List of basketball players who died during their careers

This is a list of players of basketball who died while still on a team roster or a free agent. Included are players in the NBA, college, and other leagues. Players who died following the conclusion of their career should not be included. Players are listed with the team they last played for before death, rather than the team the player spent most of their playing career with.

Player Age Position Team League Cause of death Year Ref(s)
Ricky Berry 24 Small forward Sacramento Kings NBA suicide by gunshot 1989 [1]
Len Bias 22 Small forward Boston Celtics NBA drug overdose triggered heart attack 1986 [2]
Gilbert Bulawan 29 Power forward / Center Blackwater Elite PBA collapsed during team practice - heart enlargement 2016 [3]
Jason Collier 28 Center Atlanta Hawks NBA heart condition 2005 [4]
Bryce Dejean-Jones 23 Shooting guard New Orleans Pelicans NBA gunshot 2016 [5]
Patrick Dennehy 21 Center Baylor Bears NCAA murdered by teammate 2003 [6]
Lavelle Felton 29 Shooting guard Paderborn Baskets ProA murdered by gunshot 2009 [7]
Ryan Francis 19 Point guard USC Trojans NCAA murdered by gunshot 2003 [8]
Terry Furlow 25 Small forward / Shooting guard Utah Jazz NBA car accident 1980 [9]
Hank Gathers 23 Forward Loyola Marymount Lions NCAA collapsed during game - heart condition 1990 [10]
Eddie Griffin 25 Power forward / Center Minnesota Timberwolves NBA car accident 2007 [11]
Lauren Hill 19 Forward Mount St. Joseph Lions NCAA brain cancer 2015 [12]
Reggie Lewis 27 Small forward Boston Celtics NBA collapsed at practice - heart attack 1993 [13]
Fernando Martín Espina 27 Power forward / Center Real Madrid Baloncesto Liga ACB car accident 1989 [14]
Conrad McRae 29 Power forward / Center Orlando Magic NBA collapsed during summer league practice - heart enlargement 2000 [15][16]
Fab Melo 26 Center Brasília NBB died while asleep 2017 [17]
Jeff Muriel 19 Guard Texas A&M-Corpus Christi NCAA car accident 2005 [18]
Kim Perrot 32 Point guard Houston Comets WNBA lung cancer 1999 [19]
Dražen Petrović 28 Shooting guard New Jersey Nets NBA car accident 1993 [20]
Bobby Phills 30 Shooting guard Charlotte Hornets NBA car accident 2000 [21]
Katrina Price 23 Shooting guard Philadelphia Rage ABL suicide by gunshot 1999 [22]
Malik Sealy 30 Small forward / Shooting guard Minnesota Timberwolves NBA car accident 2000 [23]
Wayde Sims 20 Small forward LSU Tigers basketball NCAA shot to death 1993 [24]
Chris Street 20 Power forward Iowa Hawkeyes NCAA car accident 1993 [24]
Örlygur Aron Sturluson 20 Point guard Njarðvík Úrvalsdeild karla accidental fall 2000 [25]
Robert Traylor 34 Power forward / Center Vaqueros de Bayamón BSN heart attack 2011 [26]
Zeke Upshaw 26 Small forward Grand Rapids Drive G League collapsed during game - cardiac arrest 2018 [27]
Nick Vanos 24 Center Phoenix Suns NBA plane accident 1987 [28]

Note: This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Evansville Purple Aces plane crash

In 1977, fourteen members of the Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team died in a plane crash, along with fifteen others. The players killed were:

  • Seniors: Kevin Kingston, John Ed Washington, and Marion Anthony “Tony” Windburn
  • Juniors: Stephen Miller and Bryan Taylor
  • Sophomores: Keith Moon
  • Freshmen: Warren Alston, Ray Comandella, Mike Duff, Kraig Heckendorn, Michael Joyner, Barney Lewis, Greg Smith, and Mark Siegel

David Furr, the lone member of the team who did not board Air Indiana Flight 216, died two weeks later in a car accident, meaning all the members of the team died during the 1977-1978 season.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "What Demons Drove Kings' Ricky Berry to Commit Suicide?". Deseret News. August 20, 1989. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Cocaine Caused Bias' Death, Autopsy Reveals : Dose Said to Trigger Heart Failure; Criminal Inquiry to Be Pressed". Los Angeles Times. June 25, 1986. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  3. ↑ Blackwater forward Gilbert Bulawan dies after collapsing during practice Archived 2016-07-06 at the Wayback Machine., Richard Dy, Fox Sports Asia, July 3, 2016
  4. ↑ "Autopsy shows Hawks' Collier had enlarged heart". ESPN.com. November 1, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  5. ↑ "NBA player fatally shot". CNN.com. May 20, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Dennehy was murdered in 2003". ESPN.com. June 9, 2005. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Felton, 29, dies after shooting". ESPN.com. August 14, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Francis shot and killed in Baton Rouge". ESPN.com. May 13, 2006. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Crash Kills Furlow". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. May 24, 1980. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Loyola's Gathers Collapses, Dies". Los Angeles Times. March 5, 1990. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Griffin killed when car hit train last week". ESPN.com. August 22, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Lauren Hill, Who Fought Tumor to Play College Basketball, Dies at 19". New York Times. April 11, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Celtics' Lewis Dies After Collapsing in a Gym". New York Times. July 28, 1993. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Fernando Martín, a pioneer gone too soon". euroleague.net. February 4, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Former Syracuse Star Dies". New York Times. July 12, 2000. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Meet new Binghamton forward Jordan McRae, son of former Syracuse basketball center Conrad McRae". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  17. ↑ "Former Celtic top pick Fab Melo dead at age 26". Boston Globe. February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Texas A&M-CC Player Dies in Car Wreck". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. August 8, 2005. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Kim Perrot, 32, Leader of W.N.B.A. Champions". New York Times. August 20, 1999. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Details Emerge, but Petrovic's Death Still Baffles". New York Times. June 9, 1993. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Hornets guard Bobby Phills killed in car wreck". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. January 13, 2000. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  22. ↑ "A Player's Unsettling Death Leaves Others Wondering Why". New York Times. January 23, 1999. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Sealy dies in collision with pickup truck". ESPN.com. May 22, 2000. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  24. 1 2 "LSU's Wayde Sims killed in shooting". ESPN.com. September 28, 2018. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  25. ↑ Edda Sif Pálsdóttir (14 July 2014). "Ísland í dag: Halda minningu Ölla á lofti". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  26. ↑ "Robert 'Tractor' Traylor found dead". ESPN.com. May 12, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Zeke Upshaw dies two days after collapsing during G League game". ESPN.com. March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Suns' Vanos Among Victims in Detroit Jet Crash : Popular Center, 24, Was Expected to Be a Starter for Phoenix Next Season". Los Angeles Times. August 18, 1987. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
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