— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) July 28, 2020
Reggie was on his way to being something really special. Here’s this talented guy who had never done anything wrong, who did so much for the city of Boston, and the next thing you know, he’s gone. – Michael Jordan
Twenty-three years ago today, the NBA lost a future great when 27-year-old Boston Celtic Reggie Lewis collapsed and died on a basketball court during an off-season practice.
People tend to overrate the potential of players and loosely throw around the terms “future great” and “hall-of-fame potential,” but I don’t think that’s the case at all with Reggie.
Via ESPN
By the time he died, he was one of six players who, from 1988-93, posted at least 7,500 points, 1,500 rebounds, 1,000 assists, and 500 steals. The other five — Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, and Chris Mullin — are all Hall of Famers
Now think about the fact that he spent the first couple of years of his career playing with the BIG 3 of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish. During his sophomore season, Reggie still averaged 18.5 points per game while the BIG 3 averaged 19+ each.
He broke the 20-point mark during his 5th season, and it was in that season that he made the All-Star team and had the memorable four blocks on Michael Jordan (MJ finished with 35 but shot 12-36). It’s also when he made a name for himself in the playoffs, blowing up for 36 points and 7 assists, and 42 points and 5 steals against the Cavs, without the assistance of Larry Bird.
“He was on his way,” said Bird. “He was a gamer. He just came to play. That was it.”
That was it. Play was all I wanted to see from Reggie, and in 1993, just a month after hearing about Drazen Petrovic’s death, there was Reggie Lewis on ESPN’s SportsCenter for the last time I wanted to see him playing on my TV.