Re: Reggie Lewis

["Bob George" <bgp@lightspeed.net>]

When Lewis died in 1993, I was screaming "Who in the hell allowed him to go
out and play at all?  Whoever did is going to get the pants sued off of
them!!!"  Going out to play meaning his fatal shootaround at Brandeis in
August of 1993.  I was back home in Springfield when he died (haven't been
back since), and followed it pretty carefully.

According to my memory of back then, Lewis's career should have been OVER,
PERIOD.  I remember out here in California when Hank Gathers of Loyola
Marymount died of similar causes in 1990, and I was seeing the same thing
happen to Lewis.  Gathers was diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia, and Lewis
was simiarly diagnosed (although, and I'm no MD, Lewis had something similar
called "cardio-myopathy"), yet nobody was making any overtures about Lewis
quitting basketball.  The feeling seemed to be to find a way to get Reggie
back out on the court.

Then when Lewis died and all the stuff came out, I was figuring that sooner
or later Dr. Mudge would be sues for malpractice by Donna Harris-Lewis.
Either Mudge or perhaps even Dr. Arnold Scheller (Celtics' team physician)
would be on the hook for this.  Whoever told Lewis that he could someday
continue to play basketball is in deep trouble.

Now Will The Shill (McDonough, ask a Patriot fan what "the Shill" means)
comes out with this stuff about cocaine, even though no mention was made of
cocaine back then and Lewis seemingly was cleared of any drug usage.  I
guess it all depends upon whether or not you believe Will The Shill or not.

Myself, I stick to the story of 1993.  Lewis should have been GROUNDED and
told to take it easy and retire from basketball.  My memories of Lewis are
fond, and I still mourn greatly his passing.

Bob G

Bob George

Read Bob George's Best Of Boston Sports At
http://www.bobgeorge.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Theresa Lee <tjoyce@mit.edu>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 5:19 PM
Subject: Reggie Lewis


>I'm surprised no one has raised the Reggie Lewis story on the list.  There
>were three articles in the Saturday Globe about Reggie, only one on the
>Sports page.
>
>According to the Globe, Reggie's widow, Donna Harris-Lewis is suing Dr.
>Gilbert Mudge for malpractice. If you recall, Reggie was being checked out
>by a 12-member Dream Team of doctors after fainting while playing. Those
>doctors were asking Lewis if he did cocaine (so they would know what they
>were dealing with) and he denied it. They also were telling Reggie what he
>didn't want to hear...he may never play again. He had a heart problem.
>Harris-Lewis grew angry at the implication that her husband did drugs
>saying, "you can't get over that he's not Larry. Just because he's a black
>athlete, you assume its drugs" or words to that effect. She called a friend
>who worked at another hospital and, against the nurses wishes, took Reggie
>out of the hospital late one night.
>
>Dr. Mudge was the doctor who saw him at the new hospital and diagnosed
>Reggie with a benign fainting condition....just what Harris-Lewis and Lewis
>hoped to hear because that meant Reggie could play. He practiced and died
>doing it. Dr. Mudge is now being sued for malpractice.
>
>One of the things that has come out is that Dr. Mudge claims that he too
>asked Reggie if he did cocaine. Reggie denied it four times and admitted
>it (away from his wife) the fifth time to the doctor. The doctor warned him
>that he must stop immediately because that was what was causing the heart
>damage.
>
>The big issue now is whether or not Lewis lied on an insurance application
>he filled out (the insurance for his contract.) The Celtics received a
>settlement ($17 million) and Harris-Lewis is now being paid on Reggie's
>contract ($10 million). If he lied about doing drugs, that could void the
>insurance settlement. Would the Celtics make Harris-Lewis pay the money
>back?
>
>One of the sidebar stories was about Northeastern University and the fact
>that they revealed Lewis had flunked a drug test while playing there. There
>were also reports about a friend who claims he both snorted and free-based
>cocaine with Reggie. A former Celtic trainer who was deposed for the case,
>revealed that he had smoked pot with Reggie at the trainer's condo in
>Maine. The former trainer indicated that Reggie had the pot with him.
>
>His wife claims that Reggie had two addictions...his family and basketball.
>
>Could it be that Reggie was not a saint and could never admit that to his
>wife? This is the same wife that pushed him to finish his degree, organized
>the turkey give-a-ways and still has life-size posters of Reggie in her
>home. I think, if he was doing things he shouldn't be doing, his wife would
>be the last one to know. She idolized him.
>
>And now, she is, in a weird way, dragging his memory through the mud, in an
>effort to try to clear his name and/or make the doctor pay for his mistake
>on the diagnosis. The diagnosis she believed over twelve other doctors
>opinions.
>
>Rest in peace Reggie.
>
>Theresa
>
>
>