1986 NBA Draft: Len Bias

Len Kevin Bias was an American college basketball player who suffered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia that resulted from a cocaine overdose less 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.

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• len
• bias

[RedCeltYank1]

If Lenny had lived....the Pistons would never seen the Finals during the Bad Boy era. The Lakers would have never won another title after '85. The Bulls would have had 3 less titles. Imagine it, Bird could have played 25 minutes a game and rested his back. No one knows what might have been, but it would have been incredible.

[Soniaspapa]

I don't like to shoulda woulda coulda but had Len survived I believe there is no question he would have ended up being a hall of famer. RIP

[DrSanto91]

@QuebolaQuebolin yeah i doubt he would have been a bust either, cause he would have been playing with parish, bird, and mchale to help him become a great player in the nba.

[Mkvl87]

He could be second MJ. Rest in peace.

[KingKhadim]

if he was in da nba ya wuldnt even compare him to kobe,jordan,lebron,magic,shaq,­all of those ppl he probably wuld broken da karem abdul jabbar record of points im tellin ya he was goin to be da BEST NBA PLAYER IN DA WORLD THUMBS IF YU AGREE!!

[QuebolaQuebolin]

Easy to call him a bust because of the outcome. But if you analyze his talent level, he could have made a.good transition into the nba. He probably would have played at small forward not 4. His mid range game was excellent. He needed to get his ball handling skills up, and his passing. I think he could have dobe both because say what you want, he really applied himself in basketball.

[01234567891989]

@THXcooper Brad Daugherty

[RaptorsDude1]

wow just looking at this ... there talking about him and how hes gonna fit it with the team and making jokes with him just a horrible sad story

R

I

P

[gamelvr1]

@TheWebster26 He is a bust. This isn't someone who didn't get a shot because of injuries. He didn't get a shot because of his own decisions. He was a failure of epic proportions.

[THXcooper]

who was picked 1st that year?

[seeehorn]

I had to respond to a couple things here. First, I believe Len Bias was good friends with Chris Washburn, not Brad Daugherty. In hindsight, that was a BAD sign for his future if he lived. They were sitting next to each other at this draft. Also Jeff Green attended the same high school(Northwestern) as L.Bias. After L.Bias died, it was discovered that he only had about 2 years of credits completed despite being at Maryland for 4 years. It caused UMD to put in strict academic policies for athletes

[PhillyDippy5]

@dannyaingefan in the 80's and 90's.