Former NBA Player and ‘Survivor’ Contestant Waits in Hospital for Heart Transplant

Former NBA player and Survivor contestant Scot Pollard has been admitted to a Tennessee hospital as he awaits a heart transplant. The former Sacramento Kings center, who also won a championship ring with the 2008 Boston Celtics, was admitted to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center ICU on Tuesday after he was diagnosed with a genetic heart condition, which may have been triggered by a virus he contracted in 2021.

“I’m staying here until I get a heart,” Pollard, 48, told the Associated Press in a text message Wednesday night. “My heart got weaker. (Doctors) agree this is my best shot at getting a heart quicker.”

Pollard told the outlet that his health has long been a concern. The 11-year NBA veteran is currently suffering from a genetic condition, which half of his siblings also suffer from. The condition causes Pollard’s heart to beat an extra 10,000 times a day. His father also suffered from the same genetic condition and passed away at the age of 54 when the basketball star was just 16. Pollard said his father’s death was “an immediate wake-up call.”

“You don’t see a lot of old (7-) footers walking around. So I’ve known that my whole life, just because I had that seared into my brain as a 16-year-old, that — yeah, being tall is great, but I’m not going to see 80,” he said in a phone call.

Pollard said he began getting sick three years ago, explaining that “it feels like I’m walking uphill all the time.” Pollard tried medication, and has had three ablations, a procedure in which doctors attempt to break up the signals causing the irregular heartbeats. About a year ago, he had a pacemaker implanted. Now, Pollard said, doctors “all agree that more ablations isn’t going to fix this, more medication isn’t going to fix that. We need a transplant.” But with Pollard standing 6-foot-11-inches tall and weighing 260 pounds, finding a donor heart for him is difficult. However, Pollard said that while his doctors “can’t predict… they are confident I’ll get a heart in weeks not months.”

Pollard arrived at Vanderbilt, which performed more heart transplants last year than any other hospital in the country, on Sunday and was admitted to the ICU Tuesday. He will likely remain in the hospital until he receives a heart transplant.

Pollard was an NBA star who was a first-round draft pick out of Kansas in 1997. He enjoyed an NBA career that spanned 11 years and five teams. He retired in 2008 after one year with the Boston Celtics. Several years later, he went on to compete on Survivor: Kaôh Rōng – Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, the 32nd season of the competition series. He was voted out of the competition on Day 27 with eight castaways remaining.