CALABASAS : Coach Warns Students About Perils of Drug Use

Drugs and alcohol subtly command lives, San Antonio Spurs Coach John Lucas told a group of students Wednesday, getting his message across with humor, a smooth routine and the help of a fifth-grader.

“I didn’t set out to be a drug addict,” Lucas said. “I didn’t set out to be an alcoholic. I made some wrong choices.”

Lucas, who had played for six NBA teams in 14 years, had been released by the Houston Rockets in 1986 because of cocaine use. But his career rebounded after he launched his own drug addiction treatment programs and started the Miami Tropics, a team of at-risk basketball players. He took over as coach of the Spurs in January.

Lucas’ appearance at Viewpoint College Preparatory in Calabasas was at the request of Matthew Lewis, a friend who is a fifth-grader at the school. David Lewis, Matthew’s father and a member of the school’s board of trustees, helped Lucas enter an addiction treatment program. Lewis is a psychiatrist who works as a consultant to the NBA on drug and alcohol abuse and who started the league’s official dependency program in Van Nuys.