Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball met with the family of a South Dakota man whose knee cartilage he received in a 2023 transplant prior to Chicago’s Wednesday game against the Miami Heat. The moment came after Ball reached out to express interest in meeting the family of organ donor Alex Reinhardt, a Dakota Dunes, S.D. man who died by suicide in February 2023 at the age of 20.
After a series of knee injuries left him without any meniscus left, Ball’s NBA career was in jeopardy as a bone allograft and meniscus transplant was likely his only chance to continue playing basketball. It was then when Reinhardt came into play. A former athlete who played football and wrestled in high school, Reinhardt became an organ donor after taking his own life two years ago, and his knee cartilage wound up being a match for Ball.
“It changed my life,” Ball said.
Per KTIV, the Bulls paid tribute to Reinhardt during Wednesday’s game, giving the family the opportunity to speak on the importance of both suicide awareness and organ donation.
“It’s been extremely emotional,” Angie Reinhardt, Alex’s mother, said in a story by the Associated Press. “So much happiness comes with it, too. All of the people that are donor recipients of Alex’s, we’re just blessed. We’ve had mothers from some people that have said things. Now we get to meet Lonzo. It’s just a blessing to be able to watch people do well with their knees or anything because of Alex. Of course, we wish he was here.”
The Bulls would go on to win Wednesday’s game against Miami, 119-111.
