Len Bias – From collegiate prodigy to the NBA tragedy that changed US drug policy

After a remarkable career with the University of Maryland, the 6-foot 8-inch swingman traveled to Boston, where he would be selected in the 1986 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. Three days later, he would be found dead after an apparent cocaine overdose. This is the tragic story of Len Bias, one of the most promising NBA prospects. 

Bias's physic and great skill made him a hot pick. With a build comparable to Paul George in today’s NBA, he had several teams interested in claiming him early in the draft.

Red Auerbach, the legendary coach of the Boston Celtics, even said he had been scouting and planned on drafting Bias for three years and selected him with the second pick of the draft. 

What should have been the beginning of a promising professional career would never come to pass. Bias would die a day later from a cocaine overdose while visiting college friends back at the University of Maryland.

Bias was born in Landover, Maryland, and had his first taste of the game at Columbia Park Recreation Center, where kids allegedly would laugh at his apparent lack of talent on the court. 

The athletic director saw potential in Bias and opted to train Bias independently, coaching him on the art of basketball. With a bit of practice and proper coaching, he went from being the marginalized kid to the most wanted in the rec center. 

Bias would hit his growth spurt and made the basketball team at Northwestern high school in 1978, a mind-mannered lanky teen with clear potential, but also clear weaknesses in his game.

A former high school teammate recalled how at this time he was a clearly talented player, however, he avoided physicality on the court and struggled with outside shooting.

It’s important to note however that at this point the three-point line had not been added, it would only be added in 1986, decreasing the importance of the outside shot at the time.

While Northwestern High School didn’t win a state title in his time there, he led them on a valiant campaign to the state final, where they lost to High Point High School.

During that season, Bias averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 68% from the field. The statistics proved him to be a promising prospect, and after years of strength conditioning, he began to garner a lot of attention. 

The University of Maryland Basketball coach Lefty Dreisell remembered the Maryland native from his time at University of Maryland basketball camps and won out on the recruiting race against the University of Oregon and North Carolina State University.

In the summer before starting his career at Maryland, he shocked everyone in the Urban Coalition League in Washington DC, an intramural league featuring current and former NBA players, as well as future teammates of Bias at the University of Maryland.

He lit up the Urban Coalition league, averaging 36 points a game, allegedly dunking on current NBA players Greg Ballard and Charles Davis in the same game.

After an unremarkable freshman and sophomore season with the 'Terrapins', the latter of which he faced off against Michael Jordan, who was playing at ACC rival school, the University of North Carolina.

Jordan led the University of North Carolina to easy wins in both matchups, however, once Jordan went to the NBA in Bias’s Junior year in 1985, his performances began to spike, winning ACC Player of the Year with an average of 16 points and 5 rebounds.

In his senior year, Bias continued to impress, winning ACC Player of the Year for the second year in a row, and, as the highlight of the season, Bias got his revenge against the University of North Carolina, scoring 35 points and seven in overtime, leading the 'Terrapins' to victory!

Bias would graduate from the University of Maryland in 1986, and was later drafted by the Boston Celtics. After visiting the team and meeting the staff, he returned to Maryland where he met up with his friends. 

That night, Bias’s friends and teammates celebrated in their dorms, and while talking to teammate Terry Long, Bias suffered a seizure and passed out at 6:32 A.M. Paramedics arrived and tried to restart his heartbeat unsuccessfully. Bias was pronounced dead from a Cocaine-induced heart arrhythmia at 8:55 A.M. No other substances or alcohol were reportedly found in his system.

Days later, on June 23rd, a memorial service was held on the University of Maryland campus, to which 11,000 people turned out to pay their respects.

Weeks after his death, The US House of Representatives began drafting new anti-drug legislation. Signed into law in October 1986 by Ronald Regan, the colloquially-called “Len Bias law” meant a minimum of 20 years for anyone distributing drugs which resulted in a death. A tragic ending to what seemed to be a very promising basketball journey.