Thomas Emma, a former Chicago Bulls draft pick who never played for the team, jumped to his death from the roof of a private athletic club in Manhattan, a police source told the New York Daily News Wednesday.
Emma played collegiately at Duke University where he was the team captain in 1983. Police found Emma, 49, on a second-story landing. Relatives said he had been depressed, but the news was still a shock to those who knew him.
"I can't believe it," Stanford basketball coach and former teammate Johnny Dawkins said, according to the Daily News, "He was a great guy. I have nothing but respect for him as a competitor. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family."
The Associated Press reports that Emma "was also a high school star in Manhasset, on Long Island, and wrote a book titled 'Basketball Player's Comprehensive Guide to Strength Training.' He was president of Power Performance, Inc., a company devoted to training young athletes."