Jordan v. Bias. We all know Michael, but Len Bias is an increasingly distant memory. Here’s why.
We’re going back to the mid-1980s. Len Bias was a big name back then, a talented basketball player who made a name for himself at Northwestern High in Hyattsville, Maryland, and, later, at the University of Maryland.
Len Bias made the All-America team with the Terrapins, as did another ACC player from down the road in Chapel Hill, NC, Michael Jordan. And just like fans did about five years earlier–when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson migrated from college to the NBA–anticipation grew about seeing Bias and Jordan go up against each other.
Jordan went to the pros first (Chicago Bulls in the 1984 NBA Draft) and Bias was picked #2 overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 Draft. But, sadly, the match-up people were waiting to see never happened.
On June 19th, Bias drove to an off-campus gathering, and then returned to his dorm at 3 a.m. There, Bias and a few of his teammates snorted cocaine. Bias had a seizure and collapsed. Bias was rushed to the hospital, but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. Around 9a on June 20, Bias was pronounced dead
The world had lost a great basketball player. And what could have been never was.
