ESPN E60 documentary on Scot Pollard’s heart transplant coming on Father’s Day
Former Kansas basketball forward Scot Pollard, the star of the reality television series “Survivor” in 2016 and featured actor in the movie “The Profit” in 2017, will be back on TV on Father’s Day as subject of a new ESPN documentary.
ESPN’s E60, which was founded in 2007 as the cable network’s storytelling brand, will, at 12 p.m. Central on Sunday, June 15, debut “Heart of Pearl,” in which host Jeremy Schaap will explore Pollard’s battle to live in February of 2024 when advanced heart failure forced Pollard to undergo a heart transplant.
The title of the documentary, which will be shown on ESPN and streamed afterward on ESPN+, alludes to Pollard’s dad, Pearl, who collapsed and died of heart failure when Scot, now 50, was 16.
Unlike Scot, who was matched with a donor, dad Pearl, who stood just under 7-feet tall (Scot is 6-11, 260), died while waiting in vain on a transfer list. Pearl, nicknamed “Poison,” was a basketball legend at the University of Utah. Scot played four years at KU (1993-94 to 1996-97) and 11 years in the NBA (1997-1998 to 2007-2008).
ESPN E60 was granted full access starting on February 9, 2024, when Pollard was admitted into Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s ICU with advanced heart failure.
“The task was to document a story to which nobody, not even Pollard’s doctors, knew the ending,” reads an ESPN news release.
“Heart of Pearl” will include Schaap’s in-depth interviews with Scot’s wife (Dawn), son (Ozzy) and sister (Lyne Jorif). Also interviewed: former KU coach Roy Williams, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, Vanderbilt heart surgeon Ashish Shah, Vanderbilt cardiologist Jonathan Menachem, Sacramento Kings teammate Bobby Jackson, several members of the family of Scot’s heart donor, Casey Angell, and others.
There also will be archival sound from Pollard’s late parents, Pearl and Marilyn Pollard.
“Heart of Pearl” was produced and directed by Daniel Lindberg. A trailer is available online.
“On February 16 of 2024, I’m laying on a table with no heart in my body at all,” Scot Pollard said, setting the scene for the emotional documentary.
“It’s hard. You just trust that it’s going to be OK,” Dawn stated.
The documentary also serves as a Father’s Day tribute to Pearl Pollard.
“He was a giant of a man in every single way possible. Everybody loved my dad,” Scot related of his dad, who died at the age of 54. “I was the last one in my family to see him alive.
“The real reason I was ever successful in basketball,” Scot, who played high school ball in San Diego, added, “is because my dad died. I was so (ticked) off and I went bat-(bleep) nuts (in emerging as a blue-chip college recruit).”
Noted his college coach, Williams, in the documentary: “I said, ‘I will never take the place of your dad, but if you give me a chance I think you’ll be able to trust me like a second father.’’’
Pollard and Dawn, have dedicated themselves to raising awareness of organ donation through Dawn’s charity, “Pearls of Life.”
The Pollards, who live in Carmel, Indiana, spent the recent Indy 500 weekend spreading the word about organ donation at the prestigious Indy car race where Scot served as grand marshal.
“When it comes to charity, the bigger the audience you can get, the better,” Pollard told reporter Mark Ambrogi of youarecurrent.com. “I’m using my former notoriety as a basketball player to help out my wife Dawn’s charity, Pearls of Life. We’ve always used my former profession as a lantern to whatever charity we go to.”
Pearls of Life, according to the organization’s Facebook page, “was created to advocate for organ donations, educate the community and support families who are going through the organ transplant or donation process. We believe in the power of community and the impact of compassion.”
“One person can save a lot of people’s lives and be people’s heroes,” Pollard stated in the documentary. “I’ve got a lot to do. I’m really glad I have a lot to do.”
