March 22, 1995, Boston Celtics fans piled into Boston Garden to pay tribute to a fallen captain. Reggie Lewis had passed away on the basketball court just months earlier due to heart disease. Reggie's #35 was the 20th number to be draped from the hallowed rafters at the Garden.
Lewis was drafted in the first round, 22nd overall, by the Boston Celtics in the 1987 NBA draft. The Celtics were looking to add some youth to the team, especially for the aging "Big 3" of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish. This need became more urgent after Len Bias, the 2nd overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft, died of a cocaine overdose.[5]
As a rookie, Lewis played sporadically, averaging only 8.3 minutes per game under coach K. C. Jones. By his second season, thanks in part to a new coach (and an injury to Celtics star Larry Bird) Lewis averaged over 30 minutes per game and scored 18.5 points per game. Lewis was selected to play in his first and only NBA All-Star Game held in Orlando, Florida, 1992. He played 15 minutes, scoring 7 points and grabbing 4 rebounds.
He averaged 20.8 points per game in each of his last two seasons with the Celtics, and finished with a career average of 17.6 points per contest.[6]
His no. 35 jersey was retired by the Celtics as a memorial to him, making him one of only two Celtics to have a retired number without winning a championship with the team, the other player being Ed Macauley.[7]
Except courtesy of Wikipedia
