"I would buy everything he had" - Former NBA No. 3 pick recalls spending $5,000 a day on drugs

Chris Washburn came into the league as a highly touted 6’11” center out of North Carolina, selected as the third overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors.

Just three years later, however, Washburn would exit the Association after a lifetime ban for failing his third drug test since entering the league.

Washburn’s downfall didn’t come overnight, but rather the downward spiral began in high school when he was first introduced to drugs. His addiction began escalating when he tried crack cocaine in college and later took over his life when he signed a lucrative $3 million contract with the Warriors.

Alongside his knee and kidney issues, Washburn regularly missed Golden State practices and got high in the projects before games, which led to an ineffective stint with the team that traded him to the Atlanta Hawks in the 1987-88 season. And the addiction only got worse.

Just before the 1988-89 season took place, Washburn suffered a third substance-abuse relapse and was suspended without pay, ultimately finishing his NBA career with just 72 games played and a meager 3.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

Basketball was the last thing on the center’s mind, as he later revealed that drugs and the place where they were sold were the only things on his mind.

“I would go home, and half an hour later I was back out there again,” Washburn said. “It just got monotonous. I would end up staying down there three or four days until I was out of money or just physically drained and I needed to go home and get some sleep.”

Washburn disclosed he spent most of his $60,000 monthly salary on drugs, which sometimes climbed up to $5,000 per day and quickly emptied his pockets entirely.

“The dope dealer would come; he wouldn’t have to leave,” Washburn said. “I would buy everything he had and then send him back for some more. So they would come sit in the room with me. I’m thinking they are my friends. But by the time he leaves, he’s leaving with the dope and the money, and I’m sitting there broke, wondering where I’m going to get some more money from.”

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By that point, Washburn was well aware of his addiction and how it took over his life. But he was too far gone and couldn’t stop.

So, to get a new fix, he played pickup games on playgrounds for drugs in his street clothes.

“It was real funny from just going out to play basketball for fun to go out when I’m getting paid to playing for drugs. That was a real, real big drop.”

After suffering a complete financial ruin when he lost $1 million of his earnings to addiction, it wouldn’t take long for Washburn to enter rehab, as much as 14 times, failing every single one. He later served time in prison for drug-related offenses and struggled with homelessness for years.

Throughout his darkest days, Chris kept asking himself one specific question that kept him up at night.

“How good could I have been if I had been a normal-type person?” he added. “If I had of stayed in school longer, you know, been more responsible, especially on the court. If I made all the strides that I made doing some type of drugs, smoking weed or drinking beer, and I still made No. 3 in the draft, if I wouldn’t have done anything, I could have been No. 1 maybe. At least I still would have been in the NBA right now.”

At 36, however, Washburn said that enough is enough and turned over a new leaf when he got sober and became a public speaker for drug addiction. He also has his own transportation service in North Carolina.

As a result of his addiction, Washburn stands as one of the greatest disappointments in NBA history.

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