sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Leonard Kevin Bias (November 18, 1963 – June 19, 1986) was an American college basketball player who attended the University of Maryland. During his four years playing for Maryland, he was named a first-team All-American. Two days after being selected by the Boston Celtics with the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft, Bias died from cardiac arrhythmia induced by a cocaine overdose.[1] In 2021, Bias was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.[2]

Len Bias

Bias after being selected in the 1986 NBA draft
Personal information
Born	(1963-11-18)November 18, 1963 Landover, Maryland, U.S.
Died	June 19, 1986(1986-06-19) (aged 22) Riverdale, Maryland, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school	Northwestern (Hyattsville, Maryland)
College	Maryland (1982–1986)
NBA draft	1986 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Position	Small forward
Career highlights and awards
Consensus first-team All-American (1986) Consensus second-team All-American (1985) 2× ACC Player of the Year (1985, 1986) 2× First-team All-ACC (1985, 1986) ACC Athlete of the Year (1986) ACC tournament MVP (1984) Fourth-team Parade All-American (1982)
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2021

Early life

Bias was born and raised in the Prince George’s County area in Maryland, just outside of the Washington, D.C. area. He was one of four children born to James Bias Jr and Dr. Lonise Bias. He had a sister, Michelle, and two brothers, Eric and James III (James III was known as "Jay").[3]

From Landover, Maryland, Bias graduated from Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Maryland.[4][5]

College career

Bias attended the University of Maryland. As a freshman, he was viewed as "raw and undisciplined," but ultimately, Bias developed into an All-American player. He led the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring in his junior year and was named the ACC's Player of the Year. His senior season was highlighted by his performance in an overtime victory against top-ranked North Carolina, in which he scored 35 points, including 7 in the last three minutes of regulation and 4 in overtime. Bias collected his second ACC Player of the Year award at the end of the year and was named to two All-America teams.[6]

Bias impressed basketball fans with his amazing leaping ability, physical stature, and ability to create plays, and he was considered one of the most dynamic players in the nation. By his senior year, scouts from various National Basketball Association teams viewed Bias as the most complete forward in the class of 1986. Celtics scout Ed Badger called Bias an "explosive and exciting kind of player" and compared him to Michael Jordan.[7]

NBA draft, drug overdose, and death

On June 17, Bias was selected by the Boston Celtics as the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft, which was held in New York City at Madison Square Garden. Red Auerbach, the Celtics' president and general manager, had dealt guard Gerald Henderson and cash to the Seattle SuperSonics for the pick in 1984. After the draft, Bias and his family returned to their suburban Maryland home.^{[citation needed]} On June 18, Bias and his father flew to Boston, Massachusetts, from Washington, D.C., for an NBA club draft acceptance and product endorsement signing ceremony with the Celtics' coaches and management. Bias had discussions with Reebok's sports marketing division regarding a five-year endorsement package worth $1.6 million.[8]

After returning home to Maryland, Bias drove back to the campus of the University of Maryland. He left campus at approximately 2 a.m. on Thursday, June 19, drove to an off-campus gathering, and returned to his dormitory between 2:30 and 3 a.m.[9] For the next three to four hours, Bias, with longtime friend Brian Tribble and several teammates, snorted cocaine in the dormitory suite shared by Bias and his teammates.[10][11][12] Bias reportedly had a seizure and collapsed while talking with teammate Terry Long.[9][13] At 6:32 a.m., when Tribble called 911, Bias was unconscious and not breathing.[12] All attempts by the emergency medical team to restart his heart and breathing were unsuccessful.[9] After additional attempts to revive him at Leland Memorial Hospital in Riverdale, Maryland, Bias was pronounced dead at 8:55 a.m. of a cardiac arrhythmia related to usage of cocaine. It was reported that there were no other drugs or alcohol found in his system.[14][15][16][17]

Four days after Bias died, more than 11,000 people attended a June 23 memorial service at the Cole Field House, the university recreation and student center where Bias played for the Terrapins. Those speaking at the service included Red Auerbach, who said he had planned to draft Bias for the Celtics for three years. On June 30, 1986, the Celtics honored Bias with their memorial service, giving his never-used #30 Celtics jersey to his mother, Lonise.[18]

Bias was interred at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland.[19]

Later developments

Criminal charges

On July 25, 1986, a grand jury returned indictments against Brian Tribble for possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Bias' Maryland teammates Terry Long and David Gregg were charged with possession of cocaine and obstruction of justice. Long and Gregg were both suspended from the team on July 31.[20] All three defendants entered not guilty pleas in August.[20]

On October 20, 1986, prosecutors dropped all charges against Long and Gregg in exchange for their testimony against Tribble. On October 30, the grand jury added three more indictments against Tribble—one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and two counts of obstruction of justice.[20]

Also on October 30, Kenneth Mark Fobbs, Tribble's roommate, was charged with perjury for allegedly lying to the grand jury about the last time he had seen Tribble. The state ultimately dropped the perjury charges against Fobbs on March 24, 1987, and a jury acquitted Tribble of all charges related to the Bias case on June 3, 1987.[20]

In October 1990, Tribble pleaded guilty to a drug charge following a two-year undercover sting operation. He cooperated with the government and was sentenced to ten years and one month in prison.[21]

Family

On December 5, 1990, Len's younger brother, Jay Bias, was murdered in a drive-by shooting at age 20. The killing followed a dispute in the parking lot of Prince George's Plaza, a Hyattsville shopping mall just a few miles from the University of Maryland.[22] He was pronounced dead at the same hospital where his brother Len had died and was buried next to him at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery.[23]

Following their sons' deaths, James and Lonise Bias assumed vocal advocacy roles. Lonise Bias became an anti-drug lecturer, while James Bias became an advocate for gun control.[24][25] Lonise Bias, in the memory of her children, opened the Len and Jay Bias Foundation, which served to encourage better examples for youth.[26]

Len Bias Law

A few weeks after Bias' death, committees in the United States House of Representatives began writing anti-drug legislation.[27] The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was signed by President Ronald Reagan on October 27, 1986. The law provided a mandatory minimum prison term of 20 years and a maximum life sentence, along with a fine of up to $2 million for cases of drug distribution that led to the death of serious injury of a person. It is also known as the "Len Bias Law".[28]

President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, also called the “Len Bias Law.” Len Bias was an NBA player who died from cardiac arrhythmia induced by a cocaine overdose during a basketball game. The federal law allows judges to sentence a person to life in prison if he gets convicted of distributing drugs that result in the death of someone who uses the drugs.

The legislative history of the “Len Bias Law” Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 (Act) states that the purpose of the law is to:

Eradicate illegal drug crops Halt international drug traffic Improve the enforcement of federal drug legislation Increase the capture of illicit drug shipments Establish effective drug abuse prevention and education programs Increase federal support for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug abuse

[29] On August 26, 1986, State's Attorney Arthur A. Marshall Jr. stated that in the hours after Bias' death, Maryland head basketball coach Lefty Driesell told players to remove drugs from Bias' dorm room. Two days later, Bias' father, James, accused the university and Driesell specifically of neglecting their athletes' academic status.[20]

The controversy prompted athletic director Dick Dull to resign on October 7, 1986, with Driesell following suit on October 29 after 17 years as coach. The grand jury presiding over the Bias case issued a final report on February 26, 1987, criticizing the University of Maryland's athletic department, admissions office, and campus police.[20]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1982–83	Maryland	30	13	22.0	.478	.273	.636	4.2	.7	.3	.5	7.1
1983–84	Maryland	32	31	34.5	.567	—	.767	4.5	1.5	.4	.8	15.3
1984–85	Maryland	37	37	36.5	.528	—	.777	6.8	1.8	.9	.9	18.9
1985–86	Maryland	32	32	37.0	.544	—	.864	7.0	1.0	.8	.4	23.2
Career		131	113	32.8	.536	.273	.795	5.7	1.3	.6	.7	16.4

Film and media

A film about Len Bias' life, directed by Kirk Fraser, was promoted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival[30] and released June 19, 2009.

The documentary Without Bias premiered on ESPN on November 3, 2009, as part of their 30 for 30 documentary series.

Bias was portrayed by actor Jamie Jones on the FX original series Snowfall.[31]^{[better source needed]}

See also

• List of basketball players who died during their careers

References

Further reading

• Abel, Greg (June 14, 2006). "It Was 20 Years Ago Today". PressBox. Archived from the original on July 17, 2010. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
• Bratcher, Drew (June 1, 2009). "Death of a Legend". Washingtonian. Archived from the original on November 6, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2009 – via Wayback Machine.
• Bulpett, Steve (June 16, 2018). "On draft anniversary, memories of Len Bias still there". Boston Herald.
• Cole, Lewis (1989). Never Too Young to Die: The Death of Len Bias. Pantheon. ISBN 0394564405.
• Smith, Fraser C. (1992). Lenny, Lefty, and the Chancellor: The Len Bias Tragedy and the Search for Reform in Big-Time College Basketball. Bancroft Press. ISBN 0963124609.
• Ungrady, Dave J. (2011). Born Ready: The Mixed Legacy of Len Bias. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1467972369.

External links

• Len Bias at Find a Grave

На других языках

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[de] Len Bias

Leonard Kevin Bias (* 18. November 1963 in Landover, Maryland; † 19. Juni 1986 in College Park, Maryland) war ein US-amerikanischer Basketballspieler. Er galt als sehr talentierter Spieler und besuchte die University of Maryland, wo er als All-American und ACC Spieler des Jahres ausgezeichnet wurde und Vergleiche mit Michael Jordan auf sich zog.[1]

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- [en] Len Bias

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[es] Len Bias

Leonard Kevin "Len" Bias (Landover, Maryland, 18 de noviembre de 1963 - College Park, Maryland, 19 de junio de 1986) fue un jugador de baloncesto estadounidense que sufrió una arritmia cardíaca que causó su muerte provocada por una sobredosis de cocaína 36 horas después de ser elegido por los Boston Celtics en el Draft de la NBA de 1986 el 17 de junio de 1986 en el puesto n.º 2.

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[ru] Байас, Лен

Леонард Кевин «Лен» Байас (англ. Leonard Kevin "Len" Bias; 18 ноября 1963 года в Лэндовере, Мэриленд — 19 июня 1986 года в Ривердейле, Мэриленд) — американский баскетболист, который был выбран под общим 2-м номером на драфте НБА 1986 года клубом «Бостон Селтикс», скончался через два дня после драфта от передозировки наркотиков.

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