Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 1, 1993 TAG: 9311010039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Long
Havlicek was in Ten Sleep, Wyo., when he learned that his friend, Reggie Lewis, had collapsed and died on a basketball court at Brandeis University.
"I worked out with him Saturday, three days before he passed [away]," said Havlicek, the son of former Boston Celtics standout John Havlicek. "I was going fishing with my father for four or five days, and Reggie and I had talked about getting together when I got back.
"I found out [about the death] from watching ESPN. It was something that was a shock and was really hard to deal with. I've known him ever since he played at Northeastern, when I used to go to his games."
Chris Havlicek, who has grown up around the Boston franchise, knew Lewis better than any of the recent Celtics.
"The summer before, he was always the one who organized our pick-up games with all the Boston-area college basketball players," said Havlicek, entering his final season at Virginia. "He was the one who would get the gym at Brandeis for us.
"He talked about doing that again, but a lot of the guys were at summer camps. Finally, everybody started coming back into the picture, and that's when it happened."
Lewis' death June 27 from heart failure followed his collapse in a playoff game against the Charlotte Hornets two months earlier. After preliminary examinations indicated a life-threatening heart ailment, Lewis changed hospitals and doctors and received a more encouraging prognosis.
"We never really talked about [Lewis' condition], other than he said he was feeling good and was ready to start doing a little something," Havlicek said. "He was anxious just to do some shooting because he hadn't done anything. I was looking to do that, too, so I guess we were the perfect match for each other.
"It was very moderate. I was definitely working a lot harder than he was. He was very casually shooting around the 3-point [line], while I was running around a lot more, spotting up, doing drills from half court where I'd run down, he'd pass to me and I'd pull up [and shoot]."
Havlicek was making the final push for playing time in a college career that by all accounts - including his own - has been frustrating and disappointing. An interview Thursday centered more on the Lewis connection and Havlicek's introduction this summer to team handball.
"I had never played the sport before," he said. "Some players dropped off the national team and they recruited me. The coach sent a letter to [UVa] Coach [Jeff] Jones asking if anybody would like to go up to [Philadelphia].
"I was up there for about a month. They taught me how to play, and it was something I picked up really quickly. It's a full-court game, really big in Europe. You have to dribble every four steps and you jump up and throw it in the net. It's like water polo on a court."
Havlicek was placed on the inactive roster, and it is not out of the question that he could represent the United States at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
"If I keep training, I think I definitely can make the team," Havlicek said. "Obviously, I'd much rather play basketball. Handball is fun, but I don't think it's as much fun as basketball. It's a chance to be in the Olympics and I don't care if I was playing checkers, I'd try to go to the Olympics."
Ideally, Havlicek would like to play professional basketball in Europe, but first he'd like to salvage something from a UVa career in which he has scored 41 points and played in only 42 of a possible 97 games.
Nobody expected Havlicek to be the second coming of his father, including his father, but that's not to say it always has been a comfortable situation.
"Any parent wants what's best for their children," Chris Havlicek said. "He's been frustrated and I certainly have been, too. He just wants me to be happy. If he felt basketball was making me completely unhappy, he'd want me to walk away from it."
Havlicek thinks enough of the school that he recommended it to his sister, Jill, who was a starter last year on the Cavaliers' NCAA championship women's lacrosse team.
"I've definitely been frustrated, but I can't do anything about that now," said Havlicek, redshirted as a freshman in 1989-90. "I'm very, very optimistic about this year."
Although he has not made a 3-point basket in 12 attempts during his career, Havlicek hopes to replace Doug Smith as the Cavaliers' long-range shooting threat off the bench. Havlicek routinely hits dozens of 3-pointers during pregame warmups.
"It's something I've talked to Dr. [Bob] Rotella about," said Havlicek, referring to a UVa professor who is a nationally known sports psychologist. "It's a situation where I haven't been warm when I've come in and I haven't been confident enough to let it go."
Havlicek, a 23-year-old graduate student, has been asked to contribute in other areas, specifically as one of UVa's co-captains with Cornel Parker. It is a role that Lewis filled for the Celtics before his death.
Indeed, whenever Havlicek needs inspiration, he can look inside his closet at a replica of Lewis' jersey that he picked up at a Celtics souvenir shop.
"[The death] was definitely an eye-opening experience for me," said Havlicek, who has visited the Lewis grave site. "It made my life seem so easy. I have my health, I've graduated from a great school, I've got a lot of friends. It really did put everything in perspective."
by CNB