« Reply #35 on: September 12, 2015, 02:51:29 PM »
Unanswerable question...would he have been as good without the drugs??
He didn't do drugs before games, so I'd have to say yes.
The real question would be, would he have kept doing drugs in the NBA? I'm one of those fans who believe he would've been transformative for the franchise and led us into the 90's but isn't it just as reasonable to think he would've washed out of the league with drug problems?
Just too many variables.
most of the league was loaded on coke at the time (and probably now, too). bias was not unusual.
and if it wasn't coke, many guys were doing other stuff, like booze. bird for instance was a notorious drinker, and alcohol has ruined many lives.
IMO bias got unlucky, maybe got some bad stuff, or just had a bad reaction, there's no evidence he was some sort of richard pryor-level drug abuser, he was just a college kid doing some partying.
I think Bias' death changed the culture in the NBA. There are definitely still guys doing coke in the league today but in the late 80's no one even understood that it could be harmful. Nowadays it seems like everyone smokes weed but that's not a big deal.
Based on the 30 For 30 about Bias, it seems like this was definitely not his first time. Maybe he could've kept it under control but what are the odds a 22 year old millionair dropped into an environment rife with drug use would've stopped or slowed down once he got into the league? As I said, I'm of the midn that Bias would've ensured us the '87 title and probably a couple more down the line but it's not a forgone conclusion that, had he lived past that night, there wasn't still tragedy in his future.
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