Wes Leonard: Former NBA star Bo Kimble knows Wes Leonard's teammates' pain, offers advice and support

FENNVILLE — Wes Leonard hit the game-winning layup to cap Fennville’s perfect regular season and Hank Gathers slammed home an alley-oop dunk to extend Loyola Marymount University’s lead in a conference tournament game.

And on Friday, the 21st anniversary of Gathers’ death, Bo Kimble mourned each the loss of Gathers, his lifelong friend and college teammate, and Leonard, a 16-year-old he had never met from a tiny West Michigan high school.

“It hit me and my heart just sunk, because it’s a tragedy all over again,” Kimble said Friday while talking about Leonard’s death from a heart attack. “To hit that shot to win a game, and then a moment later another young man in the prime of his life is struck down, it’s very eerie but it’s a fresh reminder of how this can affect us all.”
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Full coverage the loss of Wes Leonard

Kimble watched as Gathers, 23, crumpled to the court and died in 1990 of cardiac arrest due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart muscle that forced the organ to work hard to move blood.

Dr. David Start, who performed Leonard’s autopsy, ruled Friday that the teen died from a heart attack connected to dilated cardiomyopathy, which weakens an enlarged heart and makes it unable to efficiently pump blood.

Kimble, who played for the Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks in an NBA career cut short by injury, has founded the nonprofit Forty-Four for Life Foundation that seeks to educate about heart illnesses and equip public areas with defibrillators that could save lives.

Mourning Wes Leonard
Enlarge Emily Zoladz | The Grand Rapids Press Wes Leonard's Fennville teammates embrace at a press conference Friday. (Emily Zoladz | The Grand Rapids Press) Mourning Wes Leonard gallery (4 photos)

He works to try and prevent people from becoming the next Gathers or Leonard by advocating people learn CPR and stresses improving the reaction time to cardiac events.

“It’s so important, and we need to be pro-active rather than reactive,” Kimble said.

Following Gathers’ death, Kimble led his Loyola teammates on a magical run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. The right-handed player honored his fallen friend by shooting his first free-throw of the game left-handed, a tribute to Gathers’ dominant hand. His squad, without Gathers’ nation-leading scoring and rebounding averages, lost to eventual champion UNLV.

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Wes Leonard: US high school basketball player dies after making game-winning shot

A 16-year-old American basketball player in Michigan collapsed on the court shortly after hitting the game-winning basket and died hours later.


According to the New York Daily News, Wes Leonard of Fennville High School went into cardiac arrest after the game.

Leonard, who scored over 1,000 career points, had just sunk the winning lay-up in a 57-55 win over the Bridgman Bees to round out Fenville's 20-0 season.

He was rushed to Holland Hospital around 9.20 p.m. on Thursday, and doctors were unable to restart his heart, a hospital spokesman said. He was pronounced dead at 10.40 p.m.

David A. Start, the chief medical examiner for Ottawa County, said the cause of death was "cardiac arrest due to dilated cardiomyopathy", or an enlarged heart.

Start said it is not clear how Leonard developed the heart condition.

The incident brings renewed focus on the safety of high school athletes - whether students are adequately screened for cardiac problems, and the importance of proper medical equipment and people trained to use it in emergencies.

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Tragedy in WES LEONARD: Fennville High School Basketball Player in Michigan collapses and dies on court after hitting game winning shot.

FENNVILLE, Mich. —

Last night, a euphoric high school basketball game turned into a nightmare within a matter of seconds, and today students and faculty and community members in Fennville, Michigan are full of grief and sadness and trying to make sense of what they witnessed last night.

Wes Leonard, a popular star of the Fennville High School basketball team collapsed on the court and later died after making a game-winning layup in overtime. His winning shot sealed the team's perfect season by going undefeated. This story has gone global within hours.


Leonard died Thursday night at nearby Holland Hospital. His cause of death has not yet been determined.

Friends and fan sent into shock in Fennville, Michigan. AP Photo

According to media reports and fans, paramedics tended to Leonard right after he collapsed on the court after making the game-winning layup in overtime against Bridgman High School.

Leonard, a junior who also the quarterback of the Blackhawks football team.

Today, I hope you can pause and reflect on the gift of life, and how precious this gift is for ALL of us, regardless of our age or if your and on "opposite" sides of issues or teams.

So, so sad.

Read More:Tragedy in WES LEONARD: Fennville High School Basketball Player in Michigan collapses and dies on court after hitting game winning shot.

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Wes Fenneville: There was an absolute tragedy on Thursday night in Fenneville

There was an absolute tragedy on Thursday night in Fenneville, Michigan when high school basketball player Wes Leonard collapsed and died after making the winning shot in his team’s game. Leonard had just made the layup that gave Fennville the lead in overtime and sealed their perfect 20-0 season. Fans rushed the floor and Leonard collapsed shortly after making the winning shot. He was taken to the hospital where the 16-year-old was pronounced dead.

Opposing coach Mike Miller of Bridgeman High said Leonard was “by far the best player on that basketball team – outstanding athlete.” In addition to scoring over 1,000 points in his career for Fennville, Leonard played quarterback on the football team, having thrown for seven touchdown passes in a game in October.

We’ve seen tragic stories before of athletes passing away during games, but this has to rank as one of the most sad and bizarre. Wes happens to be the second Fennville athlete to die recently as wrestler Nathaniel Hernandez died in January last year after suffering a seizure at home following his participation in a high school wrestling match.

It’s truly a sad story and LBS’ thoughts and prayers are with Leonard’s family and the Fennville community. Here’s some video from Thursday night’s game courtesy of WOODTV. You can see that Leonard was a player:

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What is reason Leonard death: Fennville High Player Dies After Game Winning Shot (Video)

Wes Leonard of Fennville High School died after scoring the game winning shot for his team… in the video, you can see Wes Leonard playing for the Fennville team, moments before he collapsed.

The Michigan high school star collapsed after scoring the shot that won the game in overtime and later died.

Wes Leonard was 16. Cause of death has not yet been determined.

Bridgman coach Mike Miller (they lost to Fennville) said of junior Wes Leonard, he was “by far the best player on that basketball team – outstanding athlete. All of Bridgman’s thoughts and prayers are going toward Fennville right now.”

So sad.

Read MOre:http://tv.popcrunch.com/wes-leonard-fennville-high-player-dies-after-game-winning-shot-video/

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