Former NBA player Clifford Rozier dies of heart attack at age 45

[pwaldo]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...rt-attack.html

Former NBA player Clifford Rozier has died following a heart attack. He was 45.

Rozier's brother, Kobie Rozier, posted on Facebook that Clifford Rozier had been fighting for his life for the last few days but succumbed to his condition Friday in his hometown of Bradenton, Florida.

'For the last few days my brother big Cliff been fighting for his life after having a heart attack,' Kobie Rozier wrote in a Facebook post Friday afternoon.

'Today he lost his fight. Rest easy big bro and I’ll see you again one day.'

Rozier was the 16th overall pick of the 1994 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors.

He developed an addiction to crack cocaine and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Rozier spent five years wandering the streets, at times carrying a pistol, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

He would often hear voices telling him to jump in front of cars, confront cops so they would shoot him, or jump from a building to see if he can fly.

Rozier eventually ended up in and out of jail cells and psychiatric wards.

He was last interviewed in 2010, when the Herald-Tribune found him living in a halfway house with nine other men.

‘Ain’t nobody heard from me in almost 10 years,’ Rozier said at the time.

‘I don’t go nowhere. I keep to myself. I want to stay here.’

[WilyWestbrook0]

Oh wow, how sad. I remember him from my youth. He and Carlos Rogers were 1994 first round draft busts for the Warriors.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Here is the Herald-Tribune piece from 2010. Quite the read:

http://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20...ortant-rebound

[bakemeister52]

Wow way to young to die. RIP!

[pwaldo]

Oh wow, how sad. I remember him from my youth. He and Carlos Rogers were 1994 first round draft busts for the Warriors.

Yup. I saw all these guys on TV and had all the NBA games with these guys. Could probably rattle off 100-200 players from that era without skipping a beat. Now they are all dying way too young. Not just the NFL that is having problems with former players dying young but a staggering amount of former NBA players have died recently and they were from the late 80s to 1999. Way too young.

[camsue]

Rip

[WilyWestbrook0]

Yup. I saw all these guys on TV and had all the NBA games with these guys. Could probably rattle off 100-200 players from that era without skipping a beat. Now they are all dying way too young. Not just the NFL that is having problems with former players dying young but a staggering amount of former NBA players have died recently and they were from the late 80s to 1999. Way too young.

I know what you mean! It's crazy.