Unguarded - The Story of Chris Herren

I'm a fan of ESPN documentaries, and the one I watched last night was the most powerful one I've seen.  Unguarded - The Story of Chris Herren tells the story of a star athlete who had the world in his hands, lost it all due to drug use, and then fought his way back from addiction.   

The majority of the story is told by Herren, and his brutally honest first person point of view is what makes the documentary.  Herren goes into vivid detail about his drug use.  The subject matter of some of Herren's stories include: scoring drugs minutes before the tip off of an NBA game, and riding a 10 speed bicycle 12 miles on a highway without shoulders to get drugs.   

Herren openly admits that he blew every dollar he ever made from professional basketball on drugs.  He overdosed on more than one occasion.  Honestly, Chris Herren is lucky to even be alive today.   

However, while Herren's story is tragic in a lot of ways, it ends on a positive note.  Herren states while in rehab washing dishes 14 hours a day with nothing to do but think about his life that he eventually found his soul.  He has recently celebrated his 3rd year of sobriety, and he now does a lot of public speaking concerning his story and drug awareness.  Herren is also still very involved with basketball to this day. He runs a skills and conditioning program-Hoop Dreams-where Herren not only coaches, but mentors young basketball players as well.  It seems that after years of fighting inner demons, Herren is now finally at peace with himself.        

This story hits me very close to home.  I live in area where heroin and prescription drug abuse are a huge problem, and I know a lot of individuals and families who are fighting the same battle that Herren did for so many years.  While Unguarded is a very gruesome tale at times, ultimately it leaves one with an impression of hope.