If you were a D.C. sports fan 25 years ago, you probably remember where you were when you heard Len Bias was dead.
You probably can recall the various stages of loss you went through on June 19, 1986, as if it were yesterday. First came the disbelief. He had just been selected by the Boston Celtics two days earlier, the second pick in the NBA Draft.
Dead? How could that be?
Then came the depression, the sadness that followed. A young talent who we had witnessed come of age at the University of Maryland, a local legend with so much promise and potential, had died because of cocaine use.
Senseless doesn’t do his death justice. Scary, perhaps, is a better description. The scourge of the 1980s — cocaine — that was causing havoc in locker rooms throughout America now had a face.
We wondered whether we were losing a generation of athletes.
There were the revelations by NFL defensive tackle Don Reese in a 1982 Sports Illustrated cover story, an article in which he wrote that cocaine “took control and almost killed me.”
Three years later came the Pittsburgh drug trials, in which a number of major league players went before a grand jury investigating drug trafficking. Dave Parker, Keith Hernandez, Vida Blue and others testified about their cocaine use and connections.
In 1986, the New York Mets were on their way to winning a historic World Series championship with a team that included some of baseball’s youngest and brightest stars — Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.
One year later, Gooden was in drug rehabilitation. Strawberry’s career later derailed from cocaine and substance abuse. Both should have been Hall of Famers.
But it is Bias who came to define the troubles of the era. He died in a dormitory in College Park, just days after predictions he would become the next great player for the Celtics, joining a legacy that included Bill Russell, Bob Cousy and Larry Bird.
His light was shining so bright that when the darkness came it seemed to cover the entire world of sports and beyond. His death, you could say, was a significant chapter in that decade of American history.
Two years after his death, Congress adopted stricter drug laws. The legislation known as “The Len Bias Law” brought stiffer penalties and expanded youth anti-drug education.
You could say it was the true beginning of the drug war in America, a controversial battle that rages to this day. It is the sad legacy of Len Bias.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
