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| Small forward | |
| Born: November 21, 1965 Baltimore, Maryland, USA |
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| Died: July 27, 1993 (aged 27) Waltham, Massachusetts, USA |
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| Nationality | American |
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| Height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Weight | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| College | Northeastern University |
| Draft | 22nd overall, 1987 Boston Celtics |
| Pro career | 1987–1993 |
Reggie Lewis (November 21, 1965 – July 27, 1993) was an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Boston Celtics from 1987 to 1993.
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Biography
Early life
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Lewis attended high school at Dunbar High School, where he played basketball alongside NBA players Muggsy Bogues, David Wingate, and Reggie Williams. 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.[1] Lewis attended Northeastern University in Boston. His uniform number was retired and hangs in tribute in Matthews Arena (the Celtics' original home arena in 1946).
Boston Celtics
He averaged 20.8 points per game in each of his last two seasons with the Celtics, and finished with a career average of 17.6 points per contest.
His #35 jersey was retired by the Celtics as a memorial to him — one of only two Celtics to have a retired number but not a championship in the 62-year history of the franchise. The other was Ed Macauley, who did win a championship with the St. Louis Hawks in 1958.
He was selected to play in his first and only NBA All-Star Game held in Orlando, Florida, 1992. He played 15 minutes, scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds.
Death and legacy
Lewis suffered sudden cardiac death on the basketball court at an off-season practice in 1993 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He was only 27 years old. Lewis had shown symptoms of heart problems in the preceding months (including collapsing during the opening game of their first-round playoff series with the Charlotte Hornets), and the cause of his death was subsequently attributed to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a structural heart defect that is considered the most common cause of death in young athletes. [2][3] After his death the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center was opened in Roxbury, Massachusetts. The center was funded partially by Lewis and routinely hosts major track and field competitions as well as home basketball games for Roxbury Community College.
References
External links
- http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=3514
- Remembering Reggie... on Celtics.com
- Reggie Lewis Statistics
- Deadly Silence: How the Inner Circles, Of Medicine and Sports, Failed a Stricken Star
- Reggie Lewis' doctor defends self
- Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center
- Photos
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