#34 Len Bias

Today on all the local news stations, they did features in memory of Len Bias. It was on this day in 1986 that he died. For those too young to remember or outside the area who never heard the story, it was truly a sad loss and an incredible story because of his talent and where he was headed. Only God knows what future laid ahead of Len Bias. I mean, this guy was on a whole nex' level. We're talking someone who would have or could have been right up there with Michael Jordan or beyond. Who knows? His mom came to speak at my high school that next year and spoke to us all on the dangers of doing drugs.

Being a teenaged young man growing up in Washington D.C. during the 80s was something else. I've got stories for days and so do a lot of other guys from D.C. in my age group but I will save that for another post and maybe even my book. I will see how The Spirit moves me as to what I will post on that experience of the 80s in DC because there is just so much. Of course there were good days and great days too but there were some rough periods too. This situation was sad but so were the many deaths that happened in DC during those years including the killing of many innocent bystanders on a daily basis not to mention a daily feeling of feeling under seige in different parts of the city. And did I mention the black helicopters? Yeah, that scene in Boys In The Hood touched on some truth. But once again, for another post.

This was a gigantic loss that sent shockwaves not only locally but nationally and I dare say internationally in the Sports World especially. So much promise.

The first story I heard about this situation was that he was at a celebration party and had been drugged or given some bad drugs. Another version I heard was someone had slipped something in his drink. There were several versions that got out I would say in those first days following this tragedy in DC. I'm talking stuff we heard in the barbershops, at school, from people who knew people that knew him or his friends, on the street, etc. Everybody was talking about it and just blown away by the reality of what had happened. Peace to his soul.

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia on Len Bias:

Len Bias
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Leonard K. Bias (November 18, 1963 – June 19, 1986) was a college basketball player who suffered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia that resulted from a cocaine overdose fewer than 48 hours after being selected by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft. Bias was the second player selected in the draft, after Brad Daugherty of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bias was known to his family, friends, teammates, and in the media as "Len" or "Lenny" rather than by his formal name, Leonard.

From Landover, Maryland, Bias attended Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, and subsequently the University of Maryland where he became a star player and an All-American. Wearing number 34, he impressed basketball fans with his amazing leaping ability, his physical stature and his ability to create plays. During his college career Bias was considered one of the most dynamic players in the nation. Many basketball enthusiasts have argued that he was the first player to come under the title of "the next Michael Jordan", even though Jordan himself was only in his second professional season at the time Bias was drafted.

Bias died in a dormitory on the University of Maryland - College Park campus. Later, his death would be featured as part of an anti-drug media campaign. A district court and court of appeals found that Bias was a drug user.

Years later, on December 11, 1990, Bias's younger brother Jay, a promising high school basketball player, was shot to death in a dispute in the parking lot of Prince George's Plaza, a Hyattsville, Maryland, shopping mall located just miles from the University of Maryland.

The Possibility

Len Bias represents to the NBA, and especially to the Celtics organization, one of the greatest "what-ifs" in basketball history. Many considered Bias to be the perfect complement to the Larry Bird-led Celtics, a potential backup for both Bird and Kevin McHale who would have limited their minutes and perhaps in turn extended their careers. Some, including Red Auerbach and Johnny Dawkins, a Duke assistant who was a high school and college contemporary of Bias, believed that the inclusion of Bias could have allowed for the Boston Celtic organization's continued dominance well into the 1990s.