Reggie Lewis "loved" cocaine
PUSSSYKATT
by Michael Lasalandra and Andrea Estes
Despite vigorous denials by his widow, Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis
frequently used cocaine, freebasing it on numerous occasions with a fellow
student during his days at Northeastern University, according to papers filed
in court yesterday.
Northeastern student Wayne Brown testified in July 1998, that he and Lewis
snorted and smoked cocaine at his apartment numerous times during their school
days.
``He loved it, he loved the feeling he got,'' Brown said in a sworn deposition
filed by attorneys for Lewis' doctors in Suffolk Superior Court.
The pair was ``snorting lines of cocaine and freebasing. Both of us,'' Brown
said. ``Probably 15 or 20 times.''
But in other court papers, Robert Harley, attorney for Lewis' widow, Donna
Harris-Lewis, calls Brown a ``loser'' with whom Lewis never would have
socialized.
``The idea that Reggie Lewis, who was known and loved by everyone who came into
contact with him, had a drug-based friendship with this loser without anyone
else ever knowing it strains credulity,'' he said.
The Brown deposition was one of many included in documents filed in court by
attorney William J. Dailey Jr., counsel for Dr. Gilbert Mudge and others who
are being sued by Harris-Lewis for medical malpractice.
In another deposition filed yesterday, Wayne LeBeaux, the Celtics then
equipment manager, testified, also in July 1998, that he and Lewis smoked
marijuana together at LeBeaux's condo in Maine in 1990 while Lewis was a member
of the Celtics.
``He had (the marijuana) with him,'' LeBeaux said.
LeBeaux said the two smoked it with two other people present.
The equipment manager, however, said he had no knowledge of cocaine use on
Lewis' part, except for having heard rumors that the player had burned his hand
while freebasing cocaine while at Northeastern.
However, LeBeaux said he had noticed a possible sign of substance abuse on
Lewis part because ``he was extremely moody. One day he can be the nicest
person. And the next day he can be extremely mean and cruel.''
The motion filed yesterday by Dailey seeks to force Northeastern to produce
documents relating to drug tests given to Lewis while he was a student in 1987.
A hearing on the motion is set for today.
Mudge's defense is expected to center on the fact that Lewis used cocaine and
that it could have contributed to the heart attack that killed him in 1993.
Lewis died while shooting baskets in the Celtics practice gym at Brandeis July
27, 1993. He was 27 years old.
Lewis' widow, Harris-Lewis, is suing Mudge for malpractice, saying he was
derelict in failing to diagnose her husband's heart problem.
Although they deny that Lewis used cocaine, lawyers for Harris-Lewis contend
that whether the player used cocaine is irrelevant to the malpractice charge.
Court papers show that several heart specialists disagreed with Mudge's
diagnosis - that Lewis suffered from a benign fainting condition - and told him
so.
``They're trying to avoid facing the terrible medical mistake that was made by
throwing in all this rumor and innuendo,'' Harley said.
``What caused it, in the final analysis, was irrelevant to treating it. The
point is if they want to they can distract the jury with these kinds of
accusations. They hope the jury won't pay attention to the medical
negligence,'' said Harley.
In another deposition filed yesterday, Celtics team doctor Arnold Scheller
testified that while he had no reason to suspect that Lewis had used drugs, he
nevertheless began asking the player about it while he was a patient at New
England Baptist Hospital in the days after his collapse during a game in April
1993.
``If you've done cocaine, at least let me know so I know what I'm dealing
with,'' he said he told Lewis. ``And he said `no' and we were looking at each
other eye to eye and I really don't think he was bull-------- me, but I told
him I was going to test (for drugs). . . .''
He added: ``I remember going over things with Reggie. I know Donna got upset.
She picked up the phone and went in the bathroom.''
According to the motion filed by Dailey, she was calling an administrator at
Brigham and Women's Hospital, where she was about to move her husband.
George Kaye, an administrator at B&W, testified that Harris-Lewis asked him
about having Lewis transferred.
``I believe she said she was in the ladies room and that she was on her cell
phone and she was calling me because she needed my assistance,'' he said. ``She
asked me if I could see about getting Reggie transferred. She was trapped in a
situation she didn't have control of. She was a woman who was in trouble who
was calling me and felt threatened by the environment she was in.''
Later, after Lewis was moved to B&W, Mudge also began asking him about cocaine
use, according to Mudge's deposition, also filed yesterday.
``I asked whether Mr. Lewis had ever taken any drugs and Mrs. Lewis became very
excited and stated, `Drugs, drugs, drugs. That is all I hear. Just because he
is not Bird. Don't insult my husband. They would never ask Larry about drugs.
They just can't get over that he is not Larry.' ''
Harley conceded that Harris-Lewis made the comments.
``You point to a black athlete and say cocaine. Now the onus is on him to say
no,'' said Harley.
Mudge never explained to Donna why he'd asked the question, according to
Harley.
Mudge also testified in his deposition that Lewis finally admitted to him that
he had used cocaine. The admission, according to Mudge, came at the Celtics
rookie camp at Brandeis, on July 12, 16 days before his death.
``Mr. Lewis indicated that he had,'' Mudge said. ``I responded, `You have got
to stop. Cocaine causes all of this.' ''
Puzzla
PUSSSYKATT wrote:
> BOSTON HERALD....
> by Michael Lasalandra and Andrea Estes
>
> Despite vigorous denials by his widow, Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis
> frequently used cocaine, freebasing it on numerous occasions with a fellow
> student during his days at Northeastern University, according to papers filed
> in court yesterday.
>
Jeez. The guy was on drugs. And by continuing this suit, she's muddying his
name. She should have left things as they were. Now she won't get a dime and her
husband will be known as a drug addict
Puzz