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| (NBA.com Photo) |
He lived his life by playing basketball and he died playing it too. That is the life story of former NBA star Armen Gilliam, who passed away yesterday due to heart attack while playing hoops at an LA Fitness center in Suburban Pittsburgh. The 47 year-old, Pennsylvania native, who is nicknamed “The Hammer”, played 13 years in the NBA after being selected second over-all by the Phoenix Suns in the 1987 NBA rookie draft. Aside from the Suns, he also saw action for the Charlotte (now New Orleans) Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Utah Jazz with career norms of 13.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 929 total games. The 6-9 power forward played college ball for the popular University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) Running Rebels of coach Jerry Tarkanian in the early 80’s. Former Suns teammate Eddie Johnson says Gilliam is a great person with unbelievable physical specimen and someone who loves the game of basketball so much, according to the Arizona Republic.
“I know he was a guy who had his life in order. To die doing something to keep yourself in shape and that you've been doing your whole life is brutal. He was an excellent teammate and a great person. He was a quiet guy who went about his business and a skilled offensive player. He loved the game. He had a tremendous smile. We joked that he was 'The Chisel' instead of 'The Hammer' because he had an easy-going nature. But on the basketball court, he had a very physical presence.”
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