.

Early life

Born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, Lewis attended high school at Dunbar High School, where he played basketball alongside future NBA players Muggsy Bogues, Reggie Williams 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'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

''.

College career

Lewis attended

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. 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 (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. 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 Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

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 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. A 7'1" Center (basketball), center, nicknamed "the Chief", Parish played for four teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1976 to 199 ...

. This need became more urgent after Len Bias, the 2nd overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft, died of a cocaine overdose. As a rookie, Lewis played sporadically, averaging 8.3 minutes per game under coach K. C. Jones. 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. In 1991, Lewis scored a career-high 42 points during a win against the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

. The following season, Lewis was selected to play in his first and only NBA All-Star Game, held in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. 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. 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 Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

, Lewis 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, whom the Celtics called their "dream team" of doctors. Lewis was diagnosed with "focal cardiomyopathy", 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, 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. 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.

Death

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

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

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 Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

, Lewis suffered sudden cardiac death on the basketball court at the age of 27. Two Brandeis University police officers found Lewis and attempted to revive him using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but they were unsuccessful. One of the officers was James Crowley. Lewis is buried in an unmarked grave in Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. His death was attributed to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 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 of 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 nat ...

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 (a common virus that can cause a range of cold- or flu-like infections) during his autopsy. Reggie Lewis Center

After Lewis' death, the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center was opened in

Roxbury, Boston Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for ne ...

. 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

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 suggested that the remaining NBA teams should approve an exemption for Lewis' contract, but the teams refused to do so. The rules have since been changed so that a similar case would result in the player's contract being paid by league insurance, as seen with Chris Bosh in 2018.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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, 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

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

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, 3 , , 3 , , 41.7 , , .473 , , .000 , , .692 , , 7.0 , , 3.7 , , 1.7 , , .0 , , 20.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1990 , style="text-align:left;",

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

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

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

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, 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 20th-century African-American sportsmen American men's basketball players Basketball players from Baltimore Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Deaths from cardiomyopathy NBA All-Stars NBA players with retired numbers Northeastern Huskies men's basketball players Shooting guards Small forwards Sports deaths in Massachusetts Sportspeople from Dedham, Massachusetts

Early life

College career

Professional career

Boston Celtics (1987–1993)

Death

Aftermath

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links