Tremendous Len Bias story

If this is a DP, sorry ... but it's good enough to be a DP, so no one will miss it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=bias&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1

 

more boston-centric piffle from the internet's number one boston fanboy website; at least they know their audience.

would bias have gotten 1/100th the attention if golden state drafted him?

 

Entirely, completely disagree. In the wake of the Celtics' championship, this is a completely reasonable - and interestingly-written - topic to bring back up.

 

Plus it's not like the No. 2 draft pick dying is an everyday occurence, either. And the aftermath, with the tougher drug laws, is still being felt today. It's a worthy topic.

 

The Boston element of the story is such a small part of the story. Bias' death would have had about 2% less impact if he had been drafted by Golden State.

 

I hate to agree with Hondo, but this is very good. And it isn't written in a Boston-centric way or for a Bostonian audience.
The point is made in the story, in fact, that Bias being from the D.C. area and getting drafted by Boston had a lot to do with the impact, especially on Congress, via Tip O'Neill, and the resulting drug legislation.
Try reading the story before ripping it.

 

My comment is a general one, not a comment on the story, but we don't know how Bias would have fared in the NBA.

I've always found the notion that his death stole championships from the Celtics to be masturbatory wishful thinking and an easy crutch for the mismangement of that franchise from '86 on.

 

Yeah, I mean, damn, can we credit good writing here once in a while.
Timely topic, good read.
Not finished with it yet, but solid work.
Many of you might not have been around when Bias played, then passed. Just as it's hard for me to evaluate, say, Elgin Baylor.
Bias was top-shelf and would have been, in my mind, an NBA stud.

 

Really enjoyed the story and can't wait to read Weinreb's book on sports in the 1980s.

As for Bias the player, I think he would have been really good (I remember watching his famous game against North Carolina in UNC), but I do wonder if his career would have been derailed by his drug use (uh, more than it was...). He could have easily gone the Chris Washburn, Roy Tarpley route; played a couple of seasons and then been undone by rehab, failed drug tests, etc. And I don't know if that crew of Celtics would have won anymore titles with Bias. Injuries and age started ravaging the starters the next season.

 

The general consensus (or at least according to Bill Simmons ;D ) is that Bias would have enabled Bird, McHale and Parish to have more rest, and be less susceptible to injuries. And if one of them would have missed an extended period of time, Bias would be just as capable as the missing player.

Who knows for sure how his career would have played out. Maybe Jones and Auerbach would have kept him on the straight and narrow.

 

Wouldn't double post be shortened to DP?

Sorry if I'm not up on what the cool kids on the board are calling things.