Was thinking about the lost opportunities to watch Lenny Bias play in the pros. Amazing talent. Larry Bird was going to show up at rookie camp to play with him. How many of you remember him at Maryland?
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Before I was born, but definitely know the history surrounding him. Would have made a heck of a player in the NBA.Was thinking about the lost opportunities to watch Lenny Bias play in the pros. Amazing talent. Larry Bird was going to show up at rookie camp to play with him. How many of you remember him at Maryland?
yeah it was really set up for jordan vs bias to be the bird vs magic replacement rivalry. just sucked. i will never forget where and when i first saw that death report on the news.
He was an amazing player. I'll never forget when I found out about his death. I had worked all night and up into the wee hours of the morning and was sleeping late when my, then 9 year old daughter, woke me up to tell me Mr. Bias was dead. I was totally stunned, and heartbroken. Such a sad ending.
OFC
Dirt you're so spot-on my friend... OFC
It was just so shocking, and most importantly, didn't have to be. Life is too precious for something like that to happen. Also, my family and I were near the end of a horrendous 15 month battle that my dad had been waging against cancer. He was down to about 80 pounds by then, and would die (about 10 weeks later
). He was only about 40 feet away from me in, another bedroom, of my house. The contrast of the two situations really got to me that day. My dad dying and nothing to be done, and a young man who had everything to live for, throwing it all away. I won't ever forget the hopelessness of both situations.
OFC
A little off topic..
Take this into prospective.. Bias (as the 2nd overall pick in the NBA draft) was negotiating a 5 year $1.6 million shoe deal with Reebok.. Zion just signed a 7 year $75 million shoe deal..
He was the best player I ever saw in person. He broke UNCheats heart that night and I had a good time watching. I never saw Zion or MJ in person.One of the best ever! Sent shocks all through out college basketball.
Believe it or not,it was a trade with Seattle in 1984 for guard Gerald Henderson,the father of Duke's Gerald Henderson!Does anyone remember how Boston won the Championship and ended up with the #2 pick in the draft? They were set to be a dynasty for years to come.
I seen Alerie and Bias at the Joel coliseum after their college careers were finished. They both scored over forty with both playing soft defense. Last game I seen Bias playBetween Bias' death and Reggie Lewis' death, the Celtics had an epic run of bad luck.
Bias would have had to move to the wing in the NBA. Would that have worked? Well, his foul shooting improved every year at Maryland. He shot 86 percent as a senior!! Then again he only averaged an assist per game as a senior. Then again, who on that team would you want him to pass to? Keith Gatlin was the only other double-figure scorer and just barely.
Bias scored 41 points at Cameron against Duke in 1986. I'm pretty sure that's the most points any opponent has ever scored at Duke. And this was against Mark Alarie. Krzyzewski gambled that Maryland didn't have the horses to run with Duke and put Alarie on an island. K was right. Duke won easily. Still, it was an awesome performance.
I do disagree with some posters about the impact his death had on Driesell. By 1986 he had lost control of his program. Players were doing-or not doing-pretty much whatever they wanted. Going to class was one of the things they didn't want to do and Lefty was either okay with that or unaware of that, neither of which is acceptable. He had to go, IMO.
Between Bias' death and Reggie Lewis' death, the Celtics had an epic run of bad luck.
Bias would have had to move to the wing in the NBA. Would that have worked? Well, his foul shooting improved every year at Maryland. He shot 86 percent as a senior!! Then again he only averaged an assist per game as a senior. Then again, who on that team would you want him to pass to? Keith Gatlin was the only other double-figure scorer and just barely.
Bias scored 41 points at Cameron against Duke in 1986. I'm pretty sure that's the most points any opponent has ever scored at Duke. And this was against Mark Alarie. Krzyzewski gambled that Maryland didn't have the horses to run with Duke and put Alarie on an island. K was right. Duke won easily. Still, it was an awesome performance.
I do disagree with some posters about the impact his death had on Driesell. By 1986 he had lost control of his program. Players were doing-or not doing-pretty much whatever they wanted. Going to class was one of the things they didn't want to do and Lefty was either okay with that or unaware of that, neither of which is acceptable. He had to go, IMO.
A lot of people don't know the impact that Bias' death had on Lefty Driesel. It essentially cost him his job at Md. with was totally unfair bu Lefty genuinely loved Bias and it ate away at him the rest of his life. OFC