It was an oxymoron. The silence in the room was so profound it was deafening. Among a crowd of a few hundred people, there was no whispering, no coughing, no nervous movement. The attention of all focused on a 51-year-old man, standing alone on a barren stage, microphone in hand, about to spill his guts, detailing his hellish downward travels from basketball glory to a helpless drug addict.
The man was Chris Herren. The site was the Community Arts Center. The occasion was a program sponsored by Journey Bank, intent on educating the public as to the dangers of substance abuse. It was powerful. It was thought-provoking. For some, it was upsetting. But to this writer, it was a message that needs to be heard by every man, woman, and child who has ever had even the slightest inclination to dabble in the hell-forsaken drug world.
Chris Herren was a gifted scholastic basketball player who starred in college at Fresno State and was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 1999, and later played for his hometown team, the Boston Celtics. But despite his on-court basketball greatness, his inability to defeat the off-court demons of marijuana, cocaine, OxyContin, Vicodin, and Percocet ultimately led to crashing his car into a utility pole, and according to paramedic reports, he was dead for thirty seconds.
Now, drug-free for eighteen years, Herren has traveled the country sharing his story, averaging 200 talks per year. He has spoken to over a million students and others, advocating for curriculum change to help youth get to the core of the need for alcohol and drug abuse — mental health and PTSD awareness. During the past year, he has spoken at several high schools in our area.
His story is detailed in a book, Basketball Junkie: A Memoir. A 2011 ESPN documentary, Unguarded, was nominated for two Emmys. The same year, Herren founded the nonprofit Herren Project, and in 2018 launched Herren Wellness, a residential drug rehabilitation and treatment center.
Among those in attendance at the October 29 CAC event were members of the Lycoming College and Penn College women’s basketball teams. The message they heard was chilling as Herren’s words reverberated through the attentive crowd.
In this limited space, justice cannot be told to all that he said. But a few points still fill my thoughts.
In recalling the first time drugs came into his life, he was a college freshman at Boston College returning to his dorm room to find his roommate and a young lady. Rather than entering the room, he turned to leave, only to be followed by the woman. She encouraged him to come back. The pair were engaged in using cocaine. She asked him to try it, which he did. That one pinch between his gums began the grim journey that ruined his life.
His drug use worsened through college and into his budding NBA career.
After his trade to the Celtics, he flew to Boston for an introductory press conference. In what should have been one of the happiest moments of his life, Herren admitted that he was stoned on drugs and was worried he couldn’t get through the event. After an NBA stay of only 79 games, his continued substance abuse brought about his release by the Celtics, followed by eight years of hell, ending in his 2008 crash into the telephone pole.
During his presentation, he related a story about a 17-year-old high school student attending one of his rallies. The young woman stood in the audience, thanked him for coming, and proudly stated she had remained sober all her life; never smoking, drinking, or using drugs. Herren was stunned by the crowd’s reaction, which laughed and made fun of the girl’s sobriety.
He then challenged parents not to succumb to the practice of those who permit their kids to host parties for their friends at their homes, supplying alcohol, reasoning that allowing kids to drink to make friends is not friends at all.
He also urged parents, coaches, and family members to ask young people contemplating any sort of substance use to ask a one-word question — why? Talk with them, not lecture them, as to what consequences might follow and the damaging effect it could have on their lives.
Chris Herren’s life story is not for the faint of heart, but is one that needs to be told over and over again.
Take the time to observe Veterans Day!
The Lowery family has a four-generation military background, but one of my long-remembered observances of the day stems from a single moment in an eleventh-grade Civics class taught by George “Mac” Hoffangle at South Williamsport High School. On Veterans Day of that year, at precisely 11 minutes after 11 a.m. on November 11, Mr. Hoffangle had the class observe a one-minute moment of silence to stress the meaning of the day. I can still recall the eerie moments of that silence filling the classroom. It taught us all a lesson I have never forgotten.
