Len Bias' Death

[SilkkTheShocker]

Lawrence Taylor.

Last time I checked LT played in the NFL.

[Cali Syndicate]

Last time I checked LT played in the NFL.

Does it really matter? LT was a professional athlete who excelled at his sport as one of the best LB of all-time and even revolutionizing his position all while being a heavy coke user practically his entire career.

Not saying Len Bias would have seen similar results in the NBA had he been a "coke-head" throughout his career, but what I do know is he was already considered a great basketball player who was NBA ready to compete at an elite level. Who knows what he could have done.

And by "next Jordan," I don't think you understand that they would have been rivals throughout their careers, not a predecessor to one or the other but I don't think that's what you meant. What I do think you meant was that if he was labeled a "coke-head," then could he have been what MJ became? In which case, perhaps as an overall player, probably not in terms of impact to the globalization of the game and if labeled a "coke-head,"he wouldn't have seen nowhere near the marketing success MJ saw.

[AAckley1]

No first time user of cocaine would ever do 3+ grams of the stuff the first time they tried it. No first time user of cocaine could easily access fishscale, regardless if his best friend is a drug dealer or not. Tribble's relationship with Bias shows that they would have to had been involved in drugs for a significant period of time, simply because of the difficulty of acquiring 90% or greater purity cocaine. So it's obvious that it's impossible that either Bias got a "hotshot" or was a first time user, he had been doing cocaine for a good amount of time.

Would Bias have stopped once he got to the NBA? Who knows? Anything is purely conjecture simply because he wasnt comparable to any player at the time. From the game films I've seen, he had near LeBron athleticism with a game similar to late Karl Malone. His jumper had good form with excellent elevation. He was also a ~80% FT shooter. His athleticism allowed him to be great defender at the college level, and an explosive finisher at the rim. He had all the physical tools to be Jordan's biggest challenger, but we'll never know if he had the mentality.

[bizil]

I think Bias would have been one of those scoring machine SF's in the mold of Doc, Nique, Bernard King, English, Aguirre, Dantley, etc. Average to very good all around players who were alpha dog scoring machines. Not really the great all around SF who was also an alpha dog like Larry. But on Boston it would have been interesting to see where Bias would have fit it. Would Bias have come off the bench as a sixth man? Or would he have started at the SF while Bird started at PF thus putting McHale on the bench? What if they tried to experiment and start Bias as a SG and bring Ainge off the bench? I do envision Bias playing SG, SF, and PF for those Boston teams in different lineups. But his best position in my mind was at the SF. But when u have the greatest SF of all time ahead of u, it makes for a very intersting situation!

In terms of rivalry, I think eventually that Bias's rivals would have been guys like Nique and James Worthy. Once Doc slowed down, Nique and Worthy took the mantle as the premier freak athlete great scoring SF's. Bias had the physical tools to be in that class.

[Mr. Incredible]

Snorting coke once =/= drug addict

His heart just happened to explode the first time.

Take it for what it's worth but a buddy of mine whose Mom went to Maryland said that was definitely not the first time Bias tried cocaine.

[L.Kizzle]

Snorting coke once =/= drug addict

His heart just happened to explode the first time.

Pretty sure it was just a bad batch,

Mothafukkas smoke/snort crack they whole life and don't die.

[SpecialQue]

Without Bias is an excellent documentary - if people can't find it on the net, I have no problem sharing my copy.

There is no telling how good Len Bias would have been, but I would assume that if he had been revived there is no way he would have touched coke again. Although he never was able to fulfill his legacy as a basketball player, he did help a whole lot of people realize just how dangerous coke is - people were shocked all over the US, and I think his death helped others realize how stupid the drug is and that no one is invincible.

Personally, I think Bias was going to be great. Even if he only made a couple of all-star games at best, he would have eased the load on Bird and McHale.

I really think we would have been looking at a 25 ppg, 7-8 rpg career.

Without Bias was one of the weaker 30 for 30 docs, in my opinion. It was really padded, and his mom was completely unlikeable. She came across as an emotionless bitch who cared more about herself than her son.

[FireDavidKahn]

Wow some coke head OD'd on coke?

I REALLY feel sorry for this guy.

[b1imtf]

Wow some coke head OD'd on coke?

I REALLY feel sorry for this guy.

Still better than most Minny picks

[SilkkTheShocker]

Wow some coke head OD'd on coke?

I REALLY feel sorry for this guy.

[blacknapalm]

aren't draft picks subject to drug testing at the combine or by certain teams? did they do that back then? chronic coke users can have it in their urine for up to a week or so

[SilkkTheShocker]

Take it for what it's worth but a buddy of mine whose Mom went to Maryland said that was definitely not the first time Bias tried cocaine.

Interesting. Thanks for the input man, bro.

[LAClipsFan33]

The talking heads were split on who was the better college player...Bias or Jordan.

He was that good.

[SilkkTheShocker]

The talking heads were split on who was the better college player...Bias or Jordan.

He was that good.

So good he was the 2nd pick of the draft? Was Daugherty supposed to be the next Olajuwon?

[LAClipsFan33]

So good he was the 2nd pick of the draft? Was Daugherty supposed to be the next Olajuwon?

Michael Jordan...picked 3rd