16 Reggie Lewis
Lewis died of sudden cardiac death during an off-season practice in 1993. He had symptoms of heart problems for a few months preceding his death but they didn’t stop him from playing. The doctors determined he had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is now the leading cause of death for young athletes.
Some doctors said that his history of cocaine use attributed to his death, others say that he showed signs of a common cold at the time of his death. Either why you look at it, the structural defect of his heart was the ultimate attribute. Lewis was a first round pick for the Boston Celtics in 1987 but only made it to one All Star game before his death in 1993.
