“What If” Len Bias Didn’t Die?

DLR has an imagination and sometimes we begin to talk about things in history, that may, or may not have been able to take place i.e. if Jesse Jackson was elected president, if Kobe was never traded on draft day, etc etc. Here is the first installment of our “what if” series, so here goes…

“What If Len Bias Didn’t Die”?

- Would Chuck Person, drafted @ #4, two spots behind Len, have  won the Rookie Of The Year? – Chuck Person may have been the first big man introduced to America with a sweet 3 pt. shot, but with Len playing around those Hall of Famers, the possibilities were endless. (4 current, soon to be 5 with Dennis Johnson)

- Would the L.A. Lakers have won it all in 1987? – The previous year was won by the Boston Celtics, with the Best record, then with the injection of Len in the post, and perimeter, could that have been enough to put them over the edge.

- Would Larry Bird have played longer that 13 Seasons? – Every One In DLR remembers the day when Larry Bird had to lay on his stomach along the sideline to preserve his back. If Len was there eating up those minutes would Larry’s back have been so bad, so fast.

- Would Michael Jordan have 6 rings? – Who knows? The Celtics team with Len could have been better than those punk ass Utah, Knicks, and Houston teams of old.

- Would Kenny Walker have won the Dunk Contest in ‘89? – Kenny Walker was drafted #5, 3 picks after Len, won the dunk contest in 1989. Len was a high flier and could have been the competition that that knocked Kenny out the box.

- Would Reebok be a bigger player in the game of Sneakers? – While having current endorsers such as A.I., Yao Ming, & Eli Manning, neither may have been more polarizing or dominant as Len.

- Would Len Bias be Included in the 50 Greatest Players of All Time? –  If we can agree that Red Auerback rarely misses, then Pippen & Drexler’s spot would be up for grabs.

- Would the University of Maryland be a Powerhouse? –  Its hard to say but, you could only imagine the recruits that would have been drawn to MD post Len Bias.

- Would Lefty Driesel still be Head Coach? – After the Death of Len Bias the Goverment as well as University of Maryland personnel were looking to blame somebody, of course it was the coach. Lefty coached for a while after UMD at a lower division. So there is no reason to think he would not have been @ Maryland.

Len Bias was a dominating force in College Basketball, handpicked by Red Auerbach, a Basketball guru that was excellent in recognizing talent, to join a championship team with 4 sure fire Hall of Famers. Too bad we will never know what would of become of the great Len Bias. If you not familiar with Len Bias, I suggest you check out the Kirk Fraser documentary, “The Len Bias Story” aka “Without Bias“.

Michael Wilbon – The Story of Bias’s Death Should Always Have Life …