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Finding Meaning in the Death of Len Bias

Cocaine killed the athlete 22 years ago, but the impact lingers

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 26, 2008 2:45 PM CDT

(Newser) – Twenty-two years ago, Celtics legend Larry Bird called the sudden death of new Boston draftee Len Bias "one of the the cruelest things I've ever heard." The legacy of the Maryland basketball great, whose NBA career ended with cocaine use just two days after it began, retains its nuance and potency even now, writes Michael Weinreb for ESPN.

In one sense, Bias' story is the ultimate cautionary tale. In1986, no one really believed that cocaine could fell a young athlete in his prime. And his death became the catalyst for tougher drug laws, whose consequences remain today. "In death," one author wrote, Bias "would become the Archduke Ferdinand of the Total War on Drugs."

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Sports Illustrated's cover story the week after Len Bias's death was one of the first, but certainly not the last, attempts to understand the tragedy that cut short a promising career. (Sports Illustrated)

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Bias In The Dean Dome: Len Bias's great play to help Maryland cut a late nine-point deficit down to three, and lead the Terps to an OT win in Chapel Hill. (packfanstk)

Len Bias's legendary steal against North Carolina. (bushmusic)

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Finding Meaning in the Death of Len Bias