NBA Warrior Raises Awareness about Heart Condition

This is the man who crashes for every potential rebound, regardless if he is outweighed.

This is the man who spins and dances after most perfect passes he throws, regardless if the crowd of 20,000 is laughing at his moves while cheering.

This man walked in front of about 100 children Monday in Oakland and admitted he was nervous.

“I don’t joke about this,” Warriors center Ronny Turiaf said. “A heart condition affected me, it affected my family and it has affected my friends. I’m going to do everything I can to bring awareness to this important topic.”

Turiaf spent four years at Gonzaga, the last of which earned him WCC Player of the Year honors, then was drafted in the second round by the Lakers in 2005. When a heart screening weeks later turned up an enlarged aortic root, he underwent six hours of open-heart surgery at Stanford Medical Center.