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NBA champion Scot Pollard received a heart transplant on Friday, his wife shared on social media.
Pollard, who won the 2007-08 тιтle as a member of the Celtics, needed a transplant because of damage to his heart from a virus he caught in 2021. The virus likely triggered a genetic condition he has known about since it killed his father at 54, when Scot was 16.
Now 49, Pollard underwent successful surgery after making his search for a donor public last month.
‘Scot has a new heart!,’ his wife Dawn Pollard posted on X.
‘Surgery went well and I´ve been told the heart is big, powerful and is a perfect fit! Now on to the crucial part of recovery. Thank you to everyone for the continued prayers and support, but most of all, deepest thanks to the donor, our hero.’
Scot Pollard and his wife, Dawn, share an intimate moment before his heart transplant
Dawn shaved her husband’s head and beard before he had successful surgery on Friday
Pollard played one season with the Celtics in 2007-08, and won the NBA championship
Prior to the procedure, Dawn shared intimate pH๏τos of her shaving her husband’s head and beard before the transplant.
She asked her followers to pray for her 6-foot-11, 260-pound spouse.
‘Scot wanted me to let everyone know that the pre-heart transplant hair is gone, it’s go time! Please keep the prayers coming for Scot, the surgeons, for the donor and his family who lost their loved one. This donor gave the most amazing gift of life and we are forever grateful.’
Pollard´s size complicated efforts to find a donor with a heart big enough to fit his body.
After going public with his condition last month, he began the process of listing himself at transplant centers. He was admitted to intensive care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Feb. 7.
Pollard is seen playing with the Indiana Pacers in 2005 in a loss to the Denver Nuggets
‘I´m staying here until I get a heart,’ he said in a text message to The ᴀssociated Press from his Nashville, Tennessee, hospital room. ‘My heart got weaker. [Doctors] agree this is my best sH๏τ at getting a heart quicker.’
A 1997 first-round draft pick after helping Kansas reach the NCAA Sweet 16 in four straight seasons, Pollard was a useful big man off the bench for much of an NBA career that stretched over 11 years and five teams. H
He played 55 seconds in the Cleveland Cavaliers´ trip to the NBA Finals in 2007, and won it all the following year with the Celtics despite a season-ending ankle injury in February.
Pollard retired after that season, then dabbled in broadcasting and acting. He was a contestant on the 32nd season of ‘Survivor,’ where he was voted out on Day 27 with eight castaways remaining.
