Immortality

11 years ago today, Celtic superstar Reggie Lewis collapsed while playing a pick up game at Brandeis Univeristy. He died shortly after.
This was a staggering blow, not only to the team, but also to the city. Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe tried to put it all in perspective: "This wasn't just a case of a generic Athlete Dying Young. This was case of a Very Special Athlete Dying Young. Reggie Lewis was acclaimed and admired not solely because he was obviously very good at what he did, but because of the way he did it. In an age of frightful hype, Reggie was an unintrusive personality who made people like him because he was straightforward and without guile, both on and off the court."
As a C's fan, I often wonder where the franchise would have gone had he stayed healthy enough to play. I think about how he could have guided young guns like Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce when their careers were starting and his was winding down. Not many people seem to remember his 18 PPG career average or that he averaged an incredible 28 PPG in the 1993 NBA Playoffs. ESPN Classic and NBA TV often show the Bird v. Dominique game from the 1988 Playoffs and every time I see it, I'm compelled to watch a bit of it. Reggie was a rookie that year and played a few scant minutes in that game. And I get sad every time I see him.