The stories of athletes overcoming drugs and alcohol and leading a productive life are few and far between. There were few who believed Chris Washburn would turn his life around. Nevertheless, despite blowing what could have been a truly great career in the National Basketball Association, Washburn is now clean and sober and dedicating his life to helping others.
In our previous blog entry on Washburn we looked at him as a high school prodigy who succumbed to drugs and alcohol and washed out of the NBA quickly after being the No. 3 overall pick by the Golden State Warriors. As reported in www.hpe.com.
Within only three years in the NBA, he had failed three drug tests and was banned from the league for life. Sports Illustrated, which had written extensively about what a young basketball prodigy Washburn had been, eventually declared him the second-biggest bust in NBA history.
Washburn went to drug rehab centers more than a dozen times, or that on some of the days he was released from a rehab program, he was getting high again before the sun went down. You may not know about him playing basketball overseas after the NBA ban. He even signed to play for a team in Colombia signed him to play. Who sends a drug addict to Colombia?
Washburn was homeless for a time, scavenging for food from trash cans and stealing bread and sandwich meats at the grocery store. He spent time in prison and was shot.
He was as down-and-out as one can get. Yet somehow, this is a story of redemption. It all starts with getting clean. There is no redemption if you continue to use!