Reggie Lewis

Cross-posted from Dslack's

Part of me feels bad about having Reggie Lewis as an avatar. It can bring back some painful memories. I think of Doctor Mudge who thought there wasn't much wrong with Reggie's heart, while the Dream Team of physicians felt otherwise. I think of what a great guy he was. The turkey dinner give-aways come to mind. I even remember him bringing Northeastern to some prominence. This was before UMASS' Refuse to Lose. These were the times when the one hope was that quality guards would continually arrive at The Heights and keep giving BC a fighting chance to get into March Madness. I thought Reggie was good, but I never imagined him becoming much of an NBA player. I reserved such thoughts for the likes of Dana Barros, John Bagley, and perhaps even Michael Adams.

When he became a Celtic, I wasn't too excited. Think Manny Delcarman. Anyway, Reggie turned into a solid player. He was forming the bridge from the Larry Bird era to a new one somewhat still full of hope. James Worthy had done the same for the Lakers. Reggie was improving every year. Soon enough, I was thinking Reggie was a great player, that he could be a scoring machine, our own Bernard King.

The Celtics got a double dose of tragedy before Rick Pitino ever walked through that door with his arrogant thoughts of success being a choice. From my viewpoint, the sudden death of Lenny Bias was a sort of selfish kind of tragedy. He was the Tim Duncan of that period. He was a sure fire guarantee. But when Bias died, I didn't know much about who he was as a person. I only knew that the Celtics had lost their draft pick, the clear cut number one choice. Reggie was a whole different matter. He was giving away food to the hungry. His game was always improving. He had that infectious smile. Now God bless Lenny Bias and his family. I mean no disrespect. But Bias' death was in a way only different from glancing at random obituaries by virtue of his being selected by the Celtics a few days before. If he had been drafted by another team, would many of us even think of him as often as we tend to do? If we are honest with ourselves, when we do think of him, don't we think so in terms of how that tragedy damaged the Celtics? I hate to say it, but our society has unfortunately become desensitized to death. We witnessed it all too often on television shows from the earliest of ages. Reggie's death hit me exponentially harder than Bias'. I felt like I knew Reggie Lewis, in a way younger fans probably feel like they know Kendrick Perkins. It must have been the same feeling of dread Evil Empire fans felt when hearing of Munson's plane crash. Or of golf fans who admired Payne Stewart.

We all wanted to believe that Dr. Mudge was correct and all those esteemed doctors were wrong. This was the death that finally got it through my thick skull that it is truly just a game.

From 10 Athletes That Died While Playing- toptenz.net:

2. Reggie Lewis



Reggie Lewis was a basketball player for the Boston Celtics from 1987 to 1993. He had an average of 20.8 points a game and finished with a career average of 17.6 per contest. In 1992, Lewis was chosen to play his first and only NBA All-Star Game which was held in Orlando Florida. He was able top play 15 minutes of the game and scored seven points. He also grabbed four rebounds. During a Celtics practice game on July 27, 1993, Lewis died suddenly. He suffered sudden cardiac death and was only 27 years old.

I've decided to stick it out with Reggie as an avatar, because I think enough time has now passed where sadness has turned into acceptance and a greater appreciation for all the good things he did. He deserved a better fate. He was a regular guy who had a love for both basketball and humanity. Reggie Lewis was one of those rare athletes who was actually a true role model and hero.

Nick,

I also took the death of Reggie hard. I can clearly remember the sinking, hollow feeling I had when I saw the tv news that day (it's still there a bit today as I think back on it).

Reggie was really developing into something special. He is missed...

--Blood

Nick and Blood,

Great to see you both here.

I can clearly remember the news report about Reggie. Heartbreaking is indeed the only word that fits.

Nick, I think Reggie Lewis' likeness for an avatar picture is a fitting tribute to someone who was an important part of the team and an even more important part of many other lives.

I think it's especially fitting for use by someone like you who understands and respects the value of each human life.

Regards

Nick: Nice sentiments. Avatar is great.

I loved Reggie as a player. I didn't know much about his personal life.

Since Reggie's death, has anyone come along who really reminded you of his style of play?

GC

Nick,

I admire the avatar and the rationale behind it. Reggie was becoming a special player when he passed away. And he had an appealing personality. As a swing man, he was the equivalent of two players who could shoot, and he seemed to buy into the team concept. The whole scenario surrounding his death was tragic to say the least. And the fact that (I think this is right) he lies in an unmarked grave at the Forest Hills Cemetery is its own form of tragedy. That cemetery was my client a couple of years ago, and I know that was the case then.

Thanks for the enlightening post.

Sam

Thanks for the responses. It shows we are truly not an island, and we experience many of the same things. NYCelt, thanks a lot for being a great mediator when there was some animosity building up at BDC.

BloodRunsGreen, Reggie and myself were the same age. Maybe you were also similar like that. It can be a confusing world. Maybe part of my sadness was seeing a glimpse of my own mortality. I think Kurt Cobain was the same age too, but he somewhat took his own life. Reggie didn't do anything wrong, and it's still hard for me to understand how Dr. Mudge could be that arrogant to not consider that the Dream Team doctors had a point. Why not just shut Reggie down until whatever was wrong was truly figured out?

Sam, that's outrageous that he's in an unmarked grave. Maybe that was what Reggie wanted, but I doubt it. On a similarly strange note, while I was googling for a good picture to post with my blog entry, I noticed a story saying that the officer who arrested Henry Louis Gates Jr. was the same one who tried to resuscitate Reggie.