dba
06-09-2006, 12:23 PM
I was reminded today by an article in the Washington Post of the coming anniversary of the death of Len Bias. If you weren’t around when he played for Maryland you missed a truly extraordinary player, an All American everyone thought would have provided Jordan a serious long term challenge for his position in the NBA. (Jordan was only in his second season when Bias died.)
Lenny had been drafted #2 by Boston after Brad Daugherty. They would have used him to provide much needed rest for Bird and McHale, probably prolonging their careers and certainly prolonging Boston’s dominance. It’s not clear to me that the Celtics have yet quite recovered from losing him.
Either the night of the draft or the next night (can’t remember which) Len got hold of some unusually pure cocaine and couldn’t find it within himself to stop taking it. He passed out and his heart couldn’t stand the strain. He was dead of a heart attack within hours.
His death shocked a nation. According to the Post article in 1986 13% of high school seniors had tried cocaine. After his death usage rates plunged, dropping to 3% in 1992. A whole generation was smacked upside the head by cold hard reality when Lenny went down.
I prefer to remember him on the court, in particular on the defensive end. I remember him flying through the air, swatting shot after shot down, or simply plucking them from the sky and starting a break, all the while shouting “Give me that s***”.
Bias was loud, brash, cocky, and completely full of himself. And innocent in a way that young people today have had taken from them. To me, his flaws only make him shine brighter.
Lenny Bias died of a cocaine overdose on June 19, 1986.
Lenny had been drafted #2 by Boston after Brad Daugherty. They would have used him to provide much needed rest for Bird and McHale, probably prolonging their careers and certainly prolonging Boston’s dominance. It’s not clear to me that the Celtics have yet quite recovered from losing him.
Either the night of the draft or the next night (can’t remember which) Len got hold of some unusually pure cocaine and couldn’t find it within himself to stop taking it. He passed out and his heart couldn’t stand the strain. He was dead of a heart attack within hours.
His death shocked a nation. According to the Post article in 1986 13% of high school seniors had tried cocaine. After his death usage rates plunged, dropping to 3% in 1992. A whole generation was smacked upside the head by cold hard reality when Lenny went down.
I prefer to remember him on the court, in particular on the defensive end. I remember him flying through the air, swatting shot after shot down, or simply plucking them from the sky and starting a break, all the while shouting “Give me that s***”.
Bias was loud, brash, cocky, and completely full of himself. And innocent in a way that young people today have had taken from them. To me, his flaws only make him shine brighter.
Lenny Bias died of a cocaine overdose on June 19, 1986.