I became a basketball fan in 2016. There are four pivotal events from the beginning of that year which all had a major impact on how I developed an understanding of what basketball entailed: Kobe Bryant playing his final game, LeBron James leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA championship, the Villanova Wildcats winning the NCAA championship on a buzzer beater by Kris Jenkins … and the death of Bryce Dejean-Jones.

I had a conversation last year with Lev Francesca who is working on a book about grief in basketball and it was the first time that I was ever made to contemplate the origin of my fascinations. I realised that those occasions from my first few months of watching basketball would come to define my understanding of it: much in the same way that legacies can be defined by what is left behind or accomplished, legacies can be defined by what does not happen or should have happened instead.

Dejean-Jones made a mistake. He went undrafted after his collegiate career and spent most of the first year of his professional career in the NBA Development League. His efforts were rewarded when he was called up midseason to the New Orleans Pelicans on a 10-day contract which turned into a second 10-day contract which turned into a multi-year contract. Dejean-Jones scored 14 points in the first start of his career and then scored a career-best 17 points and 9 rebounds a few days later. He had secured a place where he belonged and his life was set.

Dejean-Jones was known for his intensity which had the potential to propel him into a rage. He directed it at his teammates who he thought were not playing their best. His coaches knew about his tendencies and often had to calm him down from going over the top. At the end of the season, Dejean-Jones had no one there to quell his rage. He was in Dallas visiting his girlfriend for their daughter’s first birthday when he stormed out after an argument. Finding that the unfamiliar environment did nothing to quell his frustration, Dejean-Jones made the decision to storm back in. He forced open the main door of an apartment, calling out his girlfriend’s name. He reached the entrance of the bedroom and began to kick open the door but was not met by his girlfriend or his daughter. Dejean-Jones had entered the wrong apartment. The resident who had been awoken to the sound of someone breaking into his apartment fired two bullets through the door, hitting Dejean-Jones as he fled wounded into the hallway. Dejean-Jones was dead by the time police arrived.

There was to be no realisation of what Dejean-Jones would accomplish in his NBA career. The decisions he made that night were always going to lead to a negative repercussion but there was one singular error that ultimately cost him his entire life: he went to the wrong apartment.

It was a pattern that I would begin to notice on many occasions when researching basketball players who had their careers conclude prematurely. Of course, it is remarkably simplistic to encapsulate the experiences of an entire life into one action but it is true. I developed an interest in finding stories of players who had their careers or lives end in tragedy and realised all of them had one singular moment that could be attributed with altering destiny.

Rodney Johns, Bob Presley, James Felton, Fessor Leonard, Robert Elmore and Leonard Poole all could have been basketball stars with lengthy, decorated careers but all of them finished in tragedy. Johns was drafted by his hometown Phoenix Suns after leading Grand Canyon to an NAIA championship. Presley at California was the highest-rated center in college basketball after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Leonard was a top national prospect as a high school junior. Leonard had overcome his NBA disappointment to enjoy a successful career in Europe. Elmore was drafted by the New Jersey Nets and was in his first professional season overseas. Poole was a freshman at Murray State who was expected to be a starter as a sophomore.

Instead, the ascertainment of their potential would never be realised. Johns drove his car at high speed into a wall near his childhood home, killing himself and his sister. Presley had a mental breakdown and drowned himself after failing to make an NBA team. Felton was dismissed from four colleges and died after an alcohol addiction. Leonard lit fires in his room and died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Elmore died of a heroin overdose. Poole drowned in a river near his hometown without ever appearing for the Murray State varsity team. All died without making an appearance in an NBA game and all way before their time; Johns was the oldest at 31 and Poole the youngest at 18.

All of their stories are united in tragedy but also united in one singular moment that offset the trajectory of their lives. Johns had a disastrous preseason performance with the Suns where he recorded more turnovers than points and was waived before the start of the season. Presley was suspended by California because he refused to cut his afro in an incident that sparked racial tension on his team. Felton was dunked on by by an unknown-Tracy McGrady and never recovered from the embarrassment. Leonard was arrested after he tried to help an elderly woman in distress but instead panicked her. Elmore was released by the Nets in preseason and had to start his career overseas. Poole simply went swimming when he did not know how to swim.

I think you can genuinely attribute a moment to any basketball tragedy. Ben Simmons had his when he passed on an open lay-up against a diminutive Trae Young and his entire perception was irreparably altered. Zion Williamson had his shoe blow open at Duke and has since struggled with injury concerns for his entire career. Caleb Swanigan sat out the NBA Bubble in 2020 despite having a contract with the Portland Trail Blazers and never played a game again. Ja Morant flashed a gun while live-streaming. There is always the moment.

Life is a series of decisions that are made from the moment we first acquire consciousness to when we eventually lose it. Some decisions are bigger than others; sometimes the one decision has the power to change everything else. The fascinating thing is never knowing when the moment will come nor what will it bring afterwards. The decision can be going to the wrong apartment, failing to meet expectations, facing prejudice, being cut from a team, not knowing how to do something, passing on a shot, deciding to sit out, or losing any sense of control. For any tragedy, there is a singular moment which led to that person being there. How remarkable it can all be.