Onetime NBA Star Dead at 43

Michael Sweetney, the Georgetown big man the New York Knicks took ninth overall in the 2003 NBA Draft, died Wednesday, Sept. 16, at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey. He was 43. No cause of death has been announced.

His wife, India Sweetney, shared the news Thursday, Sept. 17, in a Facebook post. The Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Georgetown all acknowledged his death with posts on social media the same day.

"With the heaviest hearts, we are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our beloved Michael," India wrote. "To know Mike Sweetney was to love him. No one loved him more and he loved no one more than his family. His children were the light of his life, and he lived every day to give them the best life possible. He's been my best friend for 30 years and my husband for almost 20. I'm not sure what we or I will do without him."

Three Teams Posted Tributes Within Hours

"The Knicks are saddened to hear about the passing of Michael Sweetney," the team wrote in its post. "Michael was an incredible person who will be missed by many. Our thoughts are with his family."

The league's history account marked the date with a short note of its own: "The NBA mourns the passing of Michael Sweetney (1982-2026). The No. 9 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Michael played 4 NBA seasons with the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls. We extend our deepest condolences to the Sweetney family."

He Took a New Head Coaching Job in August

Sweetney had been hired in August 2026 as head boys basketball coach at Golda Och Academy in West Orange, New Jersey, weeks before his death.

Before that he spent four years as an assistant coach with the men's team at Yeshiva University, a Division III school in New York, from 2019 to 2023. He also served as head coach of the girls' varsity team at the Ramaz School in New York, work he described as a chance to change lives.

Yeshiva's Head Coach Called Him Family

Elliot Steinmetz, the Yeshiva men's head coach, wrote on X that he had lost a close friend. "The world lost a giant today," he said. "Mike Sweetney wasn't just a friend. He was family. When you needed him, he was there. Always. You didn't even have to ask."

Steinmetz said the first message he received after Oct. 7, 2023, was from Sweetney, checking whether he was safe because he knew Steinmetz was in Israel. A couple of years later, when Iran attacked Israel with ballistic missiles, the first message again came from Sweetney, asking about Steinmetz's son Noah. When the program ran charity events for troubled teens, Sweetney showed up.

"He was there for our student-athletes at Yeshiva University day in and day out, regardless of his other responsibilities and jobs," Steinmetz wrote. "His dedication to mental health awareness and his willingness to share his story for the benefit of others was the work of a selfless human being with a huge heart."

Sweetney first traveled to Israel in 2019, at Tamir Goodman's invitation, to help with a basketball camp Goodman had started, and went back the following year. Goodman posted that the two shared a bond that began in high school and lasted a lifetime.

Ninth in Points at Georgetown, Fifth in Rebounds

Sweetney was born Oct. 25, 1982, in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Maryland, where he starred at Oxon Hill High School and was named the Washington Post's All-Met Basketball Player of the Year.

He played three seasons for the Hoyas, from 2000 to 2003, averaging 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks a game while shooting 54.4% from the field. He posted a double-double average in each of his last two college seasons: 19 points and 10 rebounds in 2001-02, then 22.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in 2002-03.

That final season made him the only player in the country ranked in the top 20 nationally in both scoring and rebounding. He was an honorable mention All-American from the Associated Press, a second-team NABC All-American, a third-team pick for The Sporting News and one of 20 finalists for the Naismith College Player of the Year award. He made First Team All-Big East as a sophomore and again as a junior.

He left Georgetown with 1,750 points and 887 rebounds. He still ranks fifth in program history in career rebounds, seventh in career blocks with 180, and ninth in career points.

Drafted Into the Class of LeBron, Carmelo, Wade and Bosh

The Knicks used the ninth pick of the 2003 draft on the 6-foot-8 forward and center, in a class that also produced LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. New York wanted rebounding and interior scoring.

He averaged 4.3 points and 3.7 rebounds as a rookie, then 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in his second season, appearing in 77 games with 28 starts. In October 2005 the Knicks traded him to the Bulls along with Tim Thomas and Jermaine Jackson in the deal that brought Eddy Curry and Antonio Davis to New York.

Two seasons in Chicago followed. His last NBA game came in Game 2 of the 2007 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Detroit Pistons. Across four seasons he played 233 regular season games with 73 starts, averaging 6.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 15.5 minutes.

Twenty Points in Indianapolis as the Streak Ended

On April 10, 2005, the Knicks had lost nine in a row when they played the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis. Sweetney finished with 20 points and nine rebounds in a 113-112 overtime win that ended the streak.

China, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and the BIG3

Leaving the NBA did not end his playing career. Sweetney kept going for another decade, suiting up for the Shaanxi Kylins in China and the Erie BayHawks, and for teams across Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Uruguay. He also played in the BIG3 and retired in 2017.

He got two training camp looks from the Boston Celtics, in 2009 and 2011, and neither turned into a regular season return. Earlier, in 2001, he won gold with the United States at the FIBA U21 World Championship.

In 2017, He Explained What Happened in New York

Sweetney's father, Samuel, died of a heart attack at 52, shortly before the start of his first Knicks training camp. He reported to camp two days after the funeral.

"I went from being a star at Georgetown and having my father at every game, to losing him and not even playing in the NBA. I knew I wasn't going to be given a chance as a rookie because my coach told me, 'Hey, I'm not going to play you,'" he told HoopsHype in 2017. "I was in New York, battling this while the media was writing articles about me, and I felt like I had nowhere to go. I just kept digging myself into a deeper hole of depression."

Weight was the thing reporters wrote about at the time, and Sweetney said later that the two were connected. "Food was my drug," he said in 2016. "It gave me comfort. You eat a lot, and next thing you know, you fall asleep." He also said the scrutiny in the biggest media market in the country broke him. In the HoopsHype interview, he said he had attempted suicide during his time with the Knicks.

"I went from a top-10 pick to being out of the league in four years," he told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post in June 2026, adding that he wished he had told someone he needed help.

What He Told Kids in School Gyms

By the end of his playing days he had turned the story into a job. "I speak at schools and I mainly work with kids who have battled depression or are in suicide prevention," he told HoopsHype. "I'm actually in the process of starting my own foundation."

His pitch to those students used his own search results. "I tell them, 'Google my name. All you're going to see is a bunch of fat jokes and bad stuff about me. You won't find anything positive,'" he said. A lot of the kids he met had been bullied online, so he would show them the articles written about him and tell them things would be fine. His advice was blunt: "At the first sign of depression, get help. Go talk to someone. Don't hold it in."

He credited the people around him with getting him through it. "I knew I had to pull myself out of that and get myself together," he said. "It took some time, but my family and friends had my back and helped me get through those really tough times."

If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day by call or text at 988. The SAMHSA National Helpline is 1-800-662-4357.

India Sweetney thanked their community for what she called an overwhelming amount of support and asked for privacy while the family mourns. She wrote that her husband was "the best son, brother, family member, friend, father and husband ANYONE could ask for."