Remembering Reggie Lewis

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Reggie played in the shadows of Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale in his early Celtics years, but by his fifth NBA season, he was a dominant player, carrying Boston in the 1992 Eastern Conference semifinals against Cleveland.

In Game 3, with Bird unable to play because of back woes, he torched the Cavs for 36 points and seven assists. In Game 4, he topped that with 42 points, six assists and five steals. He was evolving into a superstar before our eyes.

Reggie Lewis and his wife, Donna, were all smiles in May 1993 when his return to basketball was announced, but he died just two months later.
"When Reggie first came into the league," Bird told me, "he really didn't know how to play the game. He shot the ball. That was about it.

"But he was a worker. He spent a lot of time improving his game. He loved it. You could always tell that."

In the final game of his life, in the 1993 playoffs against the Charlotte Hornets and his childhood friend Muggsy Bogues, Lewis was electric in the opening minutes. He slashed to the hole, ripped away offensive rebounds and seized the game by its throat.

But as he was running down the left side of the parquet, he inexplicably stumbled, then fell.

There was no one near him.

Lewis sat, dazed, on the court. He reached forward to stretch his legs. When he finally stood up and headed for the bench, he looked perplexed -- and frightened.

He tried to return to action that night, but the Celtics medical staff pulled him again when he suffered dizziness and shortness of breath. He left having scored 17 points in 13 minutes.

Reggie Lewis began his career in the shadow of Larry Bird but eventually established himself as an All-Star and Celtics captain.
"He was on his way to being one of the best 2-guards in the league," said Brian Shaw, his friend and former teammate.

For further evidence of what might have been, you need look no further than March 31, 1991, when Reggie Lewis did something I never thought possible: He completely and utterly flummoxed the great Michael Jordan.

Lewis blocked Jordan four times in that game and harassed him into a 12-for-36 shooting performance. On a night when Bird had his own shooting issues (he missed 21 of his 36 shots), Lewis scored 25 and utilized his lethal first step to keep Chicago's defenders guessing. Was he going left or right? Would he shake you with that explosive first step and attack the rim, or would he suddenly pull up after one devastating dribble and hoist his trademark praying mantis jumper?

"Reggie was hard to stop," Bird said. "He kept you off balance all the time. There were a few guys in the league I hated to guard because you didn't know what they were thinking.

"I'm glad Reggie was my teammate, because he was one of them."


http://espn.go.com/boston/nba/story/_/i ... agic-death

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