His shots were simply masterful, and many referred to him as the "sound of thunder" on the court.
Hank Gathers, a still-amateur basketball player from the USA, had already fulfilled one of his dreams—that of being a father—having had a child with a former girlfriend, and was considered one of the most promising players in the college league, a sure bet to be sought after by the big NBA teams as soon as he finished his studies.
He led the University of Southern California team, which steamrolled its opponents and was the absolute favorite to win the league title in the 1989/1990 season.
The Sound of Thunder: The Rise of Hank Gathers
Unexpectedly, on December 9, 1989, Hank, who was preparing to shoot a free throw in a game, suddenly collapsed unconscious on the court.
He received first aid and was taken to the doctor, where a heart arrhythmia problem was discovered.
It wouldn't have prevented his sports career, as long as the treatment was followed strictly: Hank received the appropriate medication and returned to training and playing, but he didn't maintain the same level.
Suspecting that the medication was harming his performance, making him considerably slower and less resilient, Hank began taking it only on days when he didn't have games to play. He thus returned to playing as before and delighting the fans who watched him on the court.
However, on March 4, 1990, during a game against the University of Portland, Hank, after performing the most spectacular play in basketball, the "alley-oop"—catching a teammate's throw in mid-air and dunking it into the basket—began to feel unwell and, in less than a minute, simply collapsed on the court.
He struggled to get up, but he no longer had the strength even to sit up. Assisted by local paramedics, he told them: “I don’t want to leave the game!”… and these were his last words. He then collapsed unconscious. He was rushed by ambulance to the hospital, where he arrived already dead.
His rebellion against the treatment cost him the highest price it could: his life.
He was only 23 years old, and in June of that same year he would finish his studies and be eligible to enter the NBA draft.
His best friend, Bo Kimble, would fulfill the dream that Hank couldn't and turn professional that same year, playing for the Los Angeles Clippers and the New York Knicks.
This tragic story is told in the film “Final Shot – The Story of Hank Gathers”.
Destiny and Choice: The Price of Rebellion
I don't believe in destiny.
I believe that God allows us to make the choices we want and makes us face the consequences of them, although He is always ready to help us through the problems that we often create for ourselves.
Hank discovered something that, while not preventing him from playing basketball, would at least prevent him from being as brilliant as he could have been if he hadn't had to live with this problem. This placed him before a high-risk choice, which he decided to accept and make his decision... a choice that would prove to be a big mistake.
But how could he have imagined that the consequences of his mistake in pursuing his dreams at any cost would be the worst possible?
Terry Cummings and the Mystery of Providence
There's another case of a basketball player, Terry Cummings, who had an even more serious heart arrhythmia problem than Hank Gathers, and he had a full NBA career, from his debut with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1984 until his retirement with the Golden State Warriors in 2000… and he's still alive today!
Cummings is currently a Christian preacher in the USA.
That's why, when I watched the movie about Hank's story, I started to imagine that there really are dreams that God doesn't want us to fulfill…
Not because he is a stingy and "spoiler" God, but for our own good.
Hank could have been a professional player, although perhaps with less brilliance than he imagined achieving, but his own inability to accept his condition led him to rebel against a life-saving treatment, thus ending his life and, consequently, all his dreams.
I don't judge his eternal destiny. I don't know, and no one can know, what happened to him at the time of his death, but the fact that his ambition to want more than what God had reserved for him took everything from him is undeniable.
Hope That Overcomes Broken Dreams
I am not saying here that the pain of a lost dream Don't weigh it down.
Each of us surely has painful memories of hopes that were not fulfilled and dreams that did not come true. I myself am no exception!
Often, memories of what I was prevented from achieving, and especially the way those obstacles occurred, bring me to tears.
However, what we have for certain is greater than any earthly dream: salvation in Christ, the eternal paradise He won for us with His blood, cannot be compared to the frustrations of earthly life.
Even the greatest sorrows, disappointments, injustices, and shattered dreams are nothing compared to what awaits God's children in eternity.
We can all cry and feel frustrated because life isn't what we'd like it to be, and in fact, it never is.
We do not sin by doing so, nor does it signify a lack or weakness of faith: we are human, we have feelings, and without dreams and plans, there is no way to live well, give meaning to earthly life, or be happy in this world.
However, when the pain of a lost dream overwhelms us, let us always remember that the greatest of all dreams is not a mere dream or a paltry hope, but simply a matter of time, an exercise in waiting to achieve the dream that no one—absolutely no one!—can take away from us.
What have we learned from our own fragility?
However, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Therefore, I am certain that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers,
neither height nor depth,
Nor can any other creature separate us from the love of God.,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In the Bonds of Calvary.
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