Hilliard Files Lawsuit Against NBA For The Death Of Basketball Player Zeke Upshaw

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, May 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Bob Hilliard filed a lawsuit on behalf of Jewel Upshaw, the mother of Zeke Upshaw, a 26-year-old professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons Grand Rapids Drive NBA G League team. 

On March 24, 2018, during the final minutes of the last game of the team's regular season, Zeke suddenly, and without obvious reason, collapsed to the floor, unconscious and in full cardiac arrest. Inexplicably, and recorded on video, for over 5 minutes not a single life-saving measure was taken to address Zeke's fatal condition. He was kept on life support for two days and then died.

The lawsuit, filed by Bob Hilliard and his co-counsel Ben Crump, brings claims of negligence and gross negligence for the wrongful death of Zeke Upshaw against the National Basketball Association, the Detroit Pistons Basketball Company and SSJ Group, owners of the Grand Rapids Drive and the Deltaplex Arena where the game was held.

Hilliard states, "When the otherwise healthy heart of a professional NBA athlete suddenly stops during a game there is absolutely no reason, in 2018, that his heart cannot be immediately restarted. No attempts were made to save Zeke Upshaw's life. No CPR, no defibrillation, nothing. This is the tragedy of this case, Zeke should be alive today, the human consequences are difficult to quantify.

"Changes must come to the NBA and we are bringing the lawsuit to cause those changes. No other young man should have to die on a basketball court again."

A press release will be held today, Wednesday, May 30, 2018 at 11 am at The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York at 500 Pearl Street, New York, New York 10007, to announce the filing of this lawsuit.

Case: 1:18-cv-04740 Upshaw v. National Basketball Association, Inc. et al

ABOUT HMG http://www.hmglawfirm.com/

Hilliard Martinez Gonzales LLP (HMG) specializes in mass torts, personal injury, product liability, commercial and business litigation, and wrongful death. Bob Hilliard led the litigation against Major League Baseball resulting in a league-wide policy change to extend protective netting at all MLB ballparks. For over two decades, the firm has been appointed by judges in Texas and around the country to lead class actions, including the single largest litigation in US history, GM's ignition switch defect litigation. Bob Hilliard has tried over 100 jury trials and obtained the largest verdict in the country in 2012 and the #1 verdict in Texas.

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SOURCE Hilliard Martinez Gonzales LLP