Former NBA player recounts tale of addiction and recovery

Date: 6/1/2018

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Former NBA player and motivational speaker Chris Herren visited West Springfield to talk about his harrowing recovery from heroin and substance abuse.

On May 21, Herren – who has been sober for nine years – presented “Rebound: The Chris Herren Story” to a packed auditorium at West Springfield High School. Earlier that day, Herren met with West Springfield Public Schools students in grades 8 through 11 to teach them about drug prevention. The event was free to the public and concluded the West Side Spring Speaker Series. His visit, which was presented by the West Springfield CARE Coalition in conjunction with WSPS, was made possible due to donations from alumni.

Herren has dedicated his life to sharing his story and raising awareness about the dangers of substance abuse. The recovering addict opened the event with a viewing of a short video describing his descent into addiction.

“When it comes to addiction, I truly believe we’ve gone horribly wrong with the way we present it to our kids. I think we put way too much focus on the worst day, and we forget the first day,” said Herren. “We want to show our kids pictures of drug addicts and say, ‘Look what happens in the end,’ instead of sitting them down, looking them in the eye, and asking them honestly at a very young age, ‘Why in the world are you letting this begin?’”

He then recounted a detailed history of his struggle.

Herren's story begins in Fall River where he was a high school basketball legend from 1990 to 1994. He attended B.M.C Durfee High School and finished his career with more than 2,000 points – the most any individual has ever scored at the school to this day. He was later named to the McDonald’s All-American team. Several top colleges pursued Herren before he finally committed to Boston College.

Despite all of his success, Herren came from a broken home – his father was an abusive alcoholic. He told the audience he started drinking his father’s beer at 14. He did his first line of cocaine at 18 – four weeks after he moved to BC.

“I had no idea that at 18-years-old – when I promised myself just one time – that one line would take 14 years to walk away from,” he said.

His time at Boston was short-lived. After failing numerous drug tests, he was kicked out of school as a freshman.

Herren transferred to California State University, Fresno in 1995. He made his debut as a sophomore one year later, finishing his season with an average of 17.5 points per game. One night, after a big game against Duke University in November 1997, he went out to celebrate with a couple of his friends. Herren later found himself snorting lines of cocaine in the bathroom stall.

The next day, an athletic trainer asked Herren to take a drug test. He self-admitted. The athlete was required to reveal his cocaine addiction on national television, and agreed to complete a treatment program before returning to play for his senior year.

At 21 years old, he checked into a rehab facility in Salt Lake City, UT.

“When I walked into that treatment center, I sat in these little rooms and listened to people tell their story,” said Herren. “I would call my athletic director and beg him to take me home. I promised I wasn’t like these people – I was disgusted by their stories of the pain and suffering they were causing their families.”

He flew back to Fresno State in 1998, and went on to play 86 games. Herren was soon offered the “biggest opportunity of [my] life” – a chance to play with the NBA Denver Nuggets. It was a fresh start for Herren. His new teammates supported his fight against addition, he said. He moved into a big house with his wife, Heather, and their young son, Christopher. Everything was starting to fall into place, he explained.

One day, an old high school friend offered him a new painkiller – OxyContin – while they were out on a walk.

“I threw that little pill into my mouth and went back to my house to finish watching cartoons with my son, having no idea that decision that day changed my life forever,” he said. “I had no idea that that 40 milligram pill would turn to 1,600 milligrams a day – not to get high, but to hide the secret. I had no idea that $20 I spent that day would turn into $20,000 a month.”

Hiding his addiction became a full-time job he said.

He arrived at the Denver Nuggets training camp fully dependent on the painkiller. Herren tried to quit at one point, he explained, but found out he was being traded to the Boston Celtics on his fifth day of sobriety.

“My knees felt week. Ever since I was four I wanted to be a Boston Celtic. What should’ve been my dream come true, I knew in my heart and soul was a nightmare beginning,” he recounted. “I knew five days wasn’t enough. When I hung up the phone, I wanted to call my mom, my grandparents, my wife and my kids. But, my first phone call was to the kid with the pills. I said, ‘I don’t know what you sold me four months ago, but I’m hooked and my body is completely broken.”

Eight weeks later, Celtics’ coach Rick Pitino told Herren he would start as point guard for that night. At the tail end of his pills, the basketball player called his drug dealer out of panic. His dealer met him at the arena as soon as possible.

Herren was high when they announced his name in the starting lineup.

His career with the Celtics ended shortly after when he tore his rotator cuff. He later accepted an offer from a basketball team in Italy – which led him to smuggle 300, 80-milligram OxyContin pills onto the international plane.

The Massachusetts native explained his intentions were to slowly wean off the pills. However, the withdrawals were too much, he said. When Herren ran out of OxyContin, he sought out a random heroin dealer at a bus station.

“At 24, I can’t say ‘Perc 30’s’ in Italian, all I could do was roll up my sleeves and point to my veins,” said Herren. “He looked at me one more time and said, ‘Are you sure you want to buy heroin? Are you sure it’s not cocaine?’ I said, ‘I’m so sick from these pills I’ve been taking. I’ve never done heroin, but I’m told it will take away the pain until I can get some shipped out to me.’”

“That man reached into his mouth and grabbed a string tied to the back of his teeth and started yanking up. At the bottom of that string was a baggy of heroin. He said, ‘How many do you want?’ I said, ‘ I don’t know, I’ve never done this drug but I want to buy the whole thing because I’ll never see you again.’ At 24, I became an intravenous drug addict.”

Herren and his teammates were scheduled to go to a 10-day training camp in the mountains. When he found out about the trip, he quit on the spot – knowing he wouldn’t have access to his drugs.

He moved back to the United States with his family and was unemployed for the next four months.

In December 2004, Herren was charged with possession of heroin in the parking lot of a Dunkin’ Donuts in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. He overdosed at the drive through and attempted to drive back home.

“The officer looked at me and said, ‘You just overdosed son, and when you did it, it caused your body to go limp and take your foot off the brake – you hit that lady in front of you,’” he said. “He said, ‘You have the right to remain silent. This little secret you’ve been living with as a professional athlete is about to be a public tragedy. I hope your wife, children and family are ready for the pain and humiliation that heroin brings.’”

Herren was arrested and bailed out of jail the next day. He made an immediate phone call to the man who met him in the Dunkin’ parking lot the previous morning.

Three years later, Herren couldn’t afford to provide for his family anymore. He turned to hustling heroin, driving for drug dealers and robbing. He also started drinking vodka as a cheaper alternative to heroin.

On June 4, 2008, he landed four bags of heroin for free, and overdosed for the fourth time at 32-years-old.

Herren was sent to the nearest hospital and given a summons to show up in court in 30 days. He remembers contemplating suicide to spare his family, he explained. After unsuccessful attempts to get into a rehabilitation facility, Herren received a gift from NBA Hall of Famer and recovering alcoholic Chris Mullin – an opportunity to check into a treatment center in New York for six months.

The recovering addict called his wife on his 30th day at the center – it was against the rules to have outside contact until after the first month. His wife told him she was going into labor with their third child. Against the advice of his counselor, Herren traveled to the hospital where she was located. It was his first sober birth, he said to the audience.

His daughter, Samantha, and son, Christopher – now seven and nine years old – were also present for the birth.

“I was so proud as a parent to be present finally,” said Herren. “Christopher jumped into my arms and started crying. He squeezed me and after two minutes of catching his breath he looked up and me and said, ‘Dad, there’s a lot of people mad at you. I heard a lot of people say mean things about you, but, I still want you to be my dad.’”

His son’s words shook him to his core, Herren said, and the only way he knew to cope was to buy alcohol. Thirty minutes later, he made arrangements for heroin.

The next day, his wife told him to say goodbye to his children, because he would never see them again.

Herren recounted driving back to the treatment center in New York. He felt “broken,” he said. His counselor told Herren to call his wife and kids and tell them he would never contact them again – he wanted Herren to “play dead.”

“I want you to play dead for your kids,” the counselor told him. “I want you to let your children live, because with you, they never will. They will suffer because of you, because you’re a no-good scumbag, junkie who has no business being a father.”

Herren said he didn’t go through with the call. Instead, he prayed to his mother.

Ever since that day, Aug. 1, 2008, the former NBA player has been sober. He and his wife, Heather, have been married for 19 years now, with their three children: Christopher, 18, Samantha, 16, and Drew, 9.

Herren said he tries to make the best of his situation, and now travels across the country as an inspirational speaker. He also founded The Herren Project in 2011, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing treatment navigations, educational and mentoring programs to those touched by addiction. The Project seeks to educate people of all ages on the dangers of substance abuse – one person, one family at a time.

In 2018, he founded the Herren Wellness Group, a health and wellness organization that offers a holistic approach to recovery through innovative prevention and treatment solutions.

After recounting his story to the audience, he spent some time answering questions. One audience member brought up recreational marijuana – a current hot-button issue for the town of West Springfield. Mayor William Reichelt is pushing for the legalization of the drug, which is currently legal statewide.

Herren said he didn’t know too much about the benefits of medical marijuana, but that he doesn’t see a need for recreational.

“Drinking beer and smoking is the first page for every drug addict,” he said. “I don’t know much about medical marijuana, but recreational is reckless.”

Herren’s visit was in conclusion of the West Side Spring Speaker Series – which also featured guest visits from Dr. Scott Poland and Chris Waddell.

For more information on The Herren Project, visit https://theherrenproject.org/.