12/22/24
October 15, 2005
Atlanta Hawks' Jason Collier Dies: The 7-foot, 260-pound five-year pro collapsed at 2 a.m. this morning after suffering chest pain and died in the ambulance en route to a hospital. Drafted 15th by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2000, Collier was signed by the Hawks to a 10-day contract in 2004 and played his way into a starting job last season. More details on HawksBlog. While Eddy Curry decides to play through, this off-season has already seen Fred Hoiberg and Ronny Turiaf elect to have heart surgery. I imagine more players are likely to initiate tests despite the costs, (between $300 and $1,000), that prohibit most teams from testing. After losing Reggie Lewis the Celtics now screen all their players annually.
posted by geekyguy to basketball at 12:59 PM - 5 comments
Wow. Just wow. My condolences to the family, and I hope this spurs athletes everywhere to get tested and get tested now.
posted by wfrazerjr at 01:24 PM on October 15, 2005
Sure makes a person wonder how much longer any of us have. Hope his family will be ok.
posted by tdheiland at 02:01 PM on October 15, 2005
Well, I would think that with genetic anomalies like, for example, those of your average NBA 7-footer, the odds of there being something even a little wrong with their internal wiring goes way up. This heart test that the Players' Union seem to have been fighting up to now sounds only logical, and resistance to instituting it league-wide might drop now. I'm not a big fan of the "if it saves one life..." argument, but I suspect we'll hear that from some owners (and, I'd bet a dollar, David Stern) now.
posted by chicobangs at 02:52 PM on October 15, 2005
I feel like it wouldn't hurt to have those tests instituted. Some problems and deaths could be avoided. You never know when something like this will happen...to anyone. Doesn't matter how tall you are (of course being that height increases your risk substantially) you just never know. Everyone should make an effort to get regular physicals and health screenings. All that being said, you could still die in your sleep from some freak problem that couldn't have been detected or prevented. If it's in the cards...it's in the cards. A story like this just makes you hurt for the family. **All the best to them getting through this**
posted by Irish Gal at 08:00 PM on October 15, 2005
We posted this at the same time, so I combined the posts. Hate stories like this. He left behind a wife and young daughter.