Beantown is still trying to recover from the shock that was the NBA draft lottery, sponsored by the Pacific Northwest. Each time the NBA's most historically significant team looks as if it cannot get any worse, the four-leaf clover finds yet another way to yield bad luck. The death of Reggie Lewis, the injury plagued end of Larry, McHale, and the Chief, the selling of the proverbial soul for Pitino, trading Chauncey Billips, and the loss of the Oden/Durant sweepstakes are all events that any franchise would struggle to over come. Adding them all up, the sum is utter NBA disaster and disarray. Then 30+ year old NBA fans things back to his/her childhood and views the present state of the Celtics as "unfathomable". How could the 16 time World Champs have possibly fallen this far? How could the karma have changed so suddenly and so violently? The end of every dynasty has a dramatic event, a turning point, a singular event that may seem innocent at the time, but proves to be the undoing of the seemingly immovable object. Enter Len Bias.
Just eleven days prior to the untimely and tragic death of Maryland legend Len Bias, the Celtics had won their 16th NBA Championship, far and away the most in NBA history at that time. The Celtics happend upon the #2 pick in the upcoming draft in a trade that sent Gerald Henderson to Seattle. This was truly "the best of times" for a franchise that had seen better times than any team in league history. Bird, McHale, and Parrish were in their respective primes, Jabbar was nearing the end in Los Angeles, and Celtics were primed to get a player who could work into the rotation slowly and take over for Bird when he decided to pass the torch.
The draft featured two "sure-fire" NBA stars. The first was the 7'0" center from North Carolina, Brad Daugherty, while the second was a tremendously gifted 6'8 swingman from Maryland, Len Bias (if this begins to sound eerily familiar. . .). Cleveland, with the first pick, did what any team would do, taking the safer pick in the center. This left Boston with the player that some publications at the time called the best forward prospect of all time. The Celtics were set. . .so they thought.
The newly selected Bias celebrated his fame and fortune with his friends. An evening of crack-cocaine later, Bias is no longer with us, and the wheels of age, injuries, and other unexplainable turns of misfortune lead the Celtics to, what Dickens' calls, the "worst of times".
Outside of the drafting of Paul Pierce, and the historic comeback win in game 3 of the 2002 playoffs vs. the Nets, it's hard to find anything good that has happened for Red's bunch. Nothing remains of the Celtic dynasty. Red, the Garden, and Hall of Fame rosters seem closer to the Devil Rays future. The Celtics have even watched the Miami Heat, who didn't exist at the time of their last title, and the Red Sox. . .THE RED SOX win world championships since. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
I totally agree, Len Bias was certainly the beginning of the end of the Celtics dynasty. Now, they can't get a break whatsoever. They missed out on Duncan in a year when they had two lottery picks, and now they've missed out on Oden and Durant. Add in the other unlucky events around the franchise (most notably the deaths of Bias and Reggie Lewis), and it's quite obvious that the luck has run out.
I was born in 1982. I missed the vast majority of the Celtics glory years. There is a whole generation of New Englanders growing up that have never seen the Celtics capture a championship. I'm too young to remember a championship season. All I've known as a fan is the misery and suffering of the past twenty years. Maybe one day the luck will come back. Maybe one day I'll see a Celtics championship. Until then, I can only hope.
Len Bias made Jordan look like a sissy in tights. He was the ONLY player of the age that other players did in fact get out of the way when he was on a dunk! Had touch from a distance, could jump out of the county and when he wanted to "D" you up, you got nuttin baby!
Very nice, bro. This was well done. It kinda made me think too.
Even had Bias lived, it is not for certain that he would have helped the Celtics in the way everyone assumes. I mean, think about it, dude dies from an overdose of crack-cocaine. How stupid.
It is more conceivable Bias was headed down the wrong path to begin with. Had he survived, could he have overcome the powerful alllure of what is rumored to be the most habit-forming and addictive drug known to man, crack? Not many have succeeded and lived to talk about it.
Sad...Sad...Sad...day!!! I honestly believe that Len Bias would have been an eye to eye rival to Michael Jordan. I don't know what else to say. It was most disturbing on many levels!!
Ricko - We live in the ESPN-hype machine era of sports now. Everything is the greatest of all time. I like Oden and Durant, but I think Durant has a lot to prove, and Oden needs drastic improvement on the offensive ends. Kids usually improve much more in college than in the NBA. Both guys probably need another year, but under the circumstances, I'd come out too.
Manrub - It's amazing isn't it. I can remember being very young and watching the Celtics on CBS every Sunday afternoon. I was 8 when they won in 1986. I remember it, but vaguely. Larry Bird was my hero as an underathletic white kid with an outside shot. To this day, Bird is the only athlete that brought tears to my eyes when he retired.
Fat & Baf - Growing up on the Maryland/Delaware line, Bias was an icon. He is still talked about in the sense of true local tragedies. Up until the Terps' national title a few years ago, Bias was still the watercooler topic for Maryland basketball. I don't know how good he would've been, but he certainly had everything you could hope for.
Mean - What you're saying is entirely possible about Bias going down the wrong road. However, the story always was that this incident was Bias's first experience with Crack. Whether you believe that or not is up to you, but that has always been the claim. Instead of someone who paid dearly for his stupid mistake, he has always been viewed as a sympathetic figure (again, I'm in Terp country). Now that I teach about drugs in the public schools, I always tell my students the Len Bias story. It's tragic, sad, but revealing about the true dangers of drugs.
Excellent write Xea. I used to go to the old Garden all the time. You could just hear the echos of history when you were there. I mentioned that to someone earlier this year.....that it was hard to believe that Boston had come down so far. It's a tragedy for a franchise that struck fear into every other team in the league every year. Great write on a sad truth.
I've also heard Bias' crack use was a one-time deal too. However, I also know people who have struggled, and are still struggling to overcome an addiction to crack. The word on the street is, "one time and you're hooked." Which is why I speculate that Len was headed down the wrong road. Had he simply died of a cocaine overdose that would be one thing, but he tried crack-cocaine. Very bad move!
You're right Mean. Crack is one of the most dangerous and addicting drugs in the world, and Len used at the height of it's popularity. Again, you have a great point. Unfortunately, we'll never know!
Great post... I grew up in MD, and my bro and I were huge Bias fans back then... he used to call me Lenny actually for a while when I was younger. It was a real tragic thing that happened back then, and it definitely was the beginning of the downward spiral that the C's have gotten themselves into. You never know though... past drafts have stated the top picks aren't always the best. Later - KP
It was a tradegy what happened to Lenny Bias. That 86-87 team would have been amazing with Bird, McHale, Parrish, Walton, and Bias. But it was not to be. I can only imagine how many more championships that team would have won.
KSP & Golf - Thanks for reading. The untold part of the story is that it rocked the College Park community as well. Maryland basketball really struggled for about the next ten years, until Gary Williams got the program turned around. The impact this event had is hard to describe to someone not from our area.
Good post, but come on people saying Bias would have been better than Jordan. Serious? It's strictly a game of might have been, who knows! Anyone who celebrates instant fortune by blowing their heart out with an eightball has serious issues. He obviously had a drug problem no one knew about and more than likely would have been a bust.
Boston's curse is the same as the Lakers, really bad management of player personnel.
Minus the crazy history of the Celtics, I think this will be the same type of situation that my Pacers will be facing in the near future. Their situation will be traced back to the Brawl at the Palace and include such events as the lost trust of Jermaine O'neal when they let Isiah Thomas go and the trade of Al Harrington and Steven Jackson for two of the most overpaid undertalented guys in the NBA with Dunleavy and Murphy. It is a sad time to be a Pacers fan.
At least I still have the Colts and Cardinals...well at least the Colts. Go Hawgs!!!
reggie died on my birthday. i go through this every year. he was my favorite celtic and people forget how good he was. better than reggie miller. better than reggie williams. it hurt more than bias because we loved this guy. the turkey give aways. the explosiveness to the rim. great work here.
magic - You're right. It's impossible to say accurately how good Bias would've been. However, that seems to be the turning point in the history of the franchise. Since then, not much.
Hawg - You're probably right, but the Pacers are much less significant historically.
Public - You're right in that its much easier to quantify the loss of Lewis since he was already an NBA all-star at the time of his death. However, it's the Bias death that was the first in a chain of events that have the Celtics where they are today.
not for nothing, celtic loyalty played a major part as well. the celtics are known for taking care of their own. rather than getting rid of bird and mchale at the end, when they still had trade value, but not much playoff value they hang on to them out of respect. also the premayure injuries to bird's back and mchales foot hurt. if mchale didnt get hurt in '86, there'd be no bad boys. they probably would have won the '87 ring as well.
Last edited by JoshQPublic on May 25th at 11:59 AM.
who knows if bias would have been as good as every body thought he was going to be anyway. sometimes all that domination in college doesn't translate to the nba
Public - You're right. The Celtics were probably "health" away from winning the 1987 Finals as well. To make an anology to your other favorite team, that was like the 2001 World Series to your beloved Yankees. The Celtics didn't fall from grace overnight, but Bias got the ball rolling.
lj - No one know how good Bias would've been. However, you have to admit it's a bad omen when you're highest draft pick in franchise history dies of a drug overdose 24 hours after his selection.
Golf - The Celtics have to blow it all up and start again. If they do, someone will love acquiring Paul Pierce. He's a full-fledged beast.
Miracle - I vaguely remember how sick everyone was. Everyone thought it was so unfair that the rich got richer. That fact makes Bias the most ironic draft pick in the history of sports. The athlete that was going to keep the dynasty going, effectively killed it with one failed snort.
I'm not even a Celts fan, and I still remember hearing the news about Bias like it just happened. Such amazing potential and then he was just gone. In an instant. Absolutely heartbreaking.
Hawg - I'm not a Celtics fan, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I like O'Brien the Celtics coach. I thought that O'Brien the Sixers coach was terrible. He's a defense first guy. I don't really understand the hire. Carlisle, even though it was surely time to go in Indiana, is a great defense first guy. I thought they should've gone for an offensive, up-tempo guy. Especially if they trade O'Neal.
Proud NGS II finalist. My run to the sweet 16 was short but. . . (from the department of redundancy department) sweet.
I love all sports. The Seattle Seahawks are my main passion. I've loved them since I can remember. My teams of choice in other sports are the New York Yankees and Rangers, and the Arkansas Razorbacks. As far as the NBA, I'm just a drifter. However, I do love this game!
