Twisted Fate: The Story of the Man Who Never Was

By Rob LaBrie

It’s the greatest night of his life.  The young man anticipates his name being called, but never truly believes it until the announcement comes from David Stern.  The Boston Celtics are the team he’ll be playing for.  Sounds like a pretty good deal; not too far away from home and he’ll be playing for a team that can win.  In fact, with him on the team, they’ll be dominating for sure.  

The next day, he heads up to Boston for a while with his father to go scout the place out and meet some important figures on the team.  He flies home the next night and arrives at College Park, where his dorm is located, around 11 p.m., still slightly draft drunk as so much has been packed into a couple days.  He relaxes for a little while with friends until around 2 a.m.  The young man is sick of his friends constantly drilling him on his new team and new found fame, sounding like all the reporters he’s had to face.  He heads out in his new Nissan 300ZX.  He comes back around 3 a.m.  He stays up for a few hours, high on cocaine, talking to his teammate, Terry Long.  At 6 a.m., he collapses on his couch for the deepest of sleeps.  Len Bias is dead at age 22.
Bias died on June 19, 1986, only two days after being picked 2nd overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft.  He was a star at the University of Maryland, and was expected to be the heir to Larry Bird, carrying the Celtics into the 90’s, just as strong as they were in the 80’s.  

He was the perfect basketball player; a big forward with a mix of power and finesse when each was needed.  His chiseled body and 6’8″ frame allowed him to be able to do the dirty work on the boards and on the post, but he could also take you outside with a dazzling jump shot and good ball handling skills.  Many even compared him to Jordan later on, saying that Boston would’ve been the team to challenge the Bulls in the 90’s if Bias had been at the helm.  Though it was Brad Daugherty who was chosen first overall in 1986, it is the consensus opinion that Bias truly was the most talented player in the field.  

“What if” Len Bias hadn’t died of a cocaine overdose?  Well, many speculate that in the early part of his career, he would’ve been mainly used to give rest to Bird and McHale, thereby prolonging their careers and bringing even more NBA Championships to Beantown.  Then he would’ve taken over for Larry Bird, probably giving Boston 6-8 all-star seasons and leading them to even more championships in the 90’s.

Former Celtics general manager, Chris Wallace, said that getting a player of Bias’ stature right after winning a championship was, “almost too good to be true.”  Little did the Celtics or anybody else know, the situation was indeed too good to be true.

Though it has been almost 20 years since the death of Len Bias, Celtics fans still feel that twinge of pain or that chill down their spines every time they hear the name.  It is truly the cruelest of fates that a young life was cut down so quickly, before it was even able to reach its prime.  

The words “potential” and “upside” are clichés often used in sports, but in this case, it was what defined the life and basketball career of Len Bias.  He is the ultimate story of untapped potential.

Bias has become the biggest “what-if?” story in NBA history.  Many in Boston feel they were cheated by the devil and even believe that the team has been cursed, as they haven’t won an NBA Championship since that 1985-`86 season.  However, in the grand scheme of life, Bias’ mother, Lonise Bias, along with many others close to the story, doesn’t believe that her son was taken away simply to create a devastation amongst Boston Celtics fans.  Instead, she believes it was to make people all over the world realize the dangers of cocaine and other drugs.  “I believe that Len’s death helped turn the situation around involving drugs in a positive direction,” she said, “Len lost his life to help save others.”

And this may be the truth.  Could it be true that there was something from above that needed to use someone like Len Bias to send a message to the world?  We will never know the answer, but we do know just how sad this story really is.  We do know that Len Bias was never able to live up to his dream and that Boston has never been able to live down this fate.  

While Bias may have died for the life of others, he certainly did take a piece of basketball history and greatness with him.  Just as the game will never have another Jordan, Bird, or Magic, it will never have another Len Bias.  A man with so much talent and so much positive energy to bring to the game should never have been lost.  

We will never forget you Len.  May you rest in peace and know that we realize what a great man and basketball player was lost to the circle of life.

Sources:
www.washingtonpost.com
www.boston.com
www.cbssportsline.com