Erik Spoelstra Was On The Court When Hank Gathers Died
By Ryan Mayer
The Miami Heat and star power forward Chris Bosh released a statement yesterday that Bosh wouldn't return for the remainder of the 2016 playoffs due to concerns about his health condition. Bosh has dealt with a blood clot scare since last year and this season concerns surfaced over the star possibly having deep vein thrombosis, a condition in which blood clots appear in a deep vein, usually in the legs.
The main concern for the two sides was the possibility of Bosh aggravating the condition while playing in a game and having an issue on the court. The Heat's head coach, Erik Spoelstra, was on the court for one of the most tragic occurrences of a player collapsing on the floor, as he was part of the Portland team that was squaring off against Loyola Marymount on the day Hank Gathers' died. This two year old profile of the coach by Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins has the details.
"Spoelstra recalls in detail two events from his playing career, both at Portland. The first came in the 1990 West Coast Conference tournament, when he rushed back on defense against Loyola Marymount, only to see Hank Gathers soar for an alley-oop. Gathers collapsed moments later a few feet away and died that night."
That experience would affect anyone and one would think certainly had an effect on how cautious the Heat want to be with Bosh and his health moving forward.
