GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The autopsy report for Zeke Upshaw indicates that the now-deceased Grand Rapids Drive basketball player's actions are the reason he wasn't provided CPR immediately after he collapsed during a game.
Upshaw, 26, died two days after the March 24 collapse in the final seconds of a game at the DeltaPlex Arena in Walker. His family Wednesday filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NBA, the DeltaPlex, Drive owner SSJ Group and the Detroit Pistons Basketball Company.
The lawsuit argues the defendants failed Upshaw by not initiating lifesaving efforts including defibrillation and CPR immediately after his collapse. Videos of the incident show him lying face down on the court for at least three minutes as staff tending to him work to determine what to do. Paramedics eventually placed him on a stretcher and removed him from the facility. CPR was initiated on the way to the hospital, sources told 24 Hour News 8 the night of the incident.
Upshaw's autopsy report from Kent County Medical Examiner Stephen Cohle gives some indication as to why those efforts weren't made immediately.
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