Fantastic new article about Len Bias/Celtics

[kraidstar]

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.

[D.o.s.]

Agreed. If everyone who did that sort of thing died right away then, among other things, the world wouldn't have much of a drug problem at all.

[tenn_smoothie]

"Admitting equal ground to the Lakers was torturous"

I haven't ceded equality to them yet - they are still one behind and their first title wasn't even under the NBA flag. Funny how the Laker organization barely recognized their Minny titles from the 50's until they realized that adding them to their total would get them within shouting distance of the Celtics. Even now, they don't hang individual flags for those - it's a group banner last time I checked. Gawd, I hate them.

[Redz]

"Admitting equal ground to the Lakers was torturous"

I haven't ceded equality to them yet - they are still one behind and their first title wasn't even under the NBA flag. Funny how the Laker organization barely recognized their Minny titles from the 50's until they realized that adding them to their total would get them within shouting distance of the Celtics. Even now, they don't hang individual flags for those - it's a group banner last time I checked. Gawd, I hate them.

I meant in the sense that they were capable of beating us in a Finals series.

[Big333223]

"Admitting equal ground to the Lakers was torturous"

I haven't ceded equality to them yet - they are still one behind and their first title wasn't even under the NBA flag. Funny how the Laker organization barely recognized their Minny titles from the 50's until they realized that adding them to their total would get them within shouting distance of the Celtics. Even now, they don't hang individual flags for those - it's a group banner last time I checked. Gawd, I hate them.

It bugs me too when they show the Lakers having 16 championships. They kind of do, but really they don't.

Of course, it doesn't bug me as much as thinking that if anyone had been able to get a rebound during Game 7 in 2010 we'd be up comfortable 18-"15".

[Big333223]

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.