Len Bias would have been 40

[dlgood]

In his column today, Washington Post Sportswriter Michael Wilbon notes that yesterday would have been the 40th Birthday of Len Bias. Outside of Washington, DC and Boston, most people probably won't care all that much.

I'm a huge sports fan. And in Washington, DC there are two sports we care about above all else - Washington Redskins football and College Basketball. And the early to mid-1980's were a golden age. We had Georgetown in the Big East and Maryland in the ACC. Every week I could turn on the TV and watch Patrick Ewing, Ralph Sampson of Virginia, Chris Mullin at St John's, David Robinson at Navy. James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Mark Price, Johnny Dawkins, Pearl Washington, and a host of other greats. Local HS stars Sidney Lowe and Derek Whittenburg leading NC State to a cinderella title, and Danny Ferry at Duke. Georgetown made three championship games in four years.

And there were two supremely great college players, in there way, far more exciting than even Ewing and Sampson. Michael Jordan at North Carolina and Lenny Bias at Maryland. By this time, Jordan's legend is secure. Len Bias, if remembered at all, is known for dying of cocaine intoxication the night after he was drafted #2 overall in 1986 by the then-NBA Champion Boston Celtics.

I was ten at the time, and I remember me (and a bunch of my friends) crying. There's a part of me that still cries when I think about him. Lenny's death tore open a wound in College Park, and it's still there even if the Football and Basketball programs, and the school as a whole, has regained its national reputation. But there's a taint that will never go away, and rightfully so. It's not something you get over.

The thing is - Lenny was ours. He was the local boy "done good". He was a Maryland player - grew up less than two miles from campus. And Lenny worked hard, got big, got built, and improved his game in so many ways, every year. By all accounts a wonderful young man. At least until sometime during his senior year when impending success apparently went to his head.

At Maryland, we've always had a certain sense of inferiority. Like the universe was out to get us. Our best teams never made the NCAA because we couldn't win the big one. Dean Smith and Norm Sloane always had the best talent. And everyone knew that the Team in Blue got all the calls in our tobacco-road centric conference.

But Lenny was special. Lenny was a ferocious defender and rebounder. He blocked shots and got steals. And I have never seen a player with a sweeter shot. Jordan with size. That's what they said. He didn't quite have the same first step that Jordan had. But he wasn't far behind. Lenny had the goods. MJ-Lenny was supposed to be Bird-Magic. And Lenny's Celtics were going to win. He was going to be our Jordan, our Dr. J, our Larry Bird. On the court, Bias was *beauty* and *truth*.

His death is tragic. Because Lenny was stupid. He thought he was invulnerable, as we all do at some point - especially if we have greatness within us. And it's tragic for his family, and even worse when his brother Jay was shot dead a few years later. Lenny had everything - good grades, respect and admiration, athletic dominance, and a great financial future. He was already becoming a Legend. And he threw it away for the parties, the high life, and the blow.

Such a tremendous waste.

In the end, it's a cautionary tale and the neverending questions over what might have been. I still get chills when I see highlights of the game when Lenny single-handledly gave a #1 UNC team its first ever loss in the Dean Dome. Growing up where and when I did, Lenny was a huge hero. I'd known death - my beloved grandfather had passed on three years previous.

Three hundred and fifty days out of the year, I don't even think about it. and I'm not the first person to write on it, and Wilbon among others has captured it far better and more eloquently than I can. But it's a bit different to me. Mike Wilbon was the age I am now when he covered Maryland Basketball. He knew Len Bias, and I didn't. But I was 10, and it's something entirely different when your first Hero dies. And Lenny was mine.

Comments

[stars91.livejournal.com]

That was a very eloquent post! I've lived all my life in southern Indiana, and being a basketball fan is just a given around here. You live it, you breath it...that's just how it works. I was 13 when Lenn Bias died, and although I'll admit to not having followed his career, I clearly remember his death. It was such a tragic ending to what was to be a very promising future. I can only hope that there is another pomising athlete out there who will be reminded by that article how quickly everything can be lost when you allow your ego and new found fame to go to your head.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

And I think, for a lot of kids out here, there's a legacy from Lenny that's both good and bad. Lonise Bias (his mother) used to speak to schools though I don't know if she still does.

For a long time, nobody wanted to talk about him because it was so bleak. But, I could see it come back when Maryland started winning again. And when the community invested so much in Juan Dixon. (The Baltimore kid who led the Terps to the 2002 title.) He's the example for a lot of people, in the way Lenny was supposed to be and ultimately failed.

[stars91.livejournal.com]

And I think, for a lot of kids out here, there's a legacy from Lenny that's both good and bad.

I agree. He obviously made a serious error in judgment, but that shouldn't dictate the way people remember the person he actually was.

Anyway, good luck to you and your Terps in the upcoming season! Before we know it March Madness will be upon us once more!

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Good luck to your team too, presumably the Hoosiers. Ahh. March Madness. My favorite time of the year.

[stars91.livejournal.com]

Good luck to your team too, presumably the Hoosiers

Die hard Hoosier fan until they booted Coach Knight. I'm now a loyal follower of the Texas Tech Red Raiders! *ducks to avoid being stoned*

[minervacat.livejournal.com]

Er. Hi. I saw this surfing friendsfriends, and I had to stop and thank you, for the link and for your own words. I'm a native Marylander - I was four when Len Bias died, and I remember his death about as much as I remember the Colts leaving Baltimore; which is to say I remember the aftermath far more than I remember the event.

My mother is a native Tarheel, born bred and educated, and I was raised a UNC fan in Maryland at a time when the MD program was on sanctions and a shambles - my formative years of basketball watching were not good ones for Maryland. I've never really been a Maryland basketball fan, though I have a great amount of respect for Gary Williams and always have. But Len Bias's story has always touched me, and ... well, this made me cry. Thank you for sharing it, and for connecting with a Tarheel fan unintentionally, and for letting me ramble on.

Just thank you.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. And I wish your heels the best, except for when they play us.

[stephanierb.livejournal.com]

Interesting article and great post. I didn't really follow college basketball at the time, but I was raised a Celtics fan so we were left with just the promise of Len Bias. I remember there being a great deal of excitement about his addition to the team and the shock over his tragic death. Many Celtics fans were stunned and disappointed, but I'm sure it was nothing compared to the devastation that his long time fans experienced.

I think it's great that this reporter decided to write about it, because even though it happened several years ago, it's still relevant today. It was indeed a terrible waste and is something that should be remembered.

Re: Heroes

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

I remember when Lonise came to my School. It varies among one group or another, but I thought we were a bit better behaved. Didn't necessarily change things though. As I said, 350 days out of the year we don't think about him.

And there are certainly new heroes like Walt Williams and Juan Dixon. But, Lenny is different for me because I was 10 and he was my first hero.

And to be honest. As good as Walt Williams, Joe Smith, or Juan Dixon are - Lenny was going to be the Legend. And because he died young, we remember him smiling and dunking. We'll never know for sure that he wouldn't have been Jordan with Size.

(Oh, and LaRon Profit lived in my stack at Harford Hall. He was cool, and my RA never had a problem with him.)

Heroes

[bhadrasvapna.livejournal.com]

Edited for a stupid error. Thinking too much about Maryland High schools. Silly me:

A few years after Lenny had died, his mother starting going high school to high school to talk out against drugs. In 1989, my senior year, she made it to my high school. He wasn't just a basketball player and wasted NBA potential. He was her son. Even the death of a hometown hero didn't make the audience behave though or really think seriously about the dangers of drugs and fame. Even heroes have limits.

I like all the post about the Terps. I met my husband at Cole Field House. It was a blow to our hearts when we heard it was being replaced. We have pictures of our older daughter (age 3ish) rubbing Testudo in front of McKeldin for luck. My husband was a CA in North Hill, a DC in Leonardtown and an RA for Old Leonardtown. He was asked to be an RD, but we had enough of college. Resident Life couldn't touch the athletes. If someone had problems with a basketball player, all it took was a call to Gary Williams and the problem was solved. The basketball player wished that Res Life had handled it. Wonder if Bias would have survived if Williams was his coach. Could Williams have installed something in him that Lefty didn't? Was it fair for him to be ousted like that? His replacement was ooooh so much better (like the sarcasm)

Even though Bias and sanctions hurt Maryland Basketball, Walt Williams stayed. By 1992, Williams was breaking records, including scoring 30 or more points in seven straight games and averaging 26.8 points a games his senior year. He stayed for his senior year, even though he was getting offers to turn pro. He still lives in Maryland in the off season. In death, Lenny stays a hero. In life "The Wizard" is still fighting.

(Reply to this)

[gliceman73.livejournal.com]

As a fellow Marylander (or wherever you're from), I have to say: that little piece was beautiful. Really I hope that if I ever get called upon, I can write something like that. Len Bias was a damn shame...

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Thanks. And yeah - lived in Maryland for 25 of my 27 years.