{"product_id":"basketball-junkie-a-memoir","title":"Basketball Junkie: A Memoir","description":"In his own words, former NBA and overseas pro Chris Herren tells how he nearly lost everything and everyone he loved, and how he found a way back to life. Powerful, honest, and dramatic, this remarkable memoir, Basketball Junkie, is harrowing in its descent, and heartening in its return.\n\nI was dead for thirty seconds.\n\nThat's what the cop in Fall River told me.\n\nWhen the EMTs found me, there was a needle in my arm and a packet of heroin in the front seat.\n\nAt basketball-crazy Durfee High School in Fall River, Massachusetts, junior guard Chris Herren carried his family's and the city's dreams on his skinny frame. His grandfather, father, and older brother had created their own sports legends in a declining city; he was the last, best hope for a career beyond the shuttered mills and factories. Herren was heavily recruited by major universities, chosen as a McDonald's All-American, featured in a Sports Illustrated cover story, and at just seventeen years old became the central figure in Fall River Dreams, an acclaimed book about the 1994 Durfee team's quest for the state championship.\n\nLeaving Fall River for college, Herren starred on Jerry Tarkanian's Fresno State Bulldogs team of talented misfits, which included future NBA players as well as future convicted felons. His gritty, tattooed, hip-hop persona drew the ire of rival fans and more national attention: Rolling Stone profiled him, 60 Minutes interviewed him, and the Denver Nuggets drafted him. When the Boston Celtics acquired his contract, he lived the dream of every Massachusetts kid―but off the court Herren was secretly crumbling, as his alcohol and drug use escalated and his life spiraled out of control.\n\nTwenty years later, Chris Herren was married to his high-school sweetheart, the father of three young children, and a heroin junkie. His basketball career was over, consumed by addictions; he had no job, no skills, and was a sadly familiar figure to those in Fall River who remembered him as a boy, now prowling the streets he once ruled, looking for a fix. One day, for a time he cannot remember, he would die.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 1250006899\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: DBV.1250006899.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Herren, Chris|Reynolds, Bill\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting or writing, but the text remains fully legible. Dust jacket may be missing, and supplemental materials like CDs or codes may not be included. May be ex-library with library markings. Ships promptly!  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dream Books Co.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41448490762298,"sku":"DBV.1250006899.G","price":6.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/6011\/0138\/files\/1250006899-0.jpg?v=1780855742","url":"https:\/\/shop.dreambooksco.com\/products\/basketball-junkie-a-memoir","provider":"Dream Books Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}