My English teacher played with Len Bias at Maryland he was also his roommate. He also was in the next room over while he was doin coke and died. I dont like to ask him many qustions about him because he was a good friend of his. But anyway from everything I have heard and seen many people say that if he were still alive Jordan and Len would have been fighting against each other for championships. What do you guys think?
i did a little research and found a great article on him. Now it seems as if i have been nowing Len Bias forever. Its a really sad story, check it out guys: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/simmons/010620.html Oh and please Kingjames try asking more questions to your teacher about him, i'm really interested.
Very good article, very touching. I knew about Len Bias, but I didn't know much about his style till I read Larry Bird's autobiography, and he talks briefly about Bias. I could feel the sadness Bird had as he recounted the story, and it made me wonder. I'm just young enough so that 'Celtic Drug Tragedy' first reminds me of Reggie Lewis and second Len Bias, but for the Celtics its obviously the other way around. Adding Bias to the team would have been phenomenal. Since Boston was already a top team(defending champs), he probably would have scored no more than 15-18 ppg. But that would have been enough to lessen the minutes the Big Three had to play. And when Boston picked up Reggie Lewis a year after Bias, and then Brian Shaw the year after that, the future of the Celtics would have been set. There's no guarantee that the combo would have won a title at all. If they would have, it would have been in either '87 or '88, the Lakers' back to back years. By the 90's, a Bias-Lewis team might have challenged the Bulls like the Knicks did, but nothing more. But that would have been much more bearable than the 90's that Celtics fans had to endure, with only 2 playoff appearances after the retirement of Bird. All in all, a very sad chapter of NBA history. btw - Bias was the 2nd pick of the '86 draft, and obviously died of drug problems. The 3rd pick of that same draft was Chris Washburn for the Warriors. His career too was cut short by drug problems. Very sad.
Well, if olskool still posted he'd be schooling everyone on Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. Die hard Celtics fan at it's best. Has anyone seen the Sportscentury on Len Bias? I can't remember if I taped it or not, but if you want to get a good look at what he was or could've been, you have to find a way to watch that.
EDIT: OOPS, MY mistake, I was thinking of Hank Gathers when I posted this...glad its late and nobody saw
That whole 86 draft was full of druggies and dope heads. Len Bias, Chris Washburn, William Bedford, and Roy Tarpley. Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, Ron Harper, Dennis Rodman, Chuck Person, Dell Curry, Scott Skiles, Jeff Hornacek, Nate McMillan, Arvidas Sabonis, and of course, Drazen Petrovic came out of that class. A handful of others ended up having long careers and bouncing from team to team as well, but this draft is forever known as the drug abuse draft.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James:</div><div class="quote_post">That whole 86 draft was full of druggies and dope heads. Len Bias, Chris Washburn, William Bedford, and Roy Tarpley. Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, Ron Harper, Dennis Rodman, Chuck Person, Dell Curry, Scott Skiles, Jeff Hornacek, Nate McMillan, Arvidas Sabonis, and of course, Drazen Petrovic came out of that class. A handful of others ended up having long careers and bouncing from team to team as well, but this draft is forever known as the drug abuse draft.</div> Fellas I'm here to tell ya...Len Bias was a phenom. Back in the day my pops lived in Chapel Hill and my pop's bro lived in Greensboro..my pops was a season ticket holder for the Heels and my uncle was a season ticket holder for Duke..I got a chance to see Bias in '84,'85 and '86..cat was unreal..uncanny playmakin' ability for a big man..he could shoot..he could pass..he was a complete ball player. Bein' a brotha and bein a Duke fan is pretty rare 'round here...most black folk i know ain't too down with Duke lol anyhow I am and always was a huge Blue Devil fan but that went out the window with Bias..I saved all my yard mowin' dollars and bottle pick-up money to buy myself the #34 Maryland shirt (back then they didn't sell jerseys just shirts) and wore it proudly..I have no doubts that Len Bias would have been an all-time great NBA balla..it woulda been unfair with Bird,Parrish and McHale with Bias and Lewis waiting in the wings..I'd say if that were to have happened the 90's woulda been a Celtic and Bulls war. The loss of Bias and then Reggie Lewis was,no doubt in my mind,an almost fatal blow to the Celtics after that they sunk into mediocrity where they stayed for a good while. The question was would Bias have been better than MJ..I don't know..but I do know that Len Bias would have been a huge star..and I think he would been one of the greatest the pro game had seen. When he died it was the first time I had ever felt any real emotion as far as sports were concerned..I was in the 6th grade and getting ready for school when I heard the news that Len had passed away one the radio..hit a brotha hard back then..I wasn't a Celtic fan but I was so looking forward to watching him play..if he hadn't of died I highly doubt Paul Pierce would be sportin' #34. I'll Holla P.S. Much props to the starter of this thread..I hadn't thought of Len in years,but cat deserves much love for the player he was and much sadness for the player he could have and should have been..can't believe I hadn't thought about him in so long..I'm gonna show him some love with a new sig
Len Bias was incredible. His skills were crazy, there wasn't anyone else in the draft as good as he was, in my opinion. However, we'll never know if he could have been better than Jordan, and it's pointless to try and figure it out. He blew it, he ended his own career and his life with drugs. He could have been great, and now all that anyone has left of him is what might have been. It's just tragic.
I have heard stories about him for a long time. The popular question of coarse being would he have been better than Jordan. I wish this kid would have chosen a different path, so much talent.
Iheir is no question that Len Bais would not have been better than MJ because the biggest thing about being a great player is handling the pressure of being a great player. And obviously by Len using & eventually dieing from drugs pretty much tells you that he couldnt handle the pressure of great expectations. So he used drugs as a way to handle the pressure. So that alone tells you that he wouldnt have been better than Jordan. Because he wouldnt have been able to handle it.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Henacy:</div><div class="quote_post">Iheir is no question that Len Bais would not have been better than MJ because the biggest thing about being a great player is handling the pressure of being a great player. And obviously by Len using & eventually dieing from drugs pretty much tells you that he couldnt handle the pressure of great expectations. So he used drugs as a way to handle the pressure. So that alone tells you that he wouldnt have been better than Jordan. Because he wouldnt have been able to handle it.</div> I don't really think it was so much to do with pressure at wish just doin' what people were doing at the time (at the time if i remember right cocaine was the drug of choice for the in-crowd). I think it was just stupid choices and a dumbass way of celebratin'.....
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Wizk4nyc15:</div><div class="quote_post">Interesting topic, but i never heard of Len Bias...</div> Great...you never heard of Bias, some guy in the History thread never heard of Andrew Toney, and so on. Thanks for making me feel old!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Steve Holroyd:</div><div class="quote_post">Great...you never heard of Bias, some guy in the History thread never heard of Andrew Toney, and so on. Thanks for making me feel old! </div> I know the feelin' brah! Matter of fact one of the neighbor kids never heard of Evel Kenievel...so I feel ya!
As for whether he would have been better than Jordan, I side with Henacy. Not necessarily on the pressure thing, but the fact that he was taking drugs. I agree with Black Widow that, at the time, it was the 'in' thing to do. If Bias was an athlete more responsible to himself and the team, he wouldn't have done it, pressure or no pressure. However, I never saw him play, so I can't pass judgement on playing ability. The book I mentioned before, by Bird, did discuss Bias. Larry Bird was angry that Bias took his own life, but he made it clear that, although at the time he felt Jordan was the best player ever(book was written in '90), he felt Bias could have been better, and made his opinion on the countless tapes of Maryland games that Red Auerbach showed him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting K1NGJAMES23:</div><div class="quote_post">My English teacher played with Len Bias at Maryland he was also his roommate. He also was in the next room over while he was doin coke and died. I dont like to ask him many qustions about him because he was a good friend of his. But anyway from everything I have heard and seen many people say that if he were still alive Jordan and Len would have been fighting against each other for championships. What do you guys think?</div> I'm bumping an old thread, but I found this thread in a search and have to add that this English teacher is either Jeff Baxter or Keith Gatlin, who were sleeping in the next room while it happened.
