Eric Montross dies at 52 after battle with cancer

[Cavsfansince84]

You’d think we would invest billions into cancer research. Like take money out of everyone’s paycheck. Maybe even trillions to cure it. It should be a main focus point for everyone.

I think at this point we've sunk trillions into it. I also think they prefer to make billions every year than actually have a cure.

[madskillz8]

As someone who works in cancer research this is a very tragic thing to read. These people suffer a lot and there are possibilities for treatment, but not for every type and every condition.

Why hasn’t it been cured?

I'm not in cancer research but it looks like cancer is a very complex evolutionary mechanism that makes the world keep turning - by preventing overpopulation... Based on the reported cases, cancer is a cause of every sixth death, but it is probably one in four or five. Imagine you "cured" cancer - its impact on population dynamics would be very dramatic - as the population is already growing exponentially. That's why cancer is very complex, and would likely "update" itself over time. Like a flu.

Spoiler:

Yet, it seems like the science found a loophole in the process: preventive screening and early diagnosis. Guys, please ask google about the guidelines and do the recommended screenings whenever possible.

A decade ago I lost two family members because of lack of access to preventive screening (and lack of information about that), and another one is completely healthy now as we were able to detect in its earlier phases due to screening.

[Roscoe Sheed]

very sad to hear about this.

Does anybody know what type of cancer he had?

[JimmyPlopper]

It makes me think about the core of this board which grew over time with RealGM. From teenage or early twenties in the early 2000s. Now as late thirties/early forties. It's only a matter of time before more amd more posters starting passing away from illness. Appreciate each and every day

[WillyJakkz]

Man I remember when this guy was a rookie... R.I.P..

[IamBBAnalysis]

You’d think we would invest billions into cancer research. Like take money out of everyone’s paycheck. Maybe even trillions to cure it. It should be a main focus point for everyone.

I think at this point we've sunk trillions into it. I also think they prefer to make billions every year than actually have a cure.

Exactly. I actually thought this was common knowledge.

[garrick]

As someone who works in cancer research this is a very tragic thing to read. These people suffer a lot and there are possibilities for treatment, but not for every type and every condition.

Why hasn’t it been cured?

Cancer is an extremely complex disease?

It takes time to research and test new cancer treatments but with early detection a lot of cancer is beatable or at least can be slowed to prolong one's life. A lot more lives could be saved if we made cancer screenings affordable for everyone because if you detect cancer when it's already spread to several organs it's pretty much too late to do anything.

Catch it in the initial stages and your odds of surviving are really high.

[jkvonny]

very sad to hear about this.

Does anybody know what type of cancer he had?

I've been seeing on articles. Some type of myeloma. It's like a blood cancer.

[Roy T]

It’s crazy to see guys I watched as a kid dying. I dont know if anyone remembers Ryan Minor but he’s on hospice.

Oh man, I almost burst into tears every time I hear about a player's death. I don't know why it means so much to me, but somehow I have a connection to people as a fan...

I remember very well when Eddie Griffin passed away. At the time, I wasn't feeling well myself and that pushed me even deeper into a hole. Thanks to Jesus and my faith, I found my way out of it...

[Mr B]

You’d think we would invest billions into cancer research. Like take money out of everyone’s paycheck. Maybe even trillions to cure it. It should be a main focus point for everyone.

Why would big pharma release the cure for a disease that eliminates their biggest cash cow?

[yellowknifer]

You’d think we would invest billions into cancer research. Like take money out of everyone’s paycheck. Maybe even trillions to cure it. It should be a main focus point for everyone.

Why would big pharma release the cure for a disease that eliminates their biggest cash cow?

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/11/goldman-asks-is-curing-patients-a-sustainable-business-model.html

One might argue they would go out of the way to cause more cases if they think like this in meetings that become publicly available.

[dhsilv2]

You’d think we would invest billions into cancer research. Like take money out of everyone’s paycheck. Maybe even trillions to cure it. It should be a main focus point for everyone.

I think it's like 7 billion spent last year alone...

[BlazersBroncos]

You’d think we would invest billions into cancer research. Like take money out of everyone’s paycheck. Maybe even trillions to cure it. It should be a main focus point for everyone.

Why would big pharma release the cure for a disease that eliminates their biggest cash cow?

That may be so, but this isnt some conspiracy. There isnt a chance in hell a cure could be found and big pharma keep it a secret. Too many hands in the cookie jar to create said cure and someone would speak out, something would leak, etc. Its like the idea the moon landing was faked - it would have taken something like 400,000+ people staying quiet to successfully fake it.

Its just a hell of a disease, constantly changing and with dozens of different variations.

[druggas]

Cancer is a billion dollar business. If money could find a cure, it would have done so by now.

[TwitterFingers]

The guy was a beast on North Carolina. RIP

[Blacksheep25]

Man I remember when this guy was a rookie... R.I.P..

I’m older than him by two years. When I saw the announcement, I very distinctly remembered being with a buddy of mine in a bar his last year of college drinking and watching the game.

My buddy was a really good point guard, like small D-1 level. He was 6’2, decent size for that era PG, and had great court vision. Type that would constantly hit you with a pass when you weren’t prepared when you first started playing with him. Yet he had to be worst talent evaluator ever. Was convinced Montross was basically going to be Hakeem or something. I recall saying,”really, I don’t see it?” He was adamant. Best player in the game.

Made me go back and look through that draft. What a horrible draft. Glenn Robinson, Kidd the only HOF level player, and then just garbage. I was going to call and bust his balls over it as I still have his number, but that draft sucked so hard I couldn’t mock him.

[Prince187]

Spoiler:

Damn it seems like every day I’m reading about a celeb dying way younger than they should. It wasn’t like this before. I’m not saying it’s the you know what but there’s definitely something going on with our health.

Uhh. Please don't derail threads with complete nonsense.

[PaulKellerman]

I lost my mother to cancer when I was 8 years old. I'd give up everything I have just to see her again. That's why I always get sad when I read news like that.

I remember Montross when he was a rookie, I started following the NBA in roughly the same year and I collected cards back then, I have his card as well.

My condolences to the family... may God welcome him into Heaven with open arms. RIP.

That's heartbreaking, man. Mothers are God's greatest gift

[GSWFan1994]

I lost my mother to cancer when I was 8 years old. I'd give up everything I have just to see her again. That's why I always get sad when I read news like that.

I remember Montross when he was a rookie, I started following the NBA in roughly the same year and I collected cards back then, I have his card as well.

My condolences to the family... may God welcome him into Heaven with open arms. RIP.

That's heartbreaking, man. Mothers are God's greatest gift

Yes, Paul... definitely. And I kid you not, I also have a sister I lost when I was 12 (she was 14), she had cerebral palsy.

I still think about both of them every day. I wonder how different my life would be if they could have lived longer, and had a healthier life.

Sometimes memories are the only thing we can hang on to... that's no problem though, I'm quite sure I'll see them again in a better place.

Cheers, my friend.

[og15]

I don't even know why I remember Montross much, maybe from a late 90's video game, but very sad.

You’d think we would invest billions into cancer research. Like take money out of everyone’s paycheck. Maybe even trillions to cure it. It should be a main focus point for everyone.

I think at this point we've sunk trillions into it. I also think they prefer to make billions every year than actually have a cure.

While I'm not here to suggest all pharmaceutical companies are looking out for the best interest of all people, I also realize that a lot of people would be very dissapointed at the reality if they actually went into cancer research.

A couple of cancers have 90-100% 5 year survival rates at early stages, eg: testicular, breast, prostate, skin, but that's also heavily based on early detection, but those are ones that are also more easily detectable and/or are screened for.

A "cure for cancer" as a singular event is not a thing because, first, there's technically no true way to "cure" it in terms of, never coming back, and secondly because treatment wise, there are so many different cancers (hundreds) and the mechanisms are not the same, and for example, even in the same tumor, the cells differ and different treatment is needed. Killing only the out of control cells while not killing normal cells or deteriorating the body is not just some easy task.

Think of how we can't cure the flu which ravages everyone every year, so why do we think we can just cure cancer if we just put enough money into it? It is the belief many of us have ingrained in modern life that we can just pour money and resources and figure anything out, but it's just not that simple. There's a lot we can't cure actually, and a lot we can't even treat as well as we would like.

There are also the cancers which you rarely detect until they are in later stages, eg: pancreatic, and by the time a person has symptoms to know something is up, they are in later stages. It's also not practical to just be testing people for every possible thing, constantly, just from a reality and also from a cost/benefit standpoint. (more people do need to go for regular checkups though)

Cancer is a billion dollar business. If money could find a cure, it would have done so by now.

If cure was just a money issue, the super rich would never be affected. Steve Jobs died in his mid 50's from pancreatic cancer for example.

Usually if something affects the rich and famous, they will pour money into the cures and treatments, cancer is one of those things that doesn't discriminate. It can disproportionately affect less rich people in outcomes, as well as susceptibility from environmental factors, but it affects everyone, it's not just about money.

While I'm not in the field (almost did it), the things people say about cancer research and therefore the researchers themselves is quite demeaning to those working hard in this field. We have drastically increased cancer survival rates, and there are tons of people working to find "cures" or at least better treatments, and we keep improving.