Spurs' Sean Elliott Returns To NBA After Kidney Transplant

Jet, April 3, 2000

After spending the past few months recovering from kidney transplant surgery in August, San Antonio Spurs forward Sean Elliott recently made his triumphant return to the court in the Spurs' 94-79 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

The crowd at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX, roared and gave a standing ovation when the scoreboard flashed "He's Baaaacckk!" as Elliott was announced as part of the starting lineup. Playing 12 minutes in the game, Elliott, 1 for 3 from the field, elicited more cheers from the crowd with a right-handed dunk five minutes into the third period.

At one point in the game, the 6-foot-8 forward was knocked to the floor after he collided with Hawks center Dikembe Mutombo on a drive to the basket. Unharmed, Elliott jumped up and kept playing. As the clock ticked away at the end of the game, the crowd shouted, "We want Sean! We want Sean!"

Perhaps rooting the loudest for the 32-year-old Elliott were 46 of his family members and close friends, including his mother, Odiemae Elliott, and brother, Noel, 33, who donated the kidney that saved Elliott's life. Noel said the night was important to him because he wanted to see his brother achieve his goal of returning to basketball.

When it was over, Elliott had only scored 2 points, one rebound and one assist. But more importantly, he quite possibly made sports history as the first professional athlete to make a comeback after an organ transplant.

"The biggest things that were in my way were my nerves," Elliott said afar the game. "During the national anthem I was trying to tell myself over and over--`Don't embarrass yourself.'"

In 1993, Elliott was diagnosed with a disease that prevents the kidneys from filtering toxins in the blood.

On July 21, 1999, Elliott announced he would need a kidney transplant. On Aug. 16, his brother Noel donated one of his kidneys to Elliott in a 3 1/2-hour transplant surgery at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital in Dallas.