Basketball Hall of Famer Tom Gola, a name synonymous with greatness for generations of Philadelphia sports fans, was in a coma last night and fighting for his life from injuries suffered in a fall July 25.

Gola, 70, was in serious condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, according to his wife of 48 years, Caroline. He had been in a coma since he was admitted, she said.

"The doctors are doing everything for him that they can," she said last night in a telephone interview. "It's in God's hands."

Caroline Gola said she visited her husband yesterday. She said he squeezed her hand and appeared as if he tried to open his eyes but did not speak.

She said that on July 25, she and her husband, along with two other couples, were walking to a restaurant for dinner when Gola lost his balance, fell backward against the curb, and hit his head. She declined to say where the accident occurred.

She said the accident happened suddenly, and she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"We were going to have a nice dinner," she said. "It was so unbelievable. I never thought anything like this could happen to him."