List of basketball players who died during their careers

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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This is a list of all notable

drug abuse.[5]

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 for which they last played before death, rather than the team with which the player spent most of their playing career.

Basketball teams may honor active players who died by bestowing upon them a posthumous honor of a retired number.

Deaths of active players with individually notable careers

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Name Age Position Team League Cause of Death Year Ref.
Davide Ancilotto 23 Shooting guard Virtus Roma Lega Basket Serie A brain ischemia 1997 [6]
Nilay Aydoğan 30
Forward
 Çankaya Üniversitesi Women's Basketball Super League
earthquake
 2023 [7]
Ricky Berry 24 Small forward Sacramento Kings NBA suicide by gunshot 1989 [8]
Len Bias 22 Small forward Boston Celtics NBA heart attack (drug induced) 1986 [9]
Haris Brkić 26 Small forward Partizan YUBA homicide by gunshot 2000 [10]
Gilbert Bulawan 29
Power forward / center
Blackwater Elite
 PBA heart enlargement (collapsed during practice) 2016 [11]
Terrence Butler Reserve forward Drexel Dragons
NCAA
 suicide 2023 [12]
Terrence Clarke 19 Shooting guard Kentucky Wildcats
NCAA
 car crash 2021 [13]
Jason Collier 28 Center Atlanta Hawks NBA heart enlargement 2005 [14]
Bryce Dejean-Jones 23 Shooting guard New Orleans Pelicans NBA gunshot 2016 [15]
Patrick Dennehy
 		21 Center
Baylor Bears
 NCAA homicide by gunshot 2003 [16]
Kenny Ejim 27
Power forward
 Al-Najma Bahraini Premier League unknown 2022 [17]
Wayne Estes 21
Forward
 Utah State Aggies NCAA accidental electrocution 1965 [18]
Lavelle Felton 29 Shooting guard Paderborn Baskets ProA homicide by gunshot 2009 [19]
Scott Fenton 24 Shooting guard Perth Wildcats NBL car crash 1989 [20]
Ryan Francis 19 Point guard USC Trojans NCAA homicide by gunshot 2006 [21]
Oscar Frayer
 		23
Forward
 Grand Canyon Antelopes NCAA car crash 2021 [22]
Terry Furlow 25 Small forward / shooting guard Utah Jazz NBA car crash 1980 [23]
Hank Gathers 23
Forward
 Loyola Marymount Lions NCAA heart condition (collapsed during game) 1990 [24]
Eddie Griffin 25
Power forward / center
 Minnesota Timberwolves NBA car crash 2007 [25]
Huck Hartman 25 Center Youngstown Bears NBL pneumonia 1946 [26]
Lauren Hill 19
Forward
Mount St. Joseph Lions
 NCAA brain cancer 2015 [27]
Tyler Honeycutt 27 Small forward BC Khimki EuroLeague suicide by gunshot 2018 [28]
Stevan Jelovac 32
Power forward / center
 AEK Athens Greek Basket League stroke (collapsed during practice) 2021 [29]
Chuck Karmarkovich 24
Forward / center
 Johnstown Clippers AABL car crash 1951 [30]
Radivoj Korać 30
Power forward
 Petrarca Padova Serie A car crash 1969 [31]
Connie Kunzmann 24
Forward
Nebraska Wranglers
 WPBL homicide by stabbing 1981 [32]
Wendell Ladner 26
Forward
New York Nets
 ABA plane crash 1975 [33]
Reggie Lewis 27 Small forward Boston Celtics NBA cardiac arrest secondary to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (collapsed during practice) 1993 [34]
Fernando Martín Espina
 		27
Power forward / center
 Real Madrid Baloncesto Liga ACB car crash 1989 [35]
Jovan Manović 29 Point guard AS Prishtina KBS homicide by gunshot 2007 [36]
Conrad McRae 29
Power forward / center
 Orlando Magic NBA heart enlargement (collapsed during practice) 2000 [37][38]
Fab Melo 26 Center
Brasília
 NBB heart attack (died in sleep) 2017 [39]
Michael Ojo 27 Center Crvena zvezda
ABA
 heart attack (collapsed during practice) 2020 [40]
Ruslan Otverchenko 33 Shooting guard Budivelnyk European North Basketball League heart complications 2023 [41]
Adreian Payne 31
power forward
 Juventus Utena LKL homicide by gunshot 2022 [42]
Kim Perrot 32 Point guard Houston Comets WNBA lung cancer 1999 [43]
Dražen Petrović 28 Shooting guard
New Jersey Nets
 NBA car crash 1993 [44]
Mark Petteway 27
power forward
 Apollon Patras Greek Basket League suicide by gunshot 1989 [45]
Bobby Phills 30 Shooting guard Charlotte Hornets NBA car crash 2000 [46]
Slobodan Popović 24
Forward
 Crvena zvezda Yugoslav League groin injury complication 1968 [47]
John Postley 30
Forward / center
 Wilkes-Barre Barons EPBL heart attack 1970 [48]
Katrina Price 23 Shooting guard Philadelphia Rage
ABL
 suicide by gunshot 1999 [49]
Bill Robinzine 29
Power forward
 Utah Jazz NBA suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning 1982 [50]
Danny Rumph 19 Point guard Western Kentucky NCAA Cardiac arrest due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy 2005 [51][52]
Malik Sealy 30 Small forward / shooting guard Minnesota Timberwolves NBA car crash 2000 [53]
Abraham Sie 22 Point guard DUC Nationale 1 unknown 2022 [54]
Marvin Stone 26 Center Al-Ittihad
SPL
 heart attack (collapsed during halftime) 2008 [55]
Chris Street 20
Power forward
 Iowa Hawkeyes NCAA car crash 1993 [56]
Tauras Stumbrys 34 Point guard
Atletas Kaunas
 LKL heart attack (collapsed during game) 2004 [57]
Örlygur Aron Sturluson 18 Point guard Njarðvík Úrvalsdeild karla accidental fall 2000 [58]
Robert Traylor 34
Power forward / center
 Vaqueros de Bayamón BSN heart attack 2011 [59]
Zeke Upshaw 26 Small forward
Grand Rapids Drive
 G League cardiac arrest (collapsed during game) 2018 [60]
Nick Vanos 24 Center Phoenix Suns NBA plane crash 1987 [61]
Alexandros Varitimiadis 28
Power forward
Raiffeisen Dornbirn Lions
 Basketball Zweite Liga cancer 2023 [62]
Ludovic Vaty 34
Power forward / center
 TOAC Basket [fr] Nationale masculine 2 heart attack 2023 [63]
Luciano Vendemini 24 Center ChinaMartini Torino
Lega Basket Serie A
 heart failure (undiagnosed Marfan's syndrome) 1977 [64]
Michael Wright 35
Power forward
 Cholet
LNB Pro A
 homicide 2015 [65]

Evansville Purple Aces plane crash

Fourteen members of the 1977–78 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team died in a plane crash on December 13, 1977, along with fifteen others including head coach Bobby Watson. 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

Freshman David Furr, the lone member of the team who did not board Air Indiana Flight 216, died two weeks later in a car crash, meaning all the members of the team died during the 1977–78 season.[66]

See also

References

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  3. ^ Baird, Nathan (March 4, 2014). "Purdue says Jay Simpson has career-ending heart condition". Lafayette Journal & Courier. Retrieved June 25, 2021. Purdue announced Tuesday night that Simpson's basketball career is over. Tests discovered a heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy -- the same condition that led to the deaths of basketball stars Hank Gathers, Reggie Lewis, Kevin Duckworth and Jason Collier.
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  5. ^ Smith, C. Fraser (March 14, 1995). "Big-Time Basketball: So Many Tragedies". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
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  7. ^ Pickman, Ben (March 6, 2023). "'For us, the world stopped': Teammates, friends remember Turkey earthquake victim". The Athletic. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
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  12. ^ "Drexel University men's basketball player died by suicide, Philadelphia officials say". WPVI. August 4, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
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  30. ^ "Johnstown Clippers Disbanded After Death of Karmarkovich; Joll Escapes Auto Injury". The Indiana Gazette. January 12, 1951. p. 15. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
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