35 Years after Len Bias: The ‘What if’ Never Subsides
By Bret Dougherty
Ask yourself – Who would you draft right now? Would you take a ’86 Len Bias over a ’84 Michael Jordan?
35 years after the shocking death of University of Maryland legend and 1986 Boston Celtic first-round draft pick, Len Bias, and we’re still left with nothing but debates that seep from the eternal reflection of “what if.”
The “what if” still haunts us.
Documentary shorts and YouTube montages with grainy photos and footage from dusted VHS tapes put any ‘80s hoops junkie into time vacuums. The dunk over Duke’s Danny Ferry in Cole Field House, the “Jumper – Steal – Reverse Dunk” in Chapel Hill, the deluge of mid-range jumpers against UNLV are just a few of the many highlights that leave heads shaking forever.
We can’t accept the “what if.”
As with all basketball debates and subjective rankings, the feats and talents of any legend are compared to those of Michael Jordan.
We can’t accept the “what if.”
“Ol’ Leonard” as his Maryland coach, Lefty Driesell, would often refer to him, was certainly not as court savvy and fundamentally sound as the Dean Smith system shaped Olympian that Jordan was, but believe the truth. His body, explosiveness, and raw potential made it easy for him to be the speculative arch-nemesis to Jordan.
Bias would not have shared the same meteoric rise of Jordan. As a rookie, he would have been eased into a sixth-seventh man role in a savvy veteran forward rotation with Celtic legends, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. More importantly, he would have had Hall of Famer, Dennis Johnson who also had a wild side early in his career, to guide him. We can only point to how Reggie Lewis grew as a Celtic and into an All-Star.
With the Terry Cummings-like strength and inside play and a budding jumper that could propel Alex English – like scoring stretches, Bias would have a lethal NBA combination to be a perennial All-Star…a nd possibly even more.
Generational UNC Tar Heel fans are susceptible to “what if” debates… too much pain.
What if Tommy LaGarde doesn’t hurt his knee? What if Kenny Smith doesn’t break his wrist? What if Stack and Rasheed stay for ‘96? What if Dwight Howard comes to UNC?
The truth is, we can’t accept the “what if.”
Bret Dougherty is a UNC-Chapel Hill alum (’94, ’05, ’08). He resides in Chicago, and he can be reached via bret.dougherty@gmail.com or @dougherty.
(featured image via AP Photo)
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