‘Figure out your why,’ NBA basketball player tells Streator, Woodland students about the choices they make

The first 5 minutes in, you noticed how quiet the gym got and that just showed how impactful it was.

—  Cooper Spears, Streator High School senior

Former NBA basketball player Chris Herren asked Streator and Woodland students in a hushed gymnasium Wednesday to do themselves a favor.

“Figure out your why,” Herren said. “Figure out why you make the choices you do. ... Why you take the risks you do.”

Herren, who played professional basketball for the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics from 1999 to 2001, spoke to students from both high schools about his life and career, and how it was affected by his prior drug abuse.

He also spoke to both students and parents Wednesday night at the high school’s auditorium.

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Former NBA player and motivational speaker Chris Herren talks to Woodland and Streator high school students Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at Streator High School. Herren battled substance abuse during his time as a college and professional basketball player. (Scott Anderson)

He emphasized to students the effect his decisions made on his family, as well as the effect his family members had on his life. He challenged students when they make decisions to think of themselves through the eyes of other family members, such as their little brothers and sisters, who may see them as role models.

He talked about how his drug abuse started with partying in high school with beer and marijuana, but grew to trying cocaine in college and then became a dependence on oxycodone and heroin throughout his career. He shared a story about crashing into a utility pole after overdosing on heroin and having a paramedic tell him he was dead for about 30 seconds.

He said he hated beer as a child, because he saw the affect alcoholism had on his father and how it hurt his mother, yet he still made the decision to party with friends in high school “out in the woods.”

When he was the high school student sitting in a gymnasium listening to speakers talk about drug abuse, he said he joked about it then, but he warned students not to be callous in their seats now.

“The scariest thing is nobody knows who has it yet,” Herren said of drug addiction. “You have no clue.”

Streator High School senior Cooper Spears said the presentation gave him goosebumps at times.

“The first 5 minutes in, you noticed how quiet the gym got and that just showed how impactful it was,” Spears said. “He was very upfront with you. He wasn’t afraid to come out and talk about his ups and downs, and make you realize what he went through, and then realize that you don’t know what everyone else is going through.”

After Wednesday’s presentation, Streator High School sophomore Devin Thompson said he left with a better understanding of how drug abuse affects more than just the abuser.

“It harms more people than you think,” he said. “It’s a lot more than just you. It makes it tougher on everyone you are around.”

Liliana Torres, a senior at Woodland High School, said students should look out for each other.

“You need to talk to people and figure out how they really feel,” Torres said, expressing her takeaway from the presentation.

Herren said if he were to discover any of his children, especially his teenager, were doing drugs, he would want to ask them why. He said he wishes his mother would have asked him why he was drinking and smoking after the experiences his family had been through with his father’s alcoholism.

He told students there’s emphasis put on the end of a drug abuser’s story, but not enough on the beginning, noting most students in the gymnasium are at the beginning of their stories wherever they lead.

“This is no longer my story,” he concluded. “I want you to think about your story and the kid you are being.”

The program was sponsored by the SHS Operation Snowball, the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health, Live Well Streator and community sponsors.

Celebrate Recovery & The Landing, Live Well Streator, North Central Behavioral Health Systems, OSF HealthCare Behavioral & Mental Health, Streator Recovery Home, The Perfectly Flawed Foundation, C5-Rural and Maitri Path to Wellness each set up informational booths Wednesday night.