One of our favorite books is Fall River Dreams by Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal. It’s like Friday Night Lights set in the Northeast. The book mostly centers around Chris Herren, a prodigious high school basketball player who has issues with drugs. Herren attended Boston College for a minute but transferred to Fresno State, where he excelled under Tark the Shark. He played two seasons in the NBA, one in Denver, and one in Boston. Recently, Herren bottomed out: “Former Celtics’ point guard Chris Herren was found unconscious, slumped over the wheel of a car with a hypodermic needle and a bag of heroin on the passenger seat next to him …” A similar scene unfolded outside of a Dunkin’ Donuts in 2004. Ordinarily, we’d chalk this up as another delinquent athlete, but if you read the book, you’ll feel a personal connection. Sad stuff.

Former Celtics player Herren to be summonsed on drug charges (South Coast Today)