DALLAS (AP) -- Utah Jazz center Greg Ostertag will donate one of his kidneys to a sister who has diabetes, The Dallas Morning News reported. The procedure is scheduled for June 27 at Baylor University Medical Center, the newspaper said Friday on its online edition. "I'm nervous," said the 7-foot-2 Ostertag, who played high school basketball in the Dallas suburb of Duncanville before starring at Kansas. "There's always that chance that I won't come out of it, or that something will happen later, an infection or something. But the chances are slim. I don't think about it that much." His sister, 26-year-old Amy Hall, has had type 1 diabetes since she was 7. In 1999, her kidney problems began, leading to kidney failure in March. Tests in March confirmed the two were a perfect match. "He has never thought twice about it, never looked back, never said, 'I shouldn't be doing this because it could mess up my career,'" Hall said. Baylor's transplant committee must approve the procedure, but Teresa Metz, a registered nurse and the clinical transplant coordinator overseeing Hall's case, said the approval is a mere formality. Metz said the risk of complication is minimal. Ostertag is expected to be hospitalized for two days after the procedure. If there are no complications, the 29-year-old player probably can work up to his normal regimen in four to six weeks, Metz said. Ostertag said he spoke with Jazz vice president of operations Kevin O'Connor in March about the procedure and that O'Connor was "really cool about it." Ostertag, who has two seasons and $16.3 million left on his contract, said coach Jerry Sloan is aware of the situation. Hall said her brother's view is "Basketball's not as important to me as my sister." "I don't think any amount of money can replace a family member, or help them [the Jazz] in the way he's helping me," she said. In March 2000, San Antonio forward Sean Elliott became the first major-sport athlete to compete after receiving an organ from a donor -- in his case, a kidney from brother Noel.
Aw geez, now I'm gettin' the warm fuzzies over a Jazz player. Well, I'll just direct what hatred I had for Ostertag and distribute it evenly between Malone and Stockton. Problem solved... Good show of love Ostertag.
Great! He's down one kidney, now if we could just elbow him in the other one during a game...er, I mean, what a great thing to do for his sister! Good for Ostertag.... Hmmm..I bet Eddie has sharp elbows...
Very noble of Ostertag to do this. We still have the rest of the Jazz, the Lakers, the Kings, and Scottie Pippen to hate...
Why, that is very generous of you. Too bad no one is generous enough to donate Ostertag some hops..... oh my... I know I just didn't.
It was a harmless joke. Nothing more nothing less. Unless you see into it more than I do. Then I can't help you there.
I hope everything goes well for his sister. It takes a brave man to go under the knife like that. But how the hell are they going to fit his big assed kidney in a womans body?
Yeah it's hard not to like the guy now. And something else... I actually LIKE the Jazz, and I must say that Ostertag actually played decently in the Kings series. Wow! I mean, I always used to say that Ostertag was -1/2 a player on offense, so it was like the Jazz only had 3 1/2 people on offense before. Now he's a full +1/2! All right! And he can still block shots like crazy, even though his rebounding is average at best.
Now his parents, Jim and Jean, have extra reason to be proud of their son, but twice as much reason to fret. "I'm fixing to have both of my kids in major surgery at the same time," Jean said, her voice cracking. "It's tough." Greg and his sister, two and a half years apart, joke about how contentious they were growing up. Greg, the athlete, grew from 6-1 in the sixth grade to 7-1 by his senior year, when he helped lead Duncanville to the 1991 State 5A title. Amy, a shade under 6 feet tall, quit organized sports after junior high to focus on drama and debate. "I'm a lot more argumentative than he is," she said. "There's many times I've wanted to whup her ass," Greg said. "Put that in the paper." Yet according to Jean Ostertag, Greg has always been protective. After signing his first pro contract, he asked his parents how much it would cost to cure Amy. "They're both real strong-headed," Jean Ostertag said. "They still butt heads. But I think right now, it's different. They get along so much better now. Greg is so sweet and concerned." Co-workers describe Ms. Hall as the vivacious light of the office, with an approach to people and life that hasn't changed since her health worsened. "They told us that Greg's kidney is 13 centimeters [long] and mine's only 8," Ms. Hall said. "So I think I'm going to be peeing a lot once I get his." She said she can hardly wait for the transplant but that it's hard not to worry about the unknown. "When you're next in line, it's kind of like, 'Man, will I make it or won't I make it?' " she said. She understands that Greg has his own family, wife Heidi, son Cody and daughters Bailey and Shelby, not to mention a lucrative job with a limited window of years in which to play. "His deal is, 'Basketball's not as important to me as my sister,' " she said. "I don't think any amount of money can replace a family member, or help them in the way he's helping me."
Oh, I know. I'm just spoofing the "Jazzhole" POV on this board. I wish the Rockets had <b>team players</b> like Stockton, Malone and Ostertag on their roster.
Could one reason be because he played Hakeem straight up in the most important game of the season in 1996-1997. (Game 6) each scored 16 points and Ostertag played Hakeem very well at the end of that game.
There are many more preferrable type of players to the shoot-first, jack-at-all-times players (guards especially) that we have rostered now. That plus TLD.
