Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
April 25, 2003, Washington Post

Many Dreams Come True

When I write about sports, kids sometimes ask, "Do you ever talk to anyone famous?"

Recently, I talked to Sean Elliott. He may not be Michael Jordan-famous, but Sean Elliott has done things that lots of kids dream about. All-city basketball player in high school. All-American player at Arizona. First-round pick in the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft. Two-time NBA all-star. Starting forward for the world champion San Antonio Spurs.

Now Elliott is a basketball commentator for the ESPN and ABC television networks. He is part of ESPN's "NBA Fastbreak Tuesday" and appears regularly on "SportsCenter."

But his most important job is one Elliott never dreamed he would do. Elliott is a national spokesman for the Kidney Foundation, trying to increase awareness of organ transplants and people living with kidney disease. You see, Sean Elliott is alive today because he received a kidney transplant four years ago from his brother Noel.

There have been lots of surprises in Sean Elliott's life story. First, he never planned to play professional basketball. "I loved baseball as a kid," he said with a laugh. "I dreamed of hitting home runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series."

Elliott gave up baseball and soccer in high school in Tucson, Arizona, to concentrate on basketball. It was a good choice. He was a terrific player, a 6-foot-8 forward with a silky smooth jump shot.

But after his fourth season in the NBA, Elliott got a bad surprise. Although he was only 25 years old and a world-class athlete, Elliott had no appetite and felt so tired that he could hardly get out of bed. Doctors figured out that he was having trouble with his kidneys and put him on some powerful medicines.

The medicines helped Elliott play for 4 1/2 more years. But by the time he and the San Antonio Spurs were playing the New York Knicks for the NBA championship in 1999, Elliott was very sick. Still, he played every game.

Elliott went from the Spurs' victory celebration to the hospital. Doctors told him that his kidneys were so bad that he needed a transplant. Tests showed that his older brother Noel would be a good match to give Sean one of his kidneys (a person needs only one of two kidneys to live).

How did Noel feel about giving a piece of his body to help his younger brother? "Thrilled," Sean says. "Everyone in my family was willing to pull together for me. That's just the way we are."

Surgeons removed one of Noel's healthy kidneys and placed it in Sean -- after removing both of Sean's diseased kidneys. It worked. "It was like they had turned on a switch," Sean recalls. "Two days after the operation, I felt like I wanted to run a marathon."

He was able to return to the Spurs, becoming the only person with a transplanted kidney to ever play in the NBA.

Now, Sean takes five medicines to make sure his body does not reject the new kidney, but he can work hard and play with his three kids.

Some things have changed for Sean since his illness. "I don't like to watch guys in the NBA who don't work hard," he says. "They take the game for granted. I learned that you never know when the game can be taken away from you."

So Sean Elliott has a serious message for kids. "Be more aware of your health," he says. "Kids are not nearly as active as they should be. They have to get off the couch and away from the computer and video games and get more exercise. That's what is going to keep them healthy."

Sean Elliott has learned that the old saying is true: "Your health is the most important thing."