In American culture, basketball is not just a sport or a game. For many teenagers, this is a chance to change their lives, get out of poverty, get a scholarship, go to a prestigious college, get into the NBA and gain recognition. However, behind the dreams of great sports and media, there is often something that they do not want to talk out loud: being overloaded, negligence and the most tragic — death.

In 2023, 18-year-old Bronnie James, the son of NBA star LeBron James, suffered a heart attack while training at USC. Fortunately, he received immediate medical attention, survived and has already returned to basketball. His case drew attention to the threat of heart complications in young athletes.

 “We are happy that everything happened in training, where there was a team of doctors. At home, on the street – the consequences could be different,”  LeBron later shared.

Unfortunately, there are many such cases, but not all end well, as in the case of young Bronnie. Caleb White, a 17-year-old student from Alabama, died in August 2023 after a collapse on the site. And Imani Bell (2019), 16, died from heatstroke while training in the 39-degree heat. Her coaches were investigated for manslaughter. These are just the most famous stories.

Why does this happen?

There are many reasons: the lack of uniform national norms, many children participate in several tournaments at the same time (train 6-7 days a week), private schools and clubs often neglect recovery, medical examinations and weather conditions for the sake of results. Many coaches and parents do not have sufficient information about the symptoms and risks of heart disease in young athletes. Pressure to achieve high results leads to excessive physical activity, which can be dangerous to health. Some schools and colleges do not conduct mandatory cardiac examinations, such as ECG or echocardiography, which could reveal hidden heart diseases.

• According to a study published in the journal Circulation, over 20 years, there were 1,102 deaths in these student athletes, with sudden cardiac death being the cause in 143 cases. Sudden cardiac death among young athletes is a rare but tragic phenomenon.
• Between 2014 and 2016, according to research published in the Sports Health journal, there were 132 cases of cardiac arrest among middle school, high school, and college athletes. About 30% of these cases occurred during basketball, and 48% of the athletes survived sudden cardiac arrest.
• A 2016 study found that NCAA athletes ran a 1-in-53,703 risk of sudden cardiac death. That burden is not equally shared. If the athlete was Black, their risk more than doubled to 1 in 21,491. And if they were a men’s basketball player, the risk was 1 in 8,978.

The NBA calls not to specialize in one sport until the age of 14. Exercise no more than 3-4 times a week. They also try to attract young people to recovery, multisport, medical screenings. But for now, these are just recommendations, and the responsibility for compliance falls on parents, coaches and schools.

Sudden cardiac death is not just a medical anomaly. This is an alarming signal that the system that should educate champions sometimes destroys them even before the start. We see children chasing medals, records, scholarships from an early age – sometimes at the cost of their own health, sometimes at the cost of their own lives. While NBA stars gain millions of views and contracts, young players – children who only dream of a podium – risk their own health. Bronnie James survived thanks to an ambulance and resources. But dozens of others are not. And the main question remains: is the game worth such sacrifices?