NEW YORK -- A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in the death of Grand Rapids Drive basketball player Zeke Upshaw.
Upshaw was playing in the final game of the NBA G League's regular season on March 24 when he collapsed on the floor during the final minute of the game. He died two days later.
The lawsuit was announced Wednesday, May 30 at a news conference in New York City. Upshaw's family claims no life saving measures were attempted.
"Despite this undeniable dire situation, no life-saving measures were attempted, no CPR was initiated and no defibrillator was used," said a news release from attorney Ben Crump's office.
The suit is being filed against the NBA, the Detroit Pistons, the SSJ Group which owns the Drive, and the DeltaPlex.
The Upshaw family's lawyer is Ben Crump, who is a civil rights lawyer based out of Tallahassee, Fla. Crump also represented Trayvon Martin's family after Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman.
Grand Rapids Drive fan Eric Cameron was at the game.
"I'm surprised they didn't start CPR when they realized he was not conscious that's one of the first things is checking that, checking pulse and moving on to compressions when they realize that he's not breathing," Cameron said.
Cameron and his family stayed for the remainder of the game. As they were leaving the arena, Cameron said he saw the ambulance leave, 15 minutes after Upshaw was removed from the court.
"Our first reaction was 'it seems like they would have been gone by now' and it seemed odd that they were still there," Cameron said.
More details and the full lawsuit can be seen on the Ben Crump Law PLLC website.
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