TUALATIN, Ore. – Former NBA player Chris Herren almost died from overdosing on drugs four times. Now he is sharing his struggle and triumph over addiction with high school students.
The former Boston Celtic talked to students at Tualatin High School about his problems with addiction.
Herren struggled with alcohol as a teen. That problem grew to include cocaine and then opioids, until he was 32.
"Oh, I've been near death multiple times," Herren said.
His message for kids is to focus on the first day of recovery when it comes to addiction. Herren also challenged parents to pay more attention to what their children do socially and not how well they do in things like sports and academics.
Herren's been clean for ten years.