Isaiah Austin's Basketball Career Ends Just Days Before NBA Draft Due to Marfan Syndrome
ByFormer Baylor basketball player Isaiah Austin's NBA career is over before it even began.
In a news release, the Baylor Bears announced their former center has Marfan syndrome, a condition that will end his basketball career immediately. Austin revealed during his sophomore season that he had a detached retina in his right eye and he was set to become the NBA's first partially blind player.
Austin was a promising NBA prospect, a long and slender seven-foot-one center who played well on both ends of the court. According to the Mayo Clinic's website, Marfan syndrome can be life-threatening as it has the potential to affect the heart and blood vessels.
"This is devastating news, but Isaiah has the best support system anyone could ask for, and he knows that all of Baylor Nation is behind him," Scott Drew, Austin's college basketball coach, said in the release. "His health is the most important thing, and while it's extremely sad that he won't be able to play in the NBA, our hope is that he'll return to Baylor to complete his degree and serve as a coach in our program."
During the NBA combine, all players must go through standard physical examinations, ESPN reported. However, further testing was needed for Austin after his EKG test rendered an abnormality and that is when he learned of his condition.
"They said I wouldn't be able to play basketball anymore at a competitive level," Austin told ESPN's Holly Rowe on "Sportscenter." "They found the gene in my blood sample. They told me that my arteries in my heart are enlarged and that if I overwork myself and push too hard that my heart could rupture. The draft is four days away, and I had a dream that my name was going to be called."
The Mayo Clinic said people with Marfan are often tall and slim and have disproportionately long limbs and fingers. It also heightens the chance of retinal detachment and affects the eyes and skeleton as well as the heart and blood vessels.
Though no team will draft him, ESPN reported Austin will be NBA commissioner Adam Silver's guest Thursday night.