List of basketball players who died during their careers

This is a list of basketball players who died while still on a team roster or a free agent. Included are players in the NBA, college, and other leagues. Players who died following the conclusion of their career should not be included. Players are listed with the team they last played for before death, rather than the team the player spent most of their playing career with.

List of basketball players who died during their careers
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Name Age Position Team League Cause of Death Year Ref.
Ricky Berry 24 Small forward Sacramento Kings NBA suicide by gunshot 1989 [1]
Len Bias 22 Small forward Boston Celtics NBA drug overdose-triggered heart attack 1986 [2]
Haris Brkić 26 Small forward Partizan YUBA homicide by gunshot 2000 [3]
Gilbert Bulawan 29 Power forward / Center Blackwater Elite PBA collapsed during team practice - heart enlargement 2016 [4]
Jason Collier 28 Center Atlanta Hawks NBA heart condition 2005 [5]
Bryce Dejean-Jones 23 Shooting guard New Orleans Pelicans NBA self-defense gunshot 2016 [6]
Patrick Dennehy 21 Center Baylor Bears NCAA Homicide 2003 [7]
Wayne Estes 21 Forward Utah State Aggies NCAA electrocuted 1965 [8]
Lavelle Felton 29 Shooting guard Paderborn Baskets ProA homicide by gunshot 2009 [9]
Scott Fenton 24 Shooting guard Perth Wildcats NBL car crash 1989 [10]
Ryan Francis 19 Point guard USC Trojans NCAA homicide by gunshot 2003 [11]
Terry Furlow 25 Small forward / Shooting guard Utah Jazz NBA car crash 1980 [12]
Hank Gathers 23 Forward Loyola Marymount Lions NCAA collapsed during game - heart condition 1990 [13]
Eddie Griffin 25 Power forward / Center Minnesota Timberwolves NBA car crash 2007 [14]

Huck Hartman

 25 Center Youngstown Bears NBL pneumonia 1946 [15]
Lauren Hill 19 Forward Mount St. Joseph Lions NCAA brain cancer 2015 [16]
Tyler Honeycutt 27 Small forward BC Khimki EuroLeague suicide by gunshot 2018 [17]
George Karmarkovich 24 – Johnstown Clippers AABL car crash 1951 [18]
Radivoj Korać 30 Power forward Petrarca Padova Serie A car crash 1969 [19]
Wendell Ladner 26 Forward New York Nets ABA plane crash 1975 [20]
Reggie Lewis 27 Small forward Boston Celtics NBA collapsed at practice - heart attack 1993 [21]
Fernando Martín Espina 27 Power forward / Center Real Madrid Baloncesto Liga ACB car crash 1989 [22]
Conrad McRae 29 Power forward / Center Orlando Magic NBA collapsed during summer league practice - heart enlargement 2000 [23][24]
Fab Melo 26 Center Brasília NBB natural causes - died in sleep 2017 [25]

Michael Ojo

 27 Center Crvena zvezda ABA heart attack 2020 [26]
Kim Perrot 32 Point guard Houston Comets WNBA lung cancer 1999 [27]
Dražen Petrović 28 Shooting guard New Jersey Nets NBA car crash 1993 [28]
Bobby Phills 30 Shooting guard Charlotte Hornets NBA car crash 2000 [29]
John Postley 30 Forward/Center Wilkes-Barre Barons EPBL heart attack 1970 [30]
Katrina Price 23 Shooting guard Philadelphia Rage ABL suicide by gunshot 1999 [31]

Bill Robinzine

 29 Power forward Utah Jazz NBA suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning 1982 [32]
Malik Sealy 30 Small forward / Shooting guard Minnesota Timberwolves NBA car crash 2000 [33]
Wayde Sims 20 Small forward LSU Tigers NCAA homicide by gunshot 2018 [34]
Marvin Stone 26 Center Al-Ittihad SPL collapsed during halftime - heart attack 2008 [35]
Chris Street 20 Power forward Iowa Hawkeyes NCAA car crash 1993 [36]
Örlygur Aron Sturluson 18 Point guard Njarðvík Úrvalsdeild karla accidental fall 2000 [37]
Robert Traylor 34 Power forward / Center Vaqueros de Bayamón BSN heart attack 2011 [38]
Michael Uchendu 21 Center Leyma Coruña LEB Oro personal watercraft accident - drowning 2019 [39]
Zeke Upshaw 26 Small forward Grand Rapids Drive G League collapsed during game - cardiac arrest 2018 [40]
Nick Vanos 24 Center Phoenix Suns NBA plane crash 1987 [41]
Henry White 21 Small forward Grambling State Tigers NCAA collapsed during workout - complications from heat exhaustion 2009 [42]

Evansville Purple Aces plane crash

Fourteen members of the 1977–78 Evansville Purple Aces men's basketball team died in a plane crash, along with fifteen others. The players killed were:

  • Seniors: Kevin Kingston, John Ed Washington, and Marion Anthony “Tony” Windburn
  • Juniors: Stephen Miller and Bryan Taylor
  • Sophomores: Keith Moon
  • Freshmen: Warren Alston, Ray Comandella, Mike Duff, Kraig Heckendorn, Michael Joyner, Barney Lewis, Greg Smith, and Mark Siegel

David Furr, the lone member of the team who did not board Air Indiana Flight 216, died two weeks later in a car crash, meaning all the members of the team died during the 1977–78 season.

See also

References
  1. "What Demons Drove Kings' Ricky Berry to Commit Suicide?". Deseret News. August 20, 1989. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  2. "Cocaine Caused Bias' Death, Autopsy Reveals : Dose Said to Trigger Heart Failure; Criminal Inquiry to Be Pressed". Los Angeles Times. June 25, 1986. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  3. "Umro Haris Brkić". blic.rs. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  4. Blackwater forward Gilbert Bulawan dies after collapsing during practice Archived 2016-07-06 at the Wayback Machine, Richard Dy, Fox Sports Asia, July 3, 2016
  5. "Autopsy shows Hawks' Collier had enlarged heart". ESPN.com. November 1, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  6. "NBA player fatally shot". CNN.com. May 20, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  7. "Dennehy was murdered in 2003". ESPN.com. June 9, 2005. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  8. "50 years after his bizarre death, Wayne Estes remains a towering presence". The Missoulian. February 9, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  9. "Felton, 29, dies after shooting". ESPN.com. August 14, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  10. "30 years since Scott Fenton's tragic death". Perth Wildcats. August 21, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  11. "Francis shot and killed in Baton Rouge". ESPN.com. May 13, 2006. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  12. "Crash Kills Furlow". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. May 24, 1980. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  13. "Loyola's Gathers Collapses, Dies". Los Angeles Times. March 5, 1990. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  14. "Griffin killed when car hit train last week". ESPN.com. August 22, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  15. "Huck Hartman Dies of Pneumonia". Pittsburgh News. March 25, 1946. p. 18. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  16. "Lauren Hill, Who Fought Tumor to Play College Basketball, Dies at 19". New York Times. April 11, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  17. Perez, A. J. "Coroner confirms former NBA, UCLA player Tyler Honeycutt died by suicide". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  18. "Johnstown Clippers Disbanded After Death of Karmarkovich; Joll Escapes Auto Injury". The Indiana Gazette. January 12, 1951. p. 15. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  19. Faris, Nick (2 March 2020). "The incredible tale of a hoops legend and his 99-point game". TheScore.com. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  20. Nelson, John (June 25, 1975). "Airplane Crash Claims Wndell Ladner's Life". Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. p. 20. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  21. "Celtics' Lewis Dies After Collapsing in a Gym". New York Times. July 28, 1993. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  22. "Fernando Martín, a pioneer gone too soon". euroleague.net. February 4, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  23. "Former Syracuse Star Dies". New York Times. July 12, 2000. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  24. "Meet new Binghamton forward Jordan McRae, son of former Syracuse basketball center Conrad McRae". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  25. "Former Celtic top pick Fab Melo dead at age 26". Boston Globe. February 11, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  26. name=https://www.tomahawknation.com/platform/amp/2020/8/7/21358461/micahel-ojo-former-florida-state-center-dead-at-27-fsu-basketball-serbia-fmp-aba-crvena-zvezda
  27. "Kim Perrot, 32, Leader of W.N.B.A. Champions". New York Times. August 20, 1999. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  28. "Details Emerge, but Petrovic's Death Still Baffles". New York Times. June 9, 1993. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  29. "Hornets guard Bobby Phills killed in car wreck". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. January 13, 2000. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  30. "Barons' star collapses, dies during cage game". Scrantonian Tribune. August 2, 1970. p. 58. Retrieved January 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. "A Player's Unsettling Death Leaves Others Wondering Why". New York Times. January 23, 1999. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
  32. Shapiro, Michael (October 18, 1982). "The Mystery of the Life and Death of an Athlete". The New York Times. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  33. "Sealy dies in collision with pickup truck". ESPN.com. May 22, 2000. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  34. "LSU's Wayde Sims killed in shooting". ESPN.com. September 28, 2018. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  35. Coghlan, Curtis (28 March 2019). "Marvin Stone dies during pro basketball game in Saudia Arabia". Advance Local. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  36. "Chris Street: A Hawkeye Through And Through". Bleacher Report. May 22, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  37. Edda Sif Pálsdóttir (14 July 2014). "Ísland í dag: Halda minningu Ölla á lofti". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  38. "Robert 'Tractor' Traylor found dead". ESPN.com. May 12, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  39. "Muere Michael Uchendu, ex jugador del Coruña, tras un accidente con una moto acuática". Marca (in Spanish). June 30, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  40. "Zeke Upshaw dies two days after collapsing during G League game". ESPN.com. March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  41. "Suns' Vanos Among Victims in Detroit Jet Crash : Popular Center, 24, Was Expected to Be a Starter for Phoenix Next Season". Los Angeles Times. August 18, 1987. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  42. Fainaru-Wada, Mark (November 28, 2009). "https://www.espn.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=4693697". ESPN. Retrieved June 26, 2020. External link in |title= (help)
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