Required Reading: Chris Herren’s Redemption
When most kids show up at college, they come armed with plenty of stuff to put on their dorm room walls. I remember my freshman building at Boston College being littered with Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, Biggie, and Tupac posters. Me? I had two things for my side of the room: a Chris Mullin Team USA poster and a photo of Chris Herren cut out from some hoop magazine that I can’t recall today. Not exactly what most kids were plastering on their walls, but Mullin was my basketball idol and Herren, the star of an unbelievable book called “Fall River Dreams” that I pretty carried with me at all times, was a living legend in the Northeast.
When I arrived at school, through playing ball, I found other Herren zealots. Most of them were kids just like me - white basketball fanatics who ran every day and who swore by “Fall River Dreams.” We sort of felt close to Herren, and not just because we were had the same color skin. Chris had come up in nearby Fall River, Mass., had spent a minute as a BC student, and was a mix of myth and frightening reality - a living, breathing example of a guy who had so much talent, but who was also a runaway train, a slave to his personal demons. He had enrolled at BC few years earlier, but had serious issues with drugs, attending class (as in he didn’t), and was far too wrapped up in his friends from home to realize the opportunity that he had to star the Big East.
Herren had flamed out at Boston College, but his legend still loomed large. The players on the team still told stories about Chris, unfortunately as much for his act away from the game than for his unreal ability on the court. When he resurfaced at Fresno State a few years later, I remember all of us packing into someone’s room to watch his late-night West Coast games on ESPN2 - me from Philly, with kids from New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and as far away as Haiti, crammed in just to watch Herren do his thing.
Stints with the Denver Nuggets and basketball’s minor leagues eventually culminated with a cup of coffee with his hometown Celtics. We all saw it as a blessing and a curse for Herren - we were excited that our dude was getting run with his hometown team, but we were also scared of what it would mean for him to be back in Boston, the epicenter of where his demons were most terrifying.
The Celtics run was short-lived and updates on Herren after that were few and far between as he (and his addictions) bounced around overseas, making stops everywhere from Italy to the Middle East. Unfortunately, the most prominent updates came in the form of police reports when he returned home.
A must-read Boston Globe article from this past weekend brought Chris Herren’s basketball career to a close. Sadly there will never be NBA stardom for Herren, but basketball is just a game, and there are more important things in life. Chris says he has finally, mercifully, kicked his addictions and can now get on with raising his family. Here’s to Chris Herren following through.
Read the Boston Globe article HERE.
June 1st, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Rare Air says:
Cool story - for all the Kobe/Lebron hype we have been force fed its nice to see some other basketball stories as well. I remember watching those late games out west too, its a shame his opportunities went down the way it did.
June 1st, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Dcam323 says:
I read about this in the old slam magazine. My boy that went to fresno state said chris was the truth on the court. im glad he is living a normal life and drug free. congrats Chris
June 1st, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Celts Fan says:
It’s Fall River, MA, not NH. Great to get an update and here dude’s finally got his ish together. Local legend…
June 1st, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Patrick Cassidy says:
My bad Celts Fan, for some reason I always NH instead of Mass.
June 1st, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
Sounds like a guy I grew up with named Eddie Abreu. Eddie had all the talent in the world and was the best Latino football player I had ever seen (he had scholarship offers from Florida State and Oklahoma among others). He wasn’t too shabby at basketball either. But his decision making off the court was terrible. He’s forever relegated to local legend status. I think we may all know somebody like that.
June 1st, 2009 at 6:15 pm
mules says:
Great story but you really need to proof-read your stuff before posting it…comments too. You’re not doing BC’s academic rep any favors with all the grammar errors.
June 1st, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Purpose says:
Great read. I remember reading a lot about Herren as I played high school ball at the same time in NJ. He was right at the top of the All American lists but I knew that he ran into some obstacles. I am happy that he got help and is on the right path.
June 1st, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Justin Solomon says:
Fresno State was loaded at the point when Herren was there. They also had Rafer Alston and “Bad Santa” from the And 1 tour. That is a scary trio of PG’s.
June 2nd, 2009 at 3:34 am
LB says:
Wow. Pretty amazing how life is. Chris Herren is a repo-man, while Skip is competing for an NBA title. Just goes to show you never really know which way life is gonna go. Both guys could have gone either way. Still, I’m glad Chris Herren has kicked his heroin addiction. Having seen firsthand what heroin could do to people, I know what a scary experience that can be. While he cant be Birdman, Chris Herren has still come a long way, and I am happy for him.
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:23 am
ENEW says:
Great stuff Cass!!! I remember those West Coast games well when he was at Fresno St. I always wanted to see him succeed. That cup of coffee with the Celtics was an unfortunate “what he could have been” stint as he would show some flashes but the greatness he once had was long gone. Happy to hear he is living a good life.
Thanks
October 26th, 2009 at 1:58 am
Ryan Morgan says:
I was at BC when Herren arrived, was fired up to have him since we all heard the recruiting hype. Saw the game where he broke his wrist on the reverse layup (I was right under the hoop and he was MOVING) and was buddies with a team manager on the hoops team that told me about the problems afterwords. Happy to hear he is on track to have a good life.
The Mullin references in the Globe story were priceless for me as I grew up in CA a Warriors fan and was crushed as a kid when Mullin entered rehab. Great story.