James Donaldson says setbacks prepared him for city council race
He still towers over most people, and his broad smile is back. However, former Seattle Sonic James Donaldson wants you to know he’s changed a lot since his playing days.
“Basketball has taken me around the world,” the longtime Seattle resident said. “I want to finish up right here.”
It’s been a heck of a journey for the 61-year-old. He was drafted out of Washington State University to the Sonics where he played for a few years before embarking on a 14-year NBA career. He eventually settled for good in Magnolia, and ran a chain of physical therapy centers.
But the bottom dropped out in 2015.
“Out of nowhere,” he said, during a conversation on the Seattle waterfront.
He was 57 years old at the time, a vegetarian and jogger, who never smoked, drank or did drugs.
“One day, I’m not feeling so good,” Donaldson recalled. “I remember seeing the reception desk (at Swedish First Hill) as I walked in, and then everything went black.”
Donaldson had emergency heart surgery, an “aortic dissection” as he calls it. He was in a medically induced coma, and friends thought he wouldn’t make it out. When he did, despite what he calls a good health care plan for NBA retired players, there was still $200,000 to $300,000 of out of pocket expenses.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/former-seattle-sonic-says-setbacks-prepared-him-for-city-council-race/ar-AACzvWK
