FanPost

Who's Got Heart?

We are four games into the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat series. The Sixers were picked as the overwhelming favorite to win this series, so it comes as no surprise that they have a chance to wrap things up tonight.

Why are they the favorite? Is it talent? Is it team health? Is it heart? The playoffs always bring out the cliches in us. We love to use them. Justise Winslow is going to play his heart out. The Heat was full of desperation and fight and heart . . .. Dario Saric wears his heart on his sleeve.

But, heart isn't just a buzzword, at least not in this series. The actual heart has had a profound impact on the lives of Coach Spoelstra and Coach Brown.

Erik Spoelstra played basketball at the University of Portland. Brett Brown played basketball at Boston University. Both had very successful collegiate careers.

In 1982, Brown was playing for Coach Rick Pitino and was serving as the team's co-captain with Arturo Brown. Going into his senior year, tragedy struck. During a pick up game before the season started, Arturo Brown, collapsed and died on the court.

In 1990, The Portland Pilots faced Loyola Marymount in the West Coast Conference tournament. Spoelstra played point guard for the Pilots. It was a big game because Loyola Marymount was expected to make a run for the NCAA title behind their legendary forward, Hank Gathers. During that game, Gathers would collapse and die on the court.

What are the odds that two coaches facing each other in the NBA playoffs would confront sudden cardiac death on the basketball court? Not as slim as you may think. A study in 2011 revealed that the incidence of sudden cardiac death of NCAA Division I male basketball players was 1 out of 3,100.

Four months ago, it was almost Tyvoris Solomon. He collapsed on the court during a game against NC State but was saved by the quick actions of the medical team. A year earlier, it was almost Grant Golden of the Richmond Spiders. Unfortunately, that same year, Tyrek Coger of Oklahoma State, couldn't be saved. He collapsed and died during practice.

There are two steps that we can take to prevent such tragedies. First, we need to realize that sudden cardiac arrest is not just an adult thing and be prepared for it. Second, we need to do a much better job of discovering the conditions before tragedy strikes.

Preparation is simple and we saw the benefits at South Carolina and Richmond. An automated external defibrillator (AED) is the only tool that can save someone in cardiac arrest, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) circulates the blood since the heart isn't pumping. Both are designed for ordinary people, so not only can we go to games to cheer on our team and scream at the officials, but we can also be ready to save a life.

Detection is also a good strategy, and to put it simply, we just aren't doing a good job. Every time there is a story about a student like Tyvoris and Grant who collapses and is saved, we breathe a sigh of relief. However, we also should acknowledge that our current screening protocol is woefully inadequate because it misses these life-threatening conditions.

The NBA requires heart screenings for all of its players; but the NCAA does not. A recent study showed that adding an electrocardiogram (ECG) to a physical exam and medical history is more effective at detecting heart conditions than a physical and questionnaire alone. If heart conditions are dangerous enough for professional basketball players, aren't they also dangerous for our kids too?

In the next few days, one of these teams will lose. Thousands of fans on the losing side will shout expletives and cast blame. Their life will suck. They'll look for answers and some may even demand a change. Fortunately, this "profound" sense of loss will only last until next season. You never recover from losing a teammate.

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