Atlanta Hawks Center Jason Collier dies at 28

[redguru]

An apparent heart attack.

Hawks center Collier dies

Atlanta, GA (Sports Network)- Atlanta Hawks center Jason Collier died Saturday morning, the team announced. He was 28.

The 7-0, 260-pound Collied of a heart attack, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The paper reported Collier experienced chest pains and his wife, Katie, performed CPR and called 911.

Collier played in Atlanta's preseason win over Charlotte on Wednesday and contributed six points and two rebounds in 16 minutes. The Hawks canceled practice on Saturday.

The Georgia Tech product played his first three seasons in the NBA with Houston, averaging 3.5 points and 2.4 boards in 61 games. Collier was entering his third year with the Hawks.

He played a career-high 70 games (44 starts) last season and posted 5.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest.

Collier was selected 15th overall by Milwaukee in the 2000 NBA Draft, but his rights and a draft pick were dealt to the Rockets on June 28, 2000 for center Joel Przybilla.

The Springfield, Ohio native signed with Atlanta as a free agent on July 14, 2004. He had a daughter, Elezan.

10/15 12:44:06 ET

 

[redguru]

I couldn't imagine performing CPR on my spouse at 28, tragic. Especially on someone supposedly athletic and healthy.

 

[gjohnson5]

It will be interesting to see if he had any heart defects like Len Bias who died of a cocaine overdose but I believe also had a wierd problem with his heart to begin with.

Hank Gathers was on some medication for his heart but stopped that medication to be more competitive on the court and literally fell dead on the court

Also Pistol Pete had a similar heart malfunction which caused his death

It does happen

 

[studlife22]

very sad