Went down a mini rabbit hole about contracts and death after the Haskins tragedy and found out about this tidbit that I was oblivious to at the time. Lewis was my first favorite Celtic (due to a move from out West), so it hit me hard at the time.
In the summer of 1993, the Celtics' Reggie Lewis died with three years left on a five-year deal worth almost $15 million. All of the money went to Lewis's estate.
However, the Celtics could only spend $480,000 on a replacement for their former star. And his contract continued to count against the salary cap, effectively hamstringing the Celtics for years. The salary cap back then was just a shade over $15 million per year, and Lewis's contract accounted for about 20 percent of that.