Basketball Junkie by Chris Herren and Bill Reynolds Essay

The book â€Å"basketball Junkie† is a Fantastic book it really is. This book is about a hometown high school superstar named Chris Herron on his journey from Fall River Massachusetts all the way to the Boston garden. Chris lived the dream of every kid who has ever bounced a basketball in their drive way. His accomplishments I believe is what really dragged me into the story. Just the fact that he wasn’t just an ordinary junkie from the streets that wrote a memoir. He was a basketball player that made it to the pros. I feel that gave it the edge just being up there compared to the best players such as Allen Iverson Jermaine o Neil and Kobe Bryant. Basketball Junkie was truly was an interesting story. Chris put it all out there. Herren talks about his substance abuse in brutally honest detail. He describes how his drug addictions caused him his basketball career and almost his life. How his NBA trip was short live as he spent more time chasing his next drug buy then working on his jump shot. Chasing what started out as Alcohol then to coke then to oxy cotton then to heroin caused his NBA career to fizzle out. How I related to the story was basically the same the story was told expect from another view. I witnessed a great basketball not as big as Chris Herren but good enough to get his name out there and play college basketball. This kid was great just like Chris a good person with many thing ahead in his life. Toward the end of his senior year I don’t know what you would call it. But I would say going down the wrong hanging with wrong crowd. That when he made the same mistake Chris made when he started. One thing lead to another just like Chris said in the book trying it once opened doors to other drugs. Unfortunately neither this kid nor Chris was able to close these doors. This was upsetting to watch so I could just imagine for a big superstar like this one. What there brothers were going through and the people who watched and taught Chris how to play. His coaches and people that helped Chris build up to this must have been so heartbroken. This story was really deep because you can tell that he wasn’t very appreciative of his life and accomplishments. He tells his nightmare on no matter what was going on he would always have to put his addiction first because the drug made him feel as if he couldn’t function otherwise. He also talks about his all-time low but I will let you figure out what that is in the book. This really made me feel bad for him. He wanted to be better but he couldn’t. Chris herren were stuck in a decade long nightmare of addiction. That ruined him causing him to get seven felonies and to overdose four times in his life time. One time his addiction actually leaving him dead for thirty seconds long. Overall I really enjoyed â€Å"Basketball Junkie†. I felt like in really brought me inside the life of a junkie addicted to drugs. He really put it out there. He gave his inside thoughts and feeling and how he needs drugs to function. Chris Herren saying this meant a lot even he was this big time basketball player in rolling stone, sport illustrator and all that. He still manages to get caught up in this lifestyle. â€Å"Basketball Junkie† inspired me to never take any chances for granted and to never let bad influences to get in between my future.