# OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest (merged)



## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

http://www.nba.com/hawks/

this is terrible news.



> The Atlanta Spirit is saddened to report the passing of Hawks center Jason Collier, 28, this morning due to cardiac arrest. More information will be released as it becomes available.


----------



## sheefo13 (Jul 13, 2002)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from cardiac arrest*

 This is really disappointing news. Last friday a friend of mine who was my neighbor for a few years, two years younger than me, died of cardiac arrest. Although I never knew Collier, it hurts just as much for that simple reason.


----------



## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from cardiac arrest*

_Atlanta Hawks center Jason Collier died Friday night of an apparent heart attack. He was 25.

Collier experienced chest pains at his home Friday and his wife performed CPR and called 911.

Hawks players were notified of Collier's death at 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning before a scheduled workout was cancelled.

Collier, who played at Georgia Tech, was the longest tenured Hawk player, joining the team for the 2003-04 season after spending three seasons in Houston._

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/hawks/1005/15collier.html


----------



## MikeDC (Jul 16, 2002)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from cardiac arrest*

Jeez, that's terrible.


----------



## Sith (Oct 20, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from cardiac arrest*

is eddy scared now?


----------



## Drk Element (Nov 10, 2004)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from cardiac arrest*

thats horrible horrible news.


----------



## Jim Ian (Aug 6, 2002)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from cardiac arrest*



Sith said:


> is eddy scared now?


Him and every other pro basketball player 25-30.


Very, Very sad news.


----------



## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/hawks/2005-10-15-collier-death_x.htm?POE=SPOISVA


----------



## greekadonis (Jul 28, 2005)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

r.i.p buddy


----------



## kukoc4ever (Nov 20, 2002)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

Wow. Given all the discussion about heart related issues this off-season this one came out of left field. RIP.


----------



## truebluefan (May 27, 2002)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

Damn. Being a life long Hoosier fan, it saddens me to see his passing. 

This may or may not scare Eddy.


----------



## HAWK23 (Jul 1, 2002)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

holy cow... RIP


----------



## futuristxen (Jun 26, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

It helps Eddy that he at least knows what he is looking for, and has doctors and friends aware of the situation. Did anyone know that Collier had heart problems? Sad news indeed.


----------



## kamego (Dec 29, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

It didn't say if he had any problems before or not.


----------



## PD (Sep 10, 2004)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

Hopefully this day will not come for Mr. Curry and his family. Curry needs to do the DNA test privately just for his own benefits. Your life is worth more than millions of dollars that he will be receiving.


----------



## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

http://www.nba.com/hawks/news/Collier_Statement_101505.html


_The Atlanta Spirit family is saddened to report the sudden passing of Hawks center Jason Collier, 28, this morning. 

“Jason and his family are first and foremost in our prayers during this difficult time,” said Hawks Executive Vice President and General Manager Billy Knight. “Jason was a devoted family man who deeply loved his wife Katie, daughter Elezan (Ella), his parents and siblings. He was also a tremendous friend to the Hawks employees who spent time with him, and a hard-working and dedicated teammate to many NBA players over his five seasons in the league. We will truly miss Jason’s personality and his spirit, and he will be in the thoughts and minds of our team and organization forever.”
_


----------



## thebizkit69u (Feb 12, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

So young, its sad to see someone die from heart problems at such a young age. How could team doctors or even Colliers personal doctors not find a problem with his heart.


----------



## spongyfungy (Oct 22, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

So sudden and so tragic. He was just playing a couple days ago. RIP.

Collier Interview


----------



## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

Dang, that sucks.


----------



## thebizkit69u (Feb 12, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

Anyone else think Isiah is in his office right now bitting his nails hoping Eddy Curry doesnt die tonite.


----------



## yodurk (Sep 4, 2002)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

I'm stunned. Very very sad to see this happen, especially when he's so young with a wife and a 1-year old daughter. 

Once again, why are all these big guys having heart problems lately? Curry, Swift, Collier...I know there are others I'm forgetting.


----------



## Aesop (Jun 1, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*



yodurk said:


> Once again, why are all these big guys having heart problems lately?


It seems that being so big causes a lot of stress on the body. There has been a lot of health problems with football linemen too.


----------



## nybullsfan (Aug 12, 2005)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

The NBA seriously needs to take action now a man has lost his life, Traylor Howard Curry Swift Collier all big man have had heart issues even Hoilberg have had heart related issues NBA better soon fix this.


----------



## Babble-On (Sep 28, 2005)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

Very sad. I really don't know what else to say.


----------



## BG7 (Jun 25, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*



nybullsfan said:


> The NBA seriously needs to take action now a man has lost his life, Traylor Howard Curry Swift Collier all big man have had heart issues even Hoilberg have had heart related issues NBA better soon fix this.


On the bright side, they are aware of Eddy's condition, they'll likely be monitoring him throughout the game....or I should say, they better be doing that, and they are almost certain of what caused it. Lets hope this is the only heart related death in the NBA this year.


----------



## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-BKN-Hawks-Collier-Death.html

_ATLANTA (AP) -- Atlanta Hawks center Jason Collier died early Saturday after he had trouble breathing and was stricken in his home, his father said. He was 28.

*General manager Billy Knight said the cause of death was not immediately clear for the 7-foot, 260-pound player. He said Collier had ''no issues'' in a preseason physical given to all players.

Jeff Collier told The Associated Press his son died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and did not have any diagnosed health problems apart from his knees.

Team spokesman Arthur Triche initially said Collier possibly died of cardiac arrest, but would not provide details. He later said the team was not sure how Collier died.

''We'll wait until the experts can tell us, but there's no comments about any speculating at all that I'm going to do,''* Knight said. ''Right now we just think about Jason and his family, his wife and a daughter. He was a good guy, a great teammate and a member of our organization. We're going to miss him.''

The Hawks canceled an open scrimmage Saturday because Knight said the team was devastated. The Hawks play an exhibition game Monday at Charlotte, N.C.

''The players took it hard, as you would expect,'' Knight told the AP. ''We'll try to deal with it and keep moving forward.''

Jeff Collier said he received a phone call at 3:30 a.m. Saturday from Jason's wife, Katie, who said her husband was having trouble breathing and quickly turned blue.

''You get a call and it's your daughter-in-law crying saying she's giving him CPR and trying to keep him going,'' Jeff Collier said. ''I guess it took awhile for the paramedics to get there. He had a slight pulse when they took him and he passed away in the ambulance while they took him to the hospital.''

Jeff Collier told the AP by phone from his home in Springfield, Ohio, that his son had knee surgery when he played in Houston.

''Now all of a sudden this comes up,'' he said. ''We don't know exactly what happened. I'm anxious to find out. But I guess it doesn't make a whole lot of difference at this point.''

Collier was a part-time starting center the last two seasons after playing mostly as a backup in three years at Houston. He began his college career at Indiana before transferring to Georgia Tech.

Former Tech coach Bobby Cremins said Collier ''was a happy-go-lucky kid.''

''He married an Atlanta girl and adopted Atlanta as his hometown,'' Cremins said. ''He came back and got his degree, which I was very proud of.''

Tech's director of basketball operations, Willie Reese, an assistant coach in Collier's senior year, said ''I would have let Jason watch my kids all day, and I think that says a lot.''

''He's the type of guy you wish would play in the NBA for 10 years, because he's a professional and is a good role model,'' Reese said. ''That's the type of person you want in the NBA, and the type of person you want at Georgia Tech.''

_


----------



## ScottMay (Jun 15, 2002)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from cardiac arrest*



Jim Ian said:


> Him and every other pro basketball player 25-30.
> 
> 
> Very, Very sad news.


Eddy has good reason to be less scared than anyone in the league. He's the only guy who's had his heart checked out a million ways in the last couple weeks.

I'm not sure whether an echocardiogram is a standard part of an NBA physical. If it isn't, it ought to be (even though Collier could have died from any number of things).

What a shame.


----------



## Soulful Sides (Oct 10, 2005)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from cardiac arrest*

Extremely sad. 

Big guys put more stress on their hearts naturally, but I think it's possible to just have heart disease at a younger age and not really know it. 

If thats what it was. It would doubly sad if he was killed by some "lifestyle" problem.


----------



## Sham (Dec 2, 2002)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

Young people, with young families, should never die. However, Jason, with all the best healthcare the world can offer and with the cleanest of clean bills of health, was still victim to this. It should serve as a reminder to everyone. It is a tragedy that I hope people will keep in their minds.


----------



## Sham (Dec 2, 2002)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

Also, stop turning this about Eddy. It is about Colier, his family, and the Hawks.


----------



## SausageKingofChicago (Feb 14, 2005)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*



ShamBulls said:


> Also, stop turning this about Eddy. It is about Colier, his family, and the Hawks.



Exactly right

Its a horrible tragedy..no need to turn this into an Eddy Curry got wronged or Pax did the right thing


----------



## Showtyme (Jun 24, 2002)

*Very OT: Jason Collier dies of heart attack*

I know, it's nothing like Eddy Curry's situation. But an interesting read is Matt Harpring (a good friend of Collier) and his feelings towards the incident:

http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_3124151



> "It's just so sad - he's got family, parents, a wife, a little girl," Harpring said. "At the same time, it's scary to think that this could happen. *When I get a physical, I always want them to check everything. I mean, I want to know, because something like this is just tragic.*"


And actually, the cause of death remains unknown... not foul play, but "cardiac arrest" appears to not quite be completely accurate. They ARE calling it a "sudden death".

http://www2.whittierdailynews.com/sports/ci_3120646


> General manager Billy Knight said the cause of death was not immediately clear for the 7-foot, 260- pound player. He said Collier had "no issues' in a preseason physical given to all players.
> 
> Jeff Collier told The Associated Press his son died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and did not have any diagnosed health problems apart from his knees.
> 
> Team spokesman Arthur Triche initially said Collier possibly died of cardiac arrest, but would not provide details. He later said the team was not sure how Collier died. Collier's agent, Richard Howell, said an autopsy was being performed.


----------



## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

*Re: OT: Jason Collier dies from apparent cardiac arrest*

show, i just merged this into the existing thread. (miz broke this story here and on the main nba board ya know :smilewink )

anyway, the family has requested that the results of the autopsy remain private until after the funeral service on wednesday.


----------



## narek (Jul 29, 2005)

The agent has talked abit about what was found: http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/ESPNSports/story?id=1228267:


> Chris Sheridan
> ESPN Insider
> Oct. 18 Medical examiners are focusing on the possibility of a heart abnormality in their investigation into the sudden death of 28-year-old Atlanta Hawks center Jason Collier, according to his agent.
> 
> "They are looking at the heart," agent Richard Howell told ESPN.com. "They preliminarily see an abnormality, but they still have a lot of work to do. It could be anything, and they're looking at everything."


----------



## Showtyme (Jun 24, 2002)

An abnormality....  

This isn't really about arguments for Curry or any other player in the league. This is just sad news.


----------



## mizenkay (Dec 29, 2003)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/basketball/nba/10/31/collier.ap/index.html

_ATLANTA (AP) -- *Investigators suspect Atlanta Hawks center Jason Collier died of a heart problem and will announce their findings Tuesday.*

The 28-year-old player died Oct. 15 after he had trouble breathing in his Georgia home.

The autopsy was conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. GBI spokesman John Bankhead says the office performs all Forsyth County autopsies, and Bankhead said this autopsy showed the cause of death to be "heart-related."

The corner's office announced a news conference for Tuesday.

"It's a heart abnormality," said Collier's agent, Richard Howell. "It certainly appears to be that. Signs point to that."

Coroner Lauren McDonald III said his office pulled Collier's medical records from the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks._


----------



## MikeDC (Jul 16, 2002)

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/hawks/2005-11-01-collier-autopsy_x.htm



> *Sperry also said his testing showed that electrocardiograms administered to Collier in 2003 and this year showed "some indication of electrical abnormalities."*
> "Looking at them now, and in retrospect in knowing what's going on with his heart, the abnormalities may have been associated with what we found in examining his heart," Sperry said.
> 
> *He said that he had no evidence that Collier was informed there was anything wrong with his heart. Collier's wife said he had never been told of a reason for concern, Sperry said.*





> He said an enlarged heart can be very difficult to detect, especially because of Collier's size. But he said the player's heart *"was above the accepted limits, even for a man of his size." *
> 
> He said the organ was about one and a half times the size it should have been.


This is pretty horrible.


----------



## ScottMay (Jun 15, 2002)

If there's any silver lining here, it's that from now on NBA players will be administered echocardiograms on an annual basis, and this particular sort of thing will never happen again.


----------



## yodurk (Sep 4, 2002)

Scott, I'm rather curious...perhaps you could inform us here. How similar or different does Collier's diagnosis sound to Eddy Curry's? I see two things about Collier's heart that I think we've heard regarding Curry. One is the electrical abnormalities, and the other is the enlarged heart (aka, athlete's heart).


----------



## MikeDC (Jul 16, 2002)

yodurk said:


> Scott, I'm rather curious...perhaps you could inform us here. How similar or different does Collier's diagnosis sound to Eddy Curry's? I see two things about Collier's heart that I think we've heard regarding Curry. One is the electrical abnormalities, and the other is the enlarged heart (aka, athlete's heart).


I don't remember hearing about electrical abnormalities regarding Curry. That would be a red flag. Rather, aside from the actual episode he had, all the tests showed nothing unusual in Curry's heart. The enlarged heart in Curry got smaller after inactivity and though it was still large was consistent with someone of his size.

So the differences are pretty clear cut. From everything I've read at least, if they found in Curry what they found in Collier then Eddy wouldn't be playing.

Importantly, Curry will probably have a portable defibrilator close at hand no matter what, which is quite possibly the only thing that could have saved Collier.


----------



## yodurk (Sep 4, 2002)

I'm not sure if Curry actually had electrical abnormalities, but I know they were at least being explored and talked about in the early stages as a possible cause for the arrhythmia episodes.


----------



## MikeDC (Jul 16, 2002)

yodurk said:


> I'm not sure if Curry actually had electrical abnormalities, but I know they were at least being explored and talked about in the early stages as a possible cause for the arrhythmia episodes.


Exactly. Of course they'd be explored, because electrical abnormalities are often what cause recurring arrhythmias.

If you think of the heart as an electrical device, you see how, if it's incorrectly formed, it basically shorts out and doesn't beat properly.

But they didn't find that with Curry. If they did, it'd be evidence of HCM or some other problem.


----------



## SALO (Jun 6, 2002)

There was an article in the Tribune, I think it was by Marlen Garcia, back when he was doing articles explaining Dr. Cannom vs. Dr. Maron and their opinions on Curry. 

Basically Dr. Maron thought Curry's heart was abnormally large, even for his size. Maron also saw electrical abnormalities (I think). Obviously, Dr. Cannom and most other doctors disagreed with him. I tried looking up the article in the Tribune archives but there was a big dollar sign next to the full text link. :curse:


----------



## MikeDC (Jul 16, 2002)

SALO said:


> There was an article in the Tribune, I think it was by Marlen Garcia, back when he was doing articles explaining Dr. Cannom vs. Dr. Maron and their opinions on Curry.
> 
> Basically Dr. Maron thought Curry's heart was abnormally large, even for his size. Maron also saw electrical abnormalities (I think). Obviously, Dr. Cannom and most other doctors disagreed with him. I tried looking up the article in the Tribune archives but there was a big dollar sign next to the full text link. :curse:


I don't think anyone said there were electrical abnormalities. If there was anything persistent like that he wouldn't be cleared. 

What was the date? I can dig it out for free more than likely


----------



## ScottMay (Jun 15, 2002)

yodurk said:


> Scott, I'm rather curious...perhaps you could inform us here. How similar or different does Collier's diagnosis sound to Eddy Curry's? I see two things about Collier's heart that I think we've heard regarding Curry. One is the electrical abnormalities, and the other is the enlarged heart (aka, athlete's heart).


What today's news doesn't tell us is how and why Collier's heart was enlarged. He could have had HCM, it could have been an adenovirus or myocarditis (that's what Maron believes killed Hank Gathers), he could have been an alcoholic or drug abuser (most likely not, but it's one of the first things doctors ask when they see something like this in a young person).

From what I can remember of what I've read about athlete's heart, though, it doesn't kill people. In fact, it's a sign of an optimally healthy heart. Collier had a different kind of enlargement, and arrythmias that can be tolerated by a healthy heart often lead to sudden cardiac death in people with damaged heart muscle.

And I'm not sure that Curry had an "electrical abnormality." An arrythmia doesn't necessarily mean there's an electrical problem -- it can be caused by electrolyte imbalance, caffeine, diet, emotional upset, etc.


----------



## Zeb (Oct 16, 2005)

SALO said:


> There was an article in the Tribune, I think it was by Marlen Garcia, back when he was doing articles explaining Dr. Cannom vs. Dr. Maron and their opinions on Curry.
> 
> Basically Dr. Maron thought Curry's heart was abnormally large, even for his size. Maron also saw electrical abnormalities (I think). Obviously, Dr. Cannom and most other doctors disagreed with him. I tried looking up the article in the Tribune archives but there was a big dollar sign next to the full text link. :curse:


I have, in a way, my own personal news archive, so if it was in the Tribune I should have it. Was it this one?

*Doc: No need for DNA test* - September 27, 2005 (link no longer works)



> Cannom and Maron agree on at least one point: Curry has an enlarged heart.
> 
> "[Maron] is saying it's abnormally large for someone his size; we're saying it's acceptable given the patient's size," Cannom said.


I can PM the entire article if necessary. Found no mentions of electrical abnormalities in any of the articles.


----------



## Showtyme (Jun 24, 2002)

To me, this is just more scary news. How unpredictable, unreadable, unmeasurable are these heart conditions? How far behind is the field of cardiology in general, especially with respect to athletes? I say absolutely nothing of the DNA test (in fact, let's ignore it completely for now), but other than the echocardiograms, is there more comprehensive testing and research that might able to be done?

Has no one in the NBA asked these questions already?


----------



## MikeDC (Jul 16, 2002)

Showtyme said:


> To me, this is just more scary news. How unpredictable, unreadable, unmeasurable are these heart conditions? How far behind is the field of cardiology in general, especially with respect to athletes? I say absolutely nothing of the DNA test (in fact, let's ignore it completely for now), but other than the echocardiograms, is there more comprehensive testing and research that might able to be done?
> 
> Has no one in the NBA asked these questions already?


This seems highly illogical to me.

Maybe it's just that people have a hard time dealing with death, but it seems pretty clear to me from reading what's being said about Collier was that there actually were detectable issues.

If there is a silver lining in all of this, it's that the NBA is moving, in light of Collier's death and Curry's scare, to make sure such detectable problems are actually detected and dealt with.

That appears to be about the best ending possible from such a terrible situation.


----------



## ScottMay (Jun 15, 2002)

Showtyme said:


> To me, this is just more scary news. How unpredictable, unreadable, unmeasurable are these heart conditions? How far behind is the field of cardiology in general, especially with respect to athletes? I say absolutely nothing of the DNA test (in fact, let's ignore it completely for now), but other than the echocardiograms, is there more comprehensive testing and research that might able to be done?


I don't think there's any branch of medicine that's as advanced and life-saving/extending as what cardiologists do. From valve replacements to aortic stents to ablations to implantable pacemakers/defribrillators, there are a LOT of people living -- of all ages -- who wouldn't have been 5 or 10 or 15 years ago.

And the technology is pretty state-of-the-art. With an echocardiogram in conjunction with an MRI and a standard electrocardiogram, the cardiologist is able to come up with a highly detailed, even three-dimensional and colorized computerized image of the heart, including the condition of the valves, the size of the chambers, the size of the heart itself, whether or not there are patches of dead/weak muscle or areas where electrical impulses aren't being transmitted correctly, volume and speed of flow between chambers and in and out of the heart, etc. It's really amazing, sci-fi type stuff, but it's being used thousands of times every single day.



> Has no one in the NBA asked these questions already?


They have asked the questions, and they've moved to address them, although we don't yet know the specifics. Between Curry's and Collier's situations, it became apparent that the NBA needed a minimum standard of examination applied to its annual physicals. Part of that will almost definitely include the players getting annual echocardiograms. I'm not sure why they haven't to this point. But it is a test that (as far as I know) would have instantly identified a problem like Collier's, and if there ARE any players who develop clinical HCM, an echocardiogram would catch that as well.


----------



## Soulful Sides (Oct 10, 2005)

They say that it is chilling news for Eddy Curry.

http://www.truehoop.com/atlanta-hawks-851-chilling-news-for-eddy-curry.html


----------

