Boston Carried Lewis' Contract Posthumously

When American NBA star Reggie Lewis died at age 27 on July 27, 1993, his contract continued counting against the Boston Celtics' salary cap for two full seasons. The NBA had no rule allowing it to void the contract of an active player who died, and the other teams rejected Commissioner David Stern's proposal to grant Boston an exemption. The league later changed its rules so insurance would cover a comparable contract, a provision used when blood-clotting problems ended Chris Bosh's NBA career in 2017.

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