Adam John Morrison (born July 19, 1984, in Glendive,
Montana) is an American professional basketball
player with the Charlotte Bobcats of the National
Basketball Association.
Morrison played for three years at Gonzaga
University and was considered to be one of the top
college basketball players in 2005–06. He was a
finalist for the Naismith and the Wooden Award. He
was named Co-Player of the Year with Duke
University's J. J. Redick by the United States
Basketball Writers Association and won the 2006
Chevrolet Player of the Year award.
Morrison's father John was a basketball coach, and
the family moved with his coaching career: Casper
College in Casper, Wyoming, Dakota Wesleyan
University in Mitchell, South Dakota, and Dawson
Community College in Glendive, Montana. When
Morrison was in the fourth grade, his father left
coaching and the family moved to Spokane,
Washington. Adam became the Gonzaga men's team's
ball boy.
When he was in the eighth grade, he lost 30 pounds
(14 kg), and while attending a basketball camp at
Gonzaga during this time, he felt sick, later saying
about his experience at the camp, "I think I made
one shot the whole three days. I was sicker than a
dog. I didn't want to play. I couldn't do anything."
Shortly after this, Morrison was diagnosed with type
1 diabetes. He took his diagnosis surprisingly well;
the second time a nurse came to administer insulin,
he stopped her, telling her, "Since I'm going to be
doing this the rest of my life, you might as well
show me how to do it." However, his illness did not
keep him from becoming a star at Mead High School in
Spokane. In his senior year he broke single-season
and career scoring records in his high school
conference, and led Mead to the finals of the state
tournament. Despite playing in the final game with
hypoglycemia so severe that he nearly suffered
seizures, he scored 37 points in a losing effort. It
was Mead's only loss that season. Morrison was not
heavily recruited out of high school.
Morrison has earned four caps for various junior
teams but has yet to make his debut for the senior
U.S. national team.
Morrison was selected to train with the senior men's
team in preparation for the 2006 FIBA World
Championship but was cut prior to the tournament.
Morrison, who manages his diabetes to the point of
eating exactly the same meals at the same time on
game days, is considered a role model in the Inland
Empire and beyond for children with the disease and
their families. During his freshman year at Gonzaga,
Morrison and his life with diabetes were a subject
of a five-page article in Sports Illustrated. On the
first day that the issue appeared in retail outlets,
more than 50 parents of children with diabetes
contacted the Gonzaga athletics department asking if
Morrison could speak to their children. In
Morrison's first collegiate season he garnered more
national attention for having diabetes than for his
gameplay. Though in the years since, his performance
has outpaced his condition in notability.
Off the court, Morrison regulates his blood sugar
with an insulin pump attached to his abdomen.
