RSS Feed
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Celtics Video
Reggie Lewis Remembered
 |
VP Media Services and Alumni Relations
As time marches on, the question becomes not so much as why and how former Celtics captain Reggie Lewis passed away but that he has been missing from our lives now for over a decade. It has been 11 years – July 27, 1993 - since Lewis, while shooting baskets at the gymnasium on the campus of Brandeis University, died.
The lanky 6-7, 195-pound swingman was just starting to ‘come into his prime’ as both an NBA player and as the leader of the Boston Celtics. He had just completed his fifth season as a professional, the 1991-92 campaign. His resplendent season was highlighted by being the lone Celtic to play in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game, where he tallied 7 points (3-7, 1-2) in just 15 minutes of duty. He was the 15th highest scorer per game in the NBA that season. He was the only Celtics to start and play all 82 regular season contests, and he became the first Celtic to lead the team in steals, blocks and points in the same season since Dave Cowens in 1977-78. He also scored in double figures in 80 games, posting 20 or more points in 46 of those games. And, to top-off the season he was named the NBA’s Player of the Week ending April 12 as he averaged 28.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
Reggie Lewis could do it all and he had it all. It will remain a haunting mystery to every Celtics fan just how much better he could have been…we will never know. But one thing will always remain constant and that is on July 27, 1993 we lost the Celtics leading scorer and captain but, perhaps just as important, we all lost a friend that day.
