Orlando, Fla. ? The reports of former Kansas University basketball player Drew Gooden’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

When Gooden bounded off the Cleveland Cavaliers’ team bus for Monday morning’s shootaround in TD Waterhouse Centre, he probably didn’t notice the sighs of relief from the reporters gathered nearby.

Rumors had raced around Cleveland and Orlando on Monday morning that he’d been killed in a car crash on Sunday night.

“I’m here in the flesh, like always,” Gooden told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, laughing.

He heard the rumor earlier Monday morning when Tad Carper, the Cavs’ vice president of communications, called to check on him.