Ex-NBA center Scot Pollard has surgery for heart transplant

Former NBA center and “Survivor” contestant Scot Pollard underwent a successful heart transplant, his wife, Dawn, wrote in a post on X on Friday night.

“Surgery went well and I’ve been told the heart is big, powerful and is a perfect fit!” Dawn wrote on social media. “Now on to the crucial part of recovery.”

She also thanked the donor for being their “hero,” as Pollard told the Indianapolis Star in January that they needed to find someone who had a similar frame.

Pollard, who had registered at three hospitals in search of a donor, went into the Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s ICU on Feb. 7, according to the Associated Press, and in a text to the outlet at the time, Pollard revealed that he was “staying here until I get a heart.”

Earlier Friday, Dawn also shared photos on X that showed Pollard, 49, getting his head shaved, adding the caption, “Scot wanted me to let everyone know that the pre-heart transplant hair is gone, it’s go time!”

“Please keep the prayers coming for Scot, the surgeons, for the donor and his family who lost their loved one,” Dawn continued in her post before the procedure, adding a mending heart emoji at the end. “This donor gave the most amazing gift of life and we are forever grateful.”

Pollard’s heart issues dated back to a virus he battled in 2021, according to multiple reports, and it was a similar situation to what his father, Pearl, died from in 1991.

Since then, he’d encountered numerous health issues, which culminated with the need for a heart transplant — and, first, a donor.

“3 failed heart ablations, pacemaker/defibrillator, all the drugs and side effects, heart biopsies, heart catheter tests, CT/MRI scans, countless [vials] of blood taken, ER trips, myocarditis, pericarditis,” Dawn wrote in a January post on X, detailing the obstacles Pollard had encountered across the past three years.

The 6-foot-11 center, a first-round pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, averaged 4.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game across an 11-year career that featured stops with the Pistons, Kings Pacers, Cavaliers and Celtics — with his stint in Boston, despite a season-ending injury, featuring a title to cap the 2007-08 season after going to the NBA Finals the previous year with LeBron James and Cleveland.

Before becoming an NBA fan-favorite, he starred with Kansas, recording 218 blocked shots and 850 rebounds.

Eight years after retiring, Pollard appeared on the 32nd season of “Survivor.”