Drug Addiction Kills Your Dreams Imagine being good enough to play in the NBA but losing it all to drug addiction. That is exactly what happened to Chris Herren. He was a high school basketball star and won a scholarship to play at Boston College. While attending an anti-drug assembly at Boston College, where he was on a basketball scholarship, he thought to himself, “All I do is smoke and drink. I won’t end up doing anything more than that.” Herren was vulnerable to the same thought most addicts have before addiction takes a stronger hold. The notion of being able to control substance abuse did not last for Herren. His story is one of opportunities squandered and second chances for more than a decade. He broke his wrist in his first college game and his drug use worsened from there. Losing his BC scholarship, he went to Fresno State and had a decent enough career there to be drafted by the Denver Nuggets, and later was traded to his hometown Boston Celtics. Throughout he was using drugs—cocaine, heroin, crystal meth, painkillers and more. Herren finally got sober and stayed that way in 2008; his once-promising NBA career a mere 70 games over two seasons. Now Herren speaks to youth about the pitfalls of drug addiction and what the cost was for him as a young dreamer. He has written a memoir and was the subject of Unguarded, an ESPN documentary. His outreach program has reach millions. What other athletes do you know who have made a turn around like Herren’s? Share your comments below or with us on our Facebook page. We would love to hear more stories like this one.
