Lewis’ Condition May End His Career : Heart disease: Celtics’ top scorer found to have same problem that cost Gathers his life.

Reggie Lewis, who has emerged as the Boston Celtics’ rising star, was found Monday to have a serious heart disease that is expected to end his career.

Arnold Scheller, Boston’s team physician, said Lewis, 27, apparently suffers from the same ailment that killed Hank Gathers, the Loyola Marymount player who collapsed during a game March 4, 1990, and died 90 minutes later. Gathers died of cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disorder of unknown origin that damaged both lower heart chambers.

Lewis, who became one of the NBA’s biggest surprises after playing in obscurity in high school and college, collapsed Thursday, midway through the first quarter of Boston’s playoff opener against the Charlotte Hornets.

He left the game briefly, then played twice more before sitting out while suffering from dizziness. Celtic officials said they allowed Lewis to continue because they believed he suffered a blow to the head.

“We were lucky,” Dave Gavitt, the Celtics’ president, told the Baltimore Sun. “We were all lucky. Reggie was lucky primarily.”

Scheller said Lewis suffered a ventricular tachycardia--a fast heart beat that can result in sudden cardiac arrest.

After administering a battery of medical examinations, a team of 12 cardiologists and electrophysiologists at New England Baptist Hospital concluded Lewis had a serious heart ailment.

A frustrated Lewis left the hospital at 11:30 p.m. EDT Sunday and entered Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston to get another opinion.

“You have to understand, Reggie is dealing with being told that he has a major medical problem and the potential loss of his career,” Scheller said. “What happens when you learn of a loss is you go through denial, anger and you gradually learn to accept it.”

Lewis, a 6-foot-7 All-Star guard/forward, was a reserve his senior year at Baltimore’s Dunbar High in 1982-83, in which the school won a mythical national championship. Starting on that team were future pros David Wingate, Muggsy Bogues and Reggie Williams.

Lewis attended Northeastern University in Boston, where he became an outstanding scorer. He was selected 22nd by the Celtics in the first round of the 1987 draft.

This season, Lewis succeeded Larry Bird as the Celtics’ captain, which made him Boston’s centerpiece in its transition period. He was in the final season of a five-year, $16.5-million contract, with 40% of the money deferred over 15 years.

Charles Grantham, executive director of the NBA Players Assn., said if Lewis’ contract was not fully guaranteed, built-in disability insurance would cover the difference.

Lewis’ career is probably ending as his commercial clout increases. The Celtics’ leading scorer, with a 20.8-point average, had a successful basketball shoe commercial that gave him national recognition.

Jim Calhoun, who coached Lewis at Northeastern and now is coach at Connecticut, spoke with Lewis on Sunday and said he was concerned, but wanted all the answers before making any decisions.

“Reggie’s tremendous sense of composure came across,” Calhoun told the Baltimore Sun.

Lewis’ heart can be regulated with medication, but most experts say they would not allow him to play with such a condition. Lewis would have trouble performing at a high level when taking medication, such as inderal.

But after accomplishing so much, it can be difficult to walk away. Lewis is known as the obsessive type who is rarely satisfied. “I can’t live on this,” he once told the Boston Globe when discussing his scoring average. “I have to keep coming out and make sure I’m aggressive on both ends of the floor.”

Said Bogues, Charlotte’s point guard: “It’s the best time of his career and his life. It’s got to be devastating.”

Charlotte leads the first-round series, 2-1, after defeating the Celtics, 119-89, Monday night in North Carolina.