Basketball Junkie: A Memoir

"People think that when you're doing drugs you're high all the time, out partying. They think you're having fun. That's not it at all. You're not having fun. You're in hell." Those are the words of Chris Herren, who, along with Bill Reynolds, wrote "Basketball Junkie". Herren is a former NBA basketball player who achieved every Massachusetts kid's dream by playing for the Boston Celtics. However, he was never able to enjoy any of it. From the time he played for his high school in Fall River, he felt tremendous pressure to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, father, and especially his brother, Michael, who never lost a game. His father judged him by whether or not he lost a game and his mother only judged him by whether or not he was smiling. But for whatever reason, he began drinking in his teens, started doing cocaine in college when he played for Fresno State, and eventually graduated to heroin by the time he entered the pros. Until the Celtics finally let him go, Herren was a good example of someone "falling forward," achieving much despite his sickness. He was so strung out, that, before games, he could be found dressed in his warm-ups, waiting for his dealer in the parking lot. The drugs always, always come first. They come before jobs, before spouses, before children, even before the safety of your own life. Herren continued to play basketball in foreign leagues in countries such as China, Italy, Poland, and even Iran. But in the end, it was impossible for him to do anything but get high, spending every cent he ever made, until his wife and children were living on welfare. After his fourth or so overdose, in which he actually dies for about thirty seconds, he finally gives rehab another shot and begins to recover. But in my opinion, tales of this sort should be told with great caution. They can inadvertently send the message that, "Hey, I did a lot of drugs and look how great everything turned out." Sure, he lost a career most people would...um, die for, and by his own admission, addiction "...is like living inside the gates of hell." But no one died, there were no prison sentences, and his wife and kids didn't leave him, and now he's got his own company, Hoop Dreams with Chris Herren, Inc. Don't get me wrong, we need to hear the success stories so that we know that recovery is possible, but all too often, addiction doesn't end this way. It seems almost every addiction memoir I read has a happy ending. It's not driven home enough that using drugs is no different than playing Russian Roulette. You spin the chamber and pull the trigger and there's no way of knowing if you're going to get a bullet in the head. It kills, maims and destroys. I may rebound from my own addiction and may one day be called successful, but it'll never change the fact that I lost fourteen years of my life in prison, I lost a brother to an overdose, I lost things that money can't buy and may never be replaced. Give me stories that don't sugarcoat the reality of what addiction really is. For every one of these miracle recoveries, there's got to be innumerable more that don't make it out of the "gates of hell." Let us read more about the lives that were lost so that we never forget that addiction kills.David Allan ReevesAuthor of "Running Away From Me"

If you don't know who Chris is, then only read this if you are NOT an addict. If you're an addict this story will be horrifyingly familiar to you, and could read like your life.I got to know Chris a little bit, and what this book is lacking is...well...Chris. Bill Reynolds wrote a wonderful book called "Fall River Dreams," written for anyone, fan of basketball or no. This book, however, lost itself between Bill's voice and Chris' voice. The ESPN documentary turns out to be a much better telling of this story because you need to see Chris. You need to hear his voice, his accent. You need to see that his wife isn't just the girl-next-door with a golden smile, you need to hear that she, too, has that unique accent and that she, too, grew up in the mean streets of Fall River.The story itself is an amazing reveal of rags-to-riches to rags again. But you really have to see Chris or know him in his glory to know how astonishingly sad the story is, how horrific the fall from grace. You often hear about people who have the world by the tail, who have charisma or charm, who have tons of potential. Chris Herren was 200 times more than that. No one, if he chose, could resist his charms or abilities. No man, woman, child, coach...no one was immune to Chris Herren. Mike Wallace from 60 Minutes was enthralled by Chris...Chris who, while they were setting up his 60 Minutes interview, turned the tables on Mike Wallace and asked Mike all about Mike's life. Mike Wallace spent an hour pouring out his heart to Chris Herren, and it was clear Mike was smitten from then on. Bill Reynolds has felt this, too, but doesn't convey it in the book. I've watched as Chris was in a hospital and just leaned over a counter and exerted his charm silently on the woman behind the paperwork, practically willing her to look at him. She could feel it too and finally, after a long silent struggle, looked up at him. Chris just smiled, having won, and she brushed her hair off of her shoulders and gave him a stare back, one that acknowledged that no matter how independent, how strong this woman, no one was immune to Chris Herren.Which means you have to see Chris and hear his voice to know also how easy it would be to fall for his lies. How he had no problem at all at Fresno State...he had a girl to wake him in the late morning. He had people do his homework. He had boosters throwing money at him, wanna-be's buying him drinks, handing him drugs, fans lapping up his every move, and Chris was able to convince each and every one of them (at least for a moment) that they meant something to him...that they were important.The Rolling Stone freelancer was asked "Why Chris?" and the freelancer said "Are you kidding? Chris is Elvis!"And Chris was.Which is why this story matters and is so astounding and significant. But that very essence is also missing in this book. Unless you realize the power of Chris Herren, you can't fully appreciate how tragic his fall. Until you can watch Chris grab someone by the neck and bring them in for a once in a lifetime hug, or until you watch Chris literally shaking in anger at someone he's trying not to kill, you can't understand the abyss of his emotions. Finally, in this book you can't appreciate Chris' physical skills, even with the well-written verse of Bill Reynolds. I once watched Chris lift a girl up in the air while he was sitting on a couch and he just used one hand to grab her upper arm and he just....lifted. A 6'4" 220lb mass of an assistant coach tried to set a pick against Chris once. Once. The assistant had just hit a brick wall and lay on the floor for several minutes while Chris hovered unapologetically.This book leaves you with a sort of finality, that Chris made it through the storm and is now well. The ESPN doc does the same thing. The problem is that there may easily have to be another book about Chris soon. Chris is a bright yellow star that underwent a meltdown and became a literal black hole. Now what for him? He still possesses the physical skills, but what of the personality, the gravity, the mass of his charisma?The book neither leaves you hoping for more or wishing for less...it just kind of leaves you.It's a good book, but it just needs to reflect Chris Herren better, and I don't know that Bill Reynolds has that kind of majesty within him.

Having seen the ESPN film, getting hold of the book was a must! This guy made it and then lost it all. It is clear that he has made it out of his personal nightmare of drink and drugs. In my book, he is a truly inspirational human being who had an even greater challenge than that of making it to the NBA - beating drugs! A must for every young baller out there!

great read and excellent story if you have a love one in need to change his drug addiction.

Lo compré esperando leer sobre la experiencia vital de C. Herren tras ver un documental en Canal+ sobre su vida que fue muy interesante y rico en matices, donde el protagonista narraba su experiencia sobre sus primeros 35 años de vida y su adicción a la heroína antes durante y después de haber sido un jugador de la NBA.Investigué y descubrí que había escrito un libro y lo compré.Pero el libro pasa por encima o de forma sutil por los años más duros de su adicción a las drogas (que es lo que yo esperaba leer) y entra demasiado en el mundo del baloncesto (fue un buen jugador de baloncesto y jugó con los Celtics en la NBA siendo muy joven) y en lo duro que fue ser un jugador profesional.Está bien, sin más.

This book knocked me for six. Still not quite sure what to think but this guy has certainly been to hell and back via quite a few other unsavoury places. A very good read and an education into the American college/NBA set up - something they should be utterly ashamed of!

I heard about this book on the radio and was intrigued to read Chirs Herren's story. When I read his story I was amazed. Great book and not just for people who are into basketball.