Thursday, October 1, 2026
Former professional basketball player Chris Herren made his first appearance at South Side High School since 2018 to speak candidly with students and the community about substance abuse and the choices that can lead to addiction.
The event, organized by the Rockville Centre Coalition for Youth, took place Feb. 9 and was open to the public. It focused on prevention, education, and how to support individuals struggling with drugs and alcohol.
Principal Patrick Walsh opened the program by thanking families and the community for attending and framed the evening’s conversation with Herren as one about “perseverance, decision-making and overcoming challenges.”
Herren took the stage immediately after, sharing that he has spent the past 15 years traveling the country to speak to young people in schools about his story. He said adults often miss a crucial question when discussing addiction with their children.
“We put way too much energy trying to prove the worst thing,” Herren said. “And we forget the first day.”
He reflected on his youth, describing growing up around his father’s alcoholism. Despite promising his mother he would not follow the same path, he said he broke that promise at age 14.
“Everything Dad did to you, I promise you,” he said, recalling his words to his mother. “I broke it at 14.”
Herren detailed how substance use escalated as his basketball career grew, beginning with exposure to cocaine in college and continuing into his professional career. He later became addicted to painkillers and heroin, experiencing overdoses, arrests, and strained family relationships.
After a near-fatal overdose, a nurse intervened, ensuring he remained in the hospital until a treatment center could accept him. Eventually, NBA Hall of Famer Chris Mullin and his wife, Liz, arranged for Herren to enter a treatment center in New York.
Herren shared that his sobriety date is Aug. 1, 2008, and that recovery has transformed his outlook on life.
“I thank God every day for those bad days,” he said. “Oddly, in recovery, bad days become blessings in life.”
During a Q&A, audience members asked about his personal journey and modern substance abuse issues. Herren emphasized the growing concern of marijuana use, noting that at the Herren Wellness Recovery Center, which he co-founded with his wife, Heather, four teenagers ages 15 to 19 are receiving treatment for marijuana-induced psychosis.
“All four teenagers are suffering right now from marijuana-induced psychosis,” he said. “Marijuana psychosis is the scariest thing I see today. I pray to God that no one I love ever goes through that process.”
He also described how he would respond if his youngest child used drugs or alcohol: with love, not punishment, and a single question.
“But why do you?” he said. “Why does my son have to change himself all of a sudden to hang out with kids he went to kindergarten with?”
Herren concluded by urging students to support friends who might be struggling and to take substance abuse seriously.
“Hopefully one of these little boys remembers this. Those little girls, hopefully,” he said.
