April 24, 2022 • 64 mins
How do you define the legacy of a universally endeared and admired basketball player when he goes and throws it all away? How can you honor a young man whose youthful indiscretion placed the University of Maryland into a tailspin that lasted for almost a decade? How can a fan salute his vast achievements without acknowledging how his choice wreaked havoc on the world around him?
Those questions are answered in this episode.
This is the fifth episode of seven in section three of the series, focusing on the main aspects of Len’s legacy.
About the narrator: Kevin Sheehan is a University of Maryland alumnus and is the host of the podcast, the Kevin Sheehan Show.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This podcast is based a large part on the book
Born Ready Mixed Legacy of Lenn Bias. Some quotes are
narrated by podcast producer and book author Dave and Grady
from interviews done for the book. Recordings for those comments
were not available.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, I found out after calling Lefty Uh that Lynn
has never been inducted into the Maryland Basketball Hall of Fame,
and so I actually said, what the hecken?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Again?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You know, he deserves to be recognized.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
I remember one gear recently departed alumni said that he
would have his name removed from the Hall of Fame
if Lenn Bias got in. So that was how strong
they felt about it.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
We are experiencing today here.
Speaker 6 (01:04):
It would have been so sick.
Speaker 7 (01:05):
Crucial m byers fan here anybody, Yeah, that's what we're here.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
What do you know about him?
Speaker 8 (01:11):
That he played a lot long time ago.
Speaker 9 (01:13):
I think it was yeah, yeah, the world was the kids,
me out coming up.
Speaker 10 (01:20):
I remember every almost every game from from Lenny.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I actually the Lenney was.
Speaker 10 (01:25):
Actually the reason why I attended Maryland back then.
Speaker 11 (01:29):
He made uh Maryland Pride a regular routine, became.
Speaker 6 (01:37):
The life of Lynn still goes on. The legacy.
Speaker 12 (01:44):
Family, my grandchildren that Lynn didn't even know, he never
twenty eyes on them.
Speaker 6 (01:51):
But he had enough facts on that and then the
curse with lym byxcept the Earth. He gave the world
a wake up calling it.
Speaker 13 (01:57):
I'm speaking totally as a fan. You know, there's nobody
had more than greater impact on me in terms of
my favorite Maryland athlete of all times. You know, it's
no doubt for me it was Lynn Bias.
Speaker 14 (02:11):
Now it was strictly based on his achievement, that's that Maryland.
It was based on what he did on the court
you heard, you know, comparisons to Michael Jordan's that he
would have been greater than Michael Geordan, or he would
have been just as good as Michael Jordan.
Speaker 6 (02:27):
Man all get paid.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
I'm just trying to pay respect.
Speaker 15 (02:30):
One tragic story. When Lynn Bias passed away from using cocaine,
my father came in the house furious, furious, if you
ever do this, I'll kill you. You don't even have time
though overdose, I'll kill you. So I always say, you
know what, no drugs for me.
Speaker 16 (02:49):
This story rings as a very very tragic story that
will be used for a long long time.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
To help other people.
Speaker 17 (02:59):
Records, how decisions and mistakes matter.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
On this episode of Lembias, the mixed legacy, fame and honor,
the struggle to accept the legacy of Lembias.
Speaker 6 (03:16):
Second game.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
I think they ought to put a statue up. I
think he was a better college player than Michael Jordan.
Speaker 18 (03:26):
That's Lefty Drizzl, the former college coach for Len Bias.
There are no statues of Len Bias, no roads named
in his honor, no memorial tournaments or charitable events raising
money in his name. The Bias family has formed foundations
to raise money on behalf of Len and j. Bias,
but public records show they generated little, if any revenue
(03:46):
and no wonder When considering the legacy of Len Bias,
questions arise. How do you define the legacy of an
All American basketball player, one with potential to be one
of the greatest of all time when he goes and
throws it all away? How can when you honor a
young man whose youthful indiscretion placed the University of Maryland,
the school that helped make him a star, into a
(04:06):
tailspin that lasted for almost a decade. How can a
fan or even a friend of Len Bias salute the
vast achievements and joyful moments of his life without also
acknowledging how his choice one night wreaked havoc on the
world around him. You want to badly, but even thirty
five years later, some still struggle. One pioneer did find
(04:27):
a way before anyone else to honor Len's legacy more
than a quarter century after his death.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
And of course I had only known Len because he
played in the Capitol Classic, which is an all star game.
I started in nineteen seventy four, he played in the
eighty two, and his brother Jay played in nineteen eighty eight,
so I was familiar with the biases. And I had
gone to Maryland or basketball games at Colefield House when
(04:56):
he was playing and saw some of his great games
and was very familiar with him.
Speaker 18 (05:01):
That's Bob Gagan, a legend promoting basketball. Gagan started the
Capitol Classic in the mid nineteen seventies. It was an
annual all star game in the Washington, DC area, featuring
the top high school basketball players in the United States
against those from the DC area. It was one of
the first of its kind, so it's no surprise that
Gagan was the first person to induct Len Bias into
(05:24):
a Hall of fame. He was inspired in part after
reading the book Born Ready, The Mixed Legacy of Len Bias.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I found out after calling Lefty that lenn had never
been inducted into the Maryland Basketball Hall of Fame, and
so I said, well, what the heck? You know, he
deserves to be recognized.
Speaker 18 (05:47):
Gagan is also the founder of the Washington, DC Metropolitan
Basketball Hall of Fame. It inducted its first class in
nineteen seventy eight. Bias joined that hall in twenty twelve.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I did it primarily because of the injustice that he
wasn't being recognized by the Maryland university that he played for.
And I wasn't looking to get a lot of publicity
from it, But I was doing it because I thought
it was the right thing to do.
Speaker 18 (06:13):
The effort to afford Bias Hall of Fame recognition has
been a prolonged process. It was not only because of
the way he died from a heart attack after consuming
a large amount of very pure cocaine, but also when
he died less than forty eight hours after the Celtics
made him the second pick of the NBA Draft, and
with Bias expected to be a prime time player in
(06:33):
the NBA. By the end of twenty twenty one, Bias
was a member of four Halls of Fame that includes
the University of Maryland. But it took more than a
quarter century after his death for all of that to
start to happen, and Maryland, for one, is finally accepting
the legacy of Bias. In late November, Maryland Athletics released
a documentary about the basketball accomplishments of Bias, and on
(06:57):
December first, it held its first Len Bias Knight at
a Maryland basketball game. In this episode, we will explain
why it took so long for Len Bias to receive
his ultimate honors and how it happened, and we will
also provide comments about the depth and breadth of his
legacy from many who knew him. Some did try to
(07:22):
memorialize the legacy of Len Bias before the Halls of
Fame came calling. The Columbia Park Civic Association represents the
neighborhood where Bias grew up. John Ware was a longtime
neighbor of the Bias family in Columbia Park. He saw
Len and Jay grow up and play basketball in the
neighborhood where was part of a group that wanted to
establish a one thousand dollars annual scholarship award in Len's name.
(07:46):
It would be given to someone in the neighborhood to
attend college, but Lenisse Bias turned it down. Here's podcast
producer Dave Ungrady where.
Speaker 7 (07:58):
Told me his mother did not allow me to do it.
She did not tell me why. They are a very
private family. They don't take advantage of their name.
Speaker 18 (08:08):
An alumnus of Northwestern High School tried to erect a
statue in lens honor on the school's campus. Bias also
attended that school. The alumnus was Victor Ramirez, a Maryland
state senator at the time. The effort didn't go far.
He withdrew a fifty thousand dollars bond bill to fund
the effort in twenty thirteen. Apparently some people were concerned
(08:28):
about recognizing Bias as a positive role model. One was
Melinda Miles, then the mayor of the town of Mount Rainier,
It's located some five miles southwest of the Maryland campus.
In a news report in twenty thirteen, Miles said she
didn't want her grandchildren to model someone who died of
a drug overdose. She seemed to soften her thoughts about
(08:50):
it in an interview with podcast producer Daveonngrady in twenty twenty.
Speaker 7 (08:54):
Miles told me there was a lot of discussion in
my neighborhood about it. I care what the message says
to young people, but life has changed the people who
are as peers. If you are doing it for them,
maybe now. If you want to create a legacy for
his mother, that's a different ballgame.
Speaker 18 (09:14):
Ramirez was a big fan of Bias for years. He
explained the reason for the statue in a Washington Post
story in twenty thirteen. Quote, I grew up with a
Lenbias poster in my room. He represented someone who could
make it. He was one of us. I think it
was a tragedy, but you can't allow that one night
to take away from who he was, what he stood for.
(09:36):
I think he stood for giving people hope and giving
kids who grew up in the neighborhood just like his hope,
that education the University of Maryland, That college was possible.
Speaker 19 (09:47):
End quote.
Speaker 18 (09:49):
Two restaurants in College Parker Forever linked to the legacy
of Bias. A jersey of Bias hung on a wall
in an enclosed class frame at RJ. Bentley's for years.
Then one day in the early nineteen nineties, it was gone.
It was removed from the frame. Bentley's owner John Brown,
had offered as much as several thousand dollars for the
return of the jersey. Brown told some Marilyn lacrosse players
(10:12):
at a Maryland football tailgate party that whoever found the
jersey would receive a one hundred and fifty dollars bar
tab at Bentley's. A few weeks later, Brown received an
unmarked Brown envelope in the mail. Inside was Bias's jersey.
A loyal customer later told Brown that her brother and
two of his friends stole the jersey and rotated possession
(10:34):
of it.
Speaker 7 (10:34):
John Brown told me they put it up wherever they
were living. One would have it for a while. Something bad,
what happened to him? They'd handed to the next guy,
and something bad what happened to that guy? So they
got fit up with it and sent it back. This
could be an urban myth, the Curse of the Bias Jersey.
Speaker 18 (10:54):
Mike Cogburn was the manager on duty at Townhall Liquors
in College Park when Bias stopped by A few hours
before he died, Cogburn advised Bias on his liquor purchase,
suggesting a bottle of cognac. He talked with Bias about
the Celtics in the NBA, and Bias autographed the purchase receipt.
A short time later, Cogburn was featured in a local
(11:16):
television news report about Bias stopping by the liquor store.
About six months later, Cogburn was fired from town Hall.
He claims it was due in part to the media
attention he brought to the bar and liquor store. The
bar owner was not pleased when the media calls didn't stop.
Cogburn then moved to Saint Croix, where he stayed until
Hurricane Hugo devastated the island in nineteen eighty nine. After that,
(11:40):
Time's got so tough that Cogburn was forced to sell
the receipt for just two hundred dollars. Lefty Drizzel was
among those invited to attend the induction of Len Bias
into the Washington, DC Metropolitan Basketball Hall of Fame in twelve.
(12:01):
Drizzell was Biased, his coach. He had been inducted into
that same hall a few years earlier. But this time
he couldn't attend. Here's Bob Gagan, the founder of the event.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I wanted him to be there because I thought he
had a great relationship, you know, with Lynn, and would
like to be there when we inducted him. And he
said his health didn't allow him to travel that particular
night that we were doing it, But he said, I
would love to stand you a letter and if you
(12:32):
could read it at the event, I would appreciate it.
So I gave it to our host that night.
Speaker 18 (12:39):
The master of ceremonies was Chris Knaki, currently the color
analyst on Maryland basketball radio broadcasts. Naki recalled that Drizzl
wrote a long and heartfelt letter from Drizzel to his
fallen star.
Speaker 20 (12:51):
What I remember was the emotion, and I also felt
like it was a very cathartic letter for Lefty to write,
and it.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Was it was.
Speaker 20 (13:01):
Clear in the letter, the verbiage, just how emotional he
was still about Len. I just felt like Lefty was
unburdening himself of, you know, something that had waited on
him for a long long time. It was not it
wasn't a one pager, it wasn't a three paragraphs And
(13:22):
I'm done.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Hey had a great night at the Hall of Fame
kind of thing. It was not that at all. It
was heartfelt, it was emotional, it was I mean, it was.
Speaker 18 (13:31):
Something KNACKI grew up in the Washington, DC area. He
was an assistant coach at American University when Bias played
at Maryland. He later became the school's head coach. Naki's
among many who wondered why Bias had not been selected
to a Hall of Fame until twenty twelve.
Speaker 20 (13:47):
Well, I mean, my first thought, to be quite honest
with you, is what took you so long? I was
fortunate I had a chance, at a very young age
in my coaching career to watch Len play almost every
day for about three months leading up to that NBA draft.
I was working at American. You he was working out
in that gym every single day, and he was working
(14:11):
out with a bunch of NBA guys and a bunch
of really great college players. Georgetown was loaded at the time,
as was Maryland, and he was superman, you know, he
was so much better than everybody else.
Speaker 18 (14:22):
Drizell was not the only notable no show at the ceremony.
Another was a member of the Bias family. Here's Bob Gagan.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
I thought it would be proper to invite his mom,
who was making a name for herself in Prince George's
county but going around talking about her son and the
problems that she saw with young people that she was
(14:51):
trying to correct, and I thought I would reach out,
but I got no response.
Speaker 18 (14:57):
Gagan had hoped a member of the Bias family or
Drizzelle himself could accept the honor on Len's behalf, with
no luck. He then chose to ask Dave On Grady,
the executive producer of this series. He is also the
author of the book on Bias that inspired this podcast series,
and Grady was more than a bit surprised.
Speaker 7 (15:18):
I told Bob it was an honor, but I wasn't
sure I deserved it. I wasn't sure how it would
be received. At that time. There seemed to be some
reluctance still to accept the premise of the book. It
dealt with so many uncomfortable issues. And I recall a
response after I posted something about it and Facebook, a
local broadcaster who I won't name and who was a
(15:41):
big Bias fan and went to Maryland, said, really, as
if he was surprised, as well, but it's hard to
say no to Bob Gagan. He's done so much for others,
So in large part I did it out of respect
for him.
Speaker 18 (15:54):
And Grady recalls a somber crowd during his presentation.
Speaker 7 (15:58):
I purposefully wanted to keep keep it brief, and I
didn't want to embellish the good or the bad. I
really wanted to explain the reality of his legacy and
acknowledge his life and accomplishments. I vividly recall sad expressions
on many faces. That's not typical when you're honoring someone
in such a way. One that comes to mind is
(16:20):
prominent broadcaster James Brown. He's a DC native and he's
a close friend of the Bias family. He looked very somber,
and I vividly remember at the end there was muted applause,
and I understood why it must have felt odd for
them to applaud such a presentation by someone with no
real direct connection to the family.
Speaker 18 (16:42):
Naki gives Ungrady credit for helping keep alive the memory
of Bias as well as the impact of his legacy
by writing the book that forms the basis of this
podcast series.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I want to circle back to too.
Speaker 20 (16:54):
You asked me if I felt like we were sort
of the forerunners in terms of starting that continuum that
we talked about. I really think Dave has a big
hand in that. You know, he's alone. He wrote a
pretty comprehensive book. It's not one of those he understood.
It was not a cut and dried look and a
guy who made an awful choice one night. There are
a lot of angle with different angles to this, and
(17:16):
I think that that sort of thing is what is
what matters as much as anything. And I'm not gonna
say he beat the drum because he doesn't impress me
as a guy who beats a drum, but I would
say he he did a great job of increasing awareness.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I think a lot of people don't even want to
talk about it.
Speaker 20 (17:35):
We realized that we were past the point of the
wound and and that, you know, we had to sort
of come to terms with this. A part of coming
to terms with that is recognizing who Lenn was and
for all his faults, he was an absolute gem of
a basketball player.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
And so I think Dave has.
Speaker 20 (17:54):
A big hand in terms of you know, how that
all that all happened.
Speaker 18 (17:59):
The first Hall of Fame induction ceremony for len Bias
ended with a dubious and unique act of tribute. Gagan
had placed placards of all the inductees on a stage.
At the end of the night, all but one remained.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
So I had five easels up there. They were mostly
hand and shoulder pictures, and I put that on stage
to decorate the stage a little bit. And after the
event was over, somebody took the len Bias who walked
off with it. I still have the remaining ones other
than Lenz. I don't really know what happened to it.
(18:36):
I know I never got it back.
Speaker 18 (18:44):
The Exfinity Center in College Park, Maryland, is the epicenter
of University of Maryland athletics. It's the home venue of
the men's and women's basketball teams, and other sports. Athletics
offices are housed in the facility as well. It also
features a temple of Terrapin's tradition and a triumph known
as the Maryland Walk of Fame. It's on a wall
(19:05):
that stretches about a half length of a football field.
It features dozens of larger than life images of the
best athletes to ever wear a Terps athletic outfit. In
the middle of the wall, it's easy to notice two
of Maryland's all time great basketball players from the early
nineteen seventies. They are All Americas, Len Elmore and Tom McMillan,
(19:26):
standing side by side. A few feet to the left
is the headshot of Lewis Bosey Berger. In nineteen thirty one,
Burger became Maryland's first basketball All America. To the right,
you noticed the Terrapins mascot Testudo. He's holding a sign
that reads fear the Turtle. Next to him stands Len Bias.
He is wearing the iconic gold Maryland jersey with the
(19:48):
blazing red number thirty four. His arms are raised triumphantly.
Until twenty fourteen, it was one of the only two
concrete reminders of his career at Maryland. The other was
his banner head in the Arenas Rafters. That year, Bias
was finally inducted into the University of Maryland Athletics Hall
of Fame. Bias was eligible to receive induction in nineteen
(20:09):
ninety six, but the way Bias died, related to a
drug overdose, created caution among many who had to say
in his selection.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
I think every year for a number of years Len's
name would come up, and we probably would spend an
hour in the meeting talking about Len's nomination.
Speaker 18 (20:29):
That's Steve Haylick. From two thousand and five to twenty twelve,
Halick was a member of the selection committee that picked
inductees for Maryland's Hall of Fame. He supported Len's selection,
but he was also among the minority. Another was Laura Lemire,
a Hall of Fame inductee. In two thousand and four.
The Hall of Fame selection committee had used one of
its bylaws to exclude bias. It reads, nominees must have
(20:53):
good character and reputation and not have been a source
of embarrassment in any way to the university.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
And there seemed to have been a generational divide. I'm
going back to now, I would have been in my fifties.
It seemed like those that were in their upper sixties
seventies were just totally against it because he died of
a drug overdose, whereas I know Laura and I would
(21:20):
be allied in arguing for it.
Speaker 18 (21:24):
Lemiir now deceased, compared a bias selection to Babe Ruth
being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ruth was
known for his borish and abusive behavior off the field,
but he made it to Cooperstown on the strength of
his playing feats.
Speaker 7 (21:39):
Laura told me, should we really be paying tribute and
honor to someone of Ruth's character with Bias? Some are
looking at after his death. You have to look at
his career and what he accomplished.
Speaker 18 (21:52):
The selection committee is part of Maryland's m Club, a
group of former Maryland letter winners and coaches that supports
programs for athletes at the school. Halick is a former
terps wrestler, and he served as club president in the
nineteen nineties. Halick called Bias the six hundred pound gorilla
in the room.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
It never went to a vote that I recall, or
if it did, you know, he didn't get in. And
it was every year for a number of years. I
remember one recently departed alumni who said that he would
have his name removed from the Hall of Fame if
len Bias got in. So that was how strong they
felt about it.
Speaker 18 (22:31):
The person who made the threat just happened to be
one of the most revered quarterbacks in Maryland history. In
nineteen fifty two, he was a unanimous first team All
America and a runner up for the Heisman Trophy.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
But I mean the one that said he would resign
if it was Jack Scarbat carried a lot of weight.
It was extremely frustrating. I mean, it's an athletic Hall
of Fame. You have the arguably the best basketball player
in Maryland's history. You have gone on, you know, and
I think we're all looking forward to seeing him in
the NBA. And if he'd gone on to a distinguished
(23:05):
career in the NBA and then died of a drug overdose,
they probably would have voted him into the Hall of Fame.
But it was I mean, it was it was tragic
the way it happened, but it was just they implied
that he was unworthy because of that, and I guess
a letter of the law with the rules depending on
(23:26):
how you said, brought this honor. And part of it
was I think because of the reaction to the university
and how the athletic department suffered in the aftermath of
Len's death, that I think steal some of those against him.
Speaker 18 (23:42):
Those on the committee supporting a bias selection gained a
stronger voice after others who were against it started to
leave the committee. Frank Costello was Maryland's head track coach
in the nineteen seventies and was an All America high
jumper at Maryland in the nineteen sixties. He's a member
of the Hall of Fame and a past member of
its selection committee.
Speaker 21 (24:02):
And I can understand both sides of the picture on that.
I can really see where some people may have had
a hard time going past the drug problem and so
forth like that. But I remember those meetings, yeah, and
(24:23):
I remember Jack wasn't happy, and so Forth's hard sometimes
to divorce from the drug problem to the super athlete.
Here's this individual right in the middle, and I think
that's where the problem was.
Speaker 18 (24:39):
Jerry Bechtel played basketball at Maryland in the late nineteen
fifties and early nineteen sixties. He's a past member of
the selection committee. Bechtel offered a prescient proclamation about a
decade ago.
Speaker 7 (24:51):
Bechtel told me it would not surprise me that sooner
or later he will get in there. There are enough
people talking about it. Lena is a good example why
some kids now are not using drugs.
Speaker 18 (25:02):
It was a slow build in the early two thousands
toward a Maryland Hall of Fame induction for Bias podcast
producer Dave and Grady recalled an incident in twenty eleven
related to his book that reflected the department's reluctance to
accept the bias legacy.
Speaker 7 (25:18):
I had set up a signing in a party room
and then Comcast Center in a room called Heritage Hall.
It was hosted by the Fastbreakers. They were a basketball
fan club that supports Maryland. The night before the event,
they called me and said they had to cancel. Apparently
Athletics wanted no part of the book.
Speaker 18 (25:37):
And Grady saw that reluctance change. In twenty fourteen, he
explains a chance meeting with then athletic director Kevin Anderson
that signaled lends eventual Hall of Fame induction at Maryland.
Speaker 7 (25:49):
It was in the spring of twenty fourteen. Maryland was
hosting an NCAA seminar on campus. I was there and
I met Anderson for the first time. Introduced myself to him,
said I was a former chirp athlete and author of
a book about bias. He responded saying he read the
book and then he said, we've got to get len
(26:10):
Bias in the Hall of Fame. I agreed with him.
I had advocated for Len's Hall of Fame induction since
the book was published. Kevin then reached in his pocket
and handed me something. He said, take this. It was
a Maryland Challenge coin. On one side was Testudo, the
school mascot. On the other it read presented by the
(26:32):
Athletic Director for Excellence. He jokingly explained that if I
met him again and did not have the coin with me,
I had to buy him a drink. I thought there
was more to it and later asked him why he
gave it to me. He responded, for the work you
are doing for len Bias. At that time, I felt
(26:53):
the mood and athletics related to Bias was about to change,
and it did. A few months later, Maryland announced lend
would be inducted into its Hall of Fame.
Speaker 22 (27:08):
And we are absolutely thrilled. Though some people have said
it should have been done, the Bias family is thrilled,
and so many of our friends are thrilled that this
time has come.
Speaker 18 (27:22):
That's Lenise Bias speaking on the Rock Newman television show
in early October twenty fourteen. Later that month, Bias was
finally inducted into Maryland's Athletics Hall of Fame.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Lynn Myers was Rais dolan flair ed fluair of Maryland's
massic cultures and surely his athleticism and Rachel's only.
Speaker 9 (27:46):
Court Overgil.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Philip back a, she is a remarkable career time and
she's not doing it americaland athletics.
Speaker 23 (27:56):
All the vais.
Speaker 18 (28:00):
Moments later, the events MC introduced Lynn's parents.
Speaker 24 (28:07):
Against us that ever, it is Anita and I and
a privilege to be here this evening and should be
a part of this historic occasion.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Some of the best times of our life were spent
out of here over at cold Field House watching Lynn
play ball. But I can remember when I made in
the floor and cried, and back.
Speaker 9 (28:43):
Tonight when my second son died.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
I didn't know how my two remaining children were gonna.
Speaker 9 (28:50):
Make it, how my husband and I were going to
make it.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
And so here we are today with fine brand children.
Speaker 9 (28:58):
And so one of the things that I like.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
To impress upon the audience tonight is this is to
reveein the time, because we're in a time of suddenly.
Speaker 9 (29:09):
Everything is happening so quick and so fast.
Speaker 25 (29:12):
And I will just tell.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
You, just let your loved ones know how you feel
about them, your love and encouragement because this is not
the time not to have time. We stay here today
for twenty six, twenty eight years saying that there is
life after death, after you had the good life, after
(29:34):
you have your night, there after you had life after death.
Speaker 9 (29:38):
That the best is yet to come. And we are here.
Speaker 5 (29:42):
Today experiencing history when the best coming upon the Bias
family today here at the University.
Speaker 9 (29:51):
Of Roland as left Bias as Dames inducted and you w.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
I thought it was well deserved.
Speaker 13 (30:05):
I mean, obviously a huge, huge error in judgment took
place and he paid the ultimate price for his death.
Speaker 18 (30:15):
That's Mike Loxley, Maryland's head football coach. He imparts a
message of forgiveness related to honoring the legacy of Bias.
Speaker 13 (30:23):
But I also don't feel as though that error that
he made, which we all make mistakes in our life,
should prevent a guy that had such a huge impact
on Maryland athletics, Maryland basketball, this community.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
To be given his second chance post mortem.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
Per se.
Speaker 13 (30:46):
And I deal with kids on a daily basis, eighteen
to twenty two year olds that will and do make mistakes,
and a lot like as a parent when your kids
make a mistake, do you minished them from your family
that you say you're done because you made a mistake.
Speaker 18 (31:05):
Acceptance of the Len Bias legacy increased gradually. His image
was featured on promotional materials when Maryland celebrated one hundred
years of basketball in twenty nineteen. That included a ticket
stub for a game that year that would have seemed
unimaginable just ten years earlier. Since his induction, Len's been
featured in university publications. On the thirty fourth anniversary of
(31:27):
his death, in June twenty twenty, Maryland's Alumni magazine published
a cover story called Remembering thirty four for its Winter
twenty twenty two edition. Maryland's Athletics magazine published an updated
version of a story about Bias it first appeared in
twenty fourteen, and recognized his accomplishments as a player That's
(31:48):
not all. In late twenty twenty one, Len was inducted
into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Former Maryland
coaches Lefty Grisell and Gary Williams are also members of
that Hall of Fame. Only one other Turps player is
in as well, and that's Tom McMillan. He feels fewer
as pleased at Len's induction into the Hall of Fame
(32:09):
as Drizzell, the former coach for both McMillan and Bias.
Speaker 26 (32:13):
And I don't think that Lenny's mistake should deny him,
you know, credit for his great basketball career. That's just
my view, and you know, I know coach shares that view,
but I mean, it certainly has marred his reputation and
it's left a big chip on his shoulder for years. Hey,
he'll never get over it, I mean, And so he
(32:36):
pushes hard to make sure that Lenny's so honored. He
doesn't think the athletic department does enough, not promoting this enough.
He thinks this is a big deal and they need
to really make it a big deal.
Speaker 18 (32:49):
They did. In late November twenty twenty one, Maryland Athletics
released a documentary about Len. It focused primarily on his
legacy as a basketball player and had only one mention
of how he died.
Speaker 25 (33:02):
Maybe one of the best players ever to play at
the University.
Speaker 6 (33:05):
Of Maryland, I said, that's the guy. You know, he
was unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Unfortunately for me, I had a coach against him for
four years in the acc.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Well of a player.
Speaker 27 (33:18):
Len Bias was not a great player.
Speaker 18 (33:22):
He was a transcendent player. He's one of the best
players I've ever seen.
Speaker 28 (33:25):
I was a student here when Leonard was a god
on campus and.
Speaker 19 (33:32):
Growing up a turf ban.
Speaker 28 (33:34):
He was the guy then and remains my all time
favorite term.
Speaker 11 (33:39):
He was the best, damn player.
Speaker 6 (33:45):
He was the best.
Speaker 18 (33:48):
A couple of weeks later, Maryland basketball stage Len Bias
Knight during a home basketball game against Virginia Tech. It
was the first time Maryland dedicated one game to Bias.
The game, some four thousand Len biased jerseys in gold
with red lettering and trim were handed out to students
A few hours before the game. Hundreds of students lined
(34:09):
up outside the arena to be the first to claim
them first. A group of female students.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
Who's a end Bias fan here?
Speaker 6 (34:17):
Anybody? Yeah, that's why we're here.
Speaker 19 (34:20):
What do you know about him that he played a
long time ago?
Speaker 2 (34:23):
I think it was an over Yeah.
Speaker 6 (34:28):
The dress.
Speaker 18 (34:29):
Here's Jacob Corba, a student from Eldersburg, Maryland.
Speaker 29 (34:33):
Well, he was a great player. People said at the
time that he could have been like Well in college.
He could have been better than Jordan decided to celebrate
with some friends and then that, uh, it's an then
too well.
Speaker 18 (34:45):
Inside the arena, a fan was wearing a different Bias jersey.
It had a white background with red letters. It's Rob
Mitchell of Ellicott City. Mitchell claims he played against j
Bias in pickup games when he was a student at
Maryland from nineteen eighty eight in nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 10 (35:02):
I've had it for about fifteen years now. It is
one of my class of jersey. I remember every almost
every game from Lenny. I actually Lenny was actually the
reason why I attended Maryland back again.
Speaker 11 (35:17):
He made Maryland Pride a regular routine.
Speaker 10 (35:23):
I enjoyed it. It was the battles against UNC's, the
battles against Duke, the championship from nineteen eighty four, I
remember distinctly.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Like it was Jessin.
Speaker 18 (35:36):
Maryland's players even were long sleeve versions of the giveaway
jersey as warm up tops. Johnny Holiday had a courtside
seed at the game. He's been Maryland's play by play
announcer for football and basketball for more than forty years.
Speaker 25 (35:59):
And it's a whole ballgame now, a whole new generation
of fans, and I think that's the best tribute to
him is to see people walking around at games at
other events with number thirty four and Bias in the
back of their jersey.
Speaker 18 (36:14):
Chris Naki was at Exfinity Center that night working with
Holiday as the radio broadcast analyst.
Speaker 20 (36:20):
None of those kids were alive when Len was alive.
It was an awesome moment to have those people. I
think even the kids who weren't alive understand the significance
of Len his life and his death and the fact
that the Bias has got to walk out on that court. Now,
honestly it wasn't called Fieldhouse where Len had played, but
(36:41):
it was it was, you know, the Gary Williams court
on Exfinity Center.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
To have them walk.
Speaker 20 (36:47):
Out and be recognized like that, it was an emotional
minute or so.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
And you know, I cannot remember it can't speak.
Speaker 20 (36:56):
To exactly what kind of ovation he got in twenty twelve,
but I can speak to what happened in Infinity and
it was brilliant.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
It was awesome, it was well.
Speaker 20 (37:05):
Deserved, it was extremely respectful, and it was loud and
Whiles no longer but must be.
Speaker 9 (37:15):
It's a legacy. It's a forever.
Speaker 26 (37:23):
James On the boy that I was their name.
Speaker 9 (37:26):
Sight Love was Lenny spies LEAs do.
Speaker 18 (37:40):
James and Lenise Spie held a press conference after the game.
Linise Spicue has spoken often publicly about Len's death and legacy,
but it.
Speaker 22 (37:49):
Wasn't until his death that I realized who he was
and the impact that he had made in the sports
were and how his death impacted the entire earth. I'm
a firm believer that Len was a seed that went
(38:12):
down into the ground to bring forth life. And to
see the hardship that the Bias family endured, not only
through death but the death of Len, but forty two
months later with the death of our son Jay, and
then to see us come full circle, not running away
(38:34):
from where the pain was, but standing until the healing
took place.
Speaker 9 (38:40):
And to be here today showing that.
Speaker 22 (38:45):
Just my husband and I standing out on the floor
through the death of Len is a message that you
can make it.
Speaker 18 (38:54):
James Bias has rarely talked publicly about lenn His words
then provided a more pro found impact at the press
conference than those of his wife, which, based on the
revered reputation of Lenise Bias is saying something.
Speaker 6 (39:08):
See no recognized.
Speaker 12 (39:13):
After thirty four years going thirty five years and that
a new receptment crowd. Things have teamed. You have a
whole brand faculty. Those people who were students then adults
can have children now. So I'm probably Indian right now
within that crowd out there.
Speaker 6 (39:34):
I mean, you know for real.
Speaker 12 (39:36):
And so that you think back on the legacy of
Limb and what do your accomplished here and June and
then you uh, many of those people were regular students,
just like Lynn was, and we need to ever forget that.
And that was a student at the University of orl
didn't just pop up and be here gone. No, he
(39:58):
was a student just like those kids that up down
and doing the same thing he did before he came
in to the school.
Speaker 6 (40:05):
So that's what impressed me.
Speaker 12 (40:09):
And I was looking at every one of them, and
I said, look at that, Look at them.
Speaker 6 (40:13):
He was just like that.
Speaker 12 (40:16):
My sons, my sons, and my daughter was just like
them up there. They was up there, jumping up, down
and recruiting for Maryland. So that's what I was thinking
about it man, and each one of them I could
see a part of him because they're just like him.
Speaker 6 (40:36):
And that gave me a hope about the future. All
those people out there. We never know.
Speaker 12 (40:42):
One day one of them might be president. They may
be the president of this university. That's how I hope,
so that I still have hope that life going on.
Speaker 6 (40:56):
We've been successful at and that many things Bill jump
into uh yet done, and the life of Lynn still
goes on. The legacy lives.
Speaker 12 (41:07):
Not only does he live through them and live stool
my grandchildren that Lynn didn't even know when he never
put his eyes on them, but he had an effect
on them. I have three grandchildren who graduated college.
Speaker 6 (41:26):
They weren't he born. Then you understand what I'm saying.
He never saw.
Speaker 12 (41:30):
Them, but he had an effect on them because we
taught them about their and their own and who.
Speaker 6 (41:37):
He was and his legacy.
Speaker 12 (41:39):
And that's why you see, after all these years, people
still talking about land Bys on the media and in
conversations everywhere. So I'm very proud of it. But he
accomplished Chill, and I'm just proud of everyone who supports him.
And I'm standing up in.
Speaker 9 (41:59):
Chier, as my husband said, seeing the sea of.
Speaker 22 (42:08):
Jerseys out there and the young people cheering and jumping
up and down, and said, when we were passing through
the crowd, people touching us and finding us. And I
understand that when we grieved, as I said earlier, for Lend,
there were so so many people that grieved and they
are people that are still.
Speaker 9 (42:30):
Breathing over his death.
Speaker 18 (42:38):
Lenbias Knight marked a departure from the old way of
thinking about bias at Maryland, no longer a burden, but
rather a blessing to be accepted. Few can offer insight
is deeply on the evolution of acceptance of bias at Maryland.
As head football coach Mike Loxley, he grew up in Washington,
d C. As a Len Bias fan and has seen
the change within Terps athletics.
Speaker 13 (43:00):
Folk lord that goes along with it, and his legacy
just continues to grow with these generations because it's the unknown.
I'm speaking totally as a fan and not as the
coach of the football team. That you know, there was
nobody that had more of a great impact on me
in terms of my favorite Maryland athlete of all times.
(43:21):
You know, it's no doubt for me it was Len Bias.
Speaker 18 (43:24):
Two more Halls of Fame of honored Bias. The DC
Sports Hall of Fame inducted Bias in twenty eighteen. Perhaps
Len's highest honor happened in late November twenty twenty one.
That's when he was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball
Hall of Fame. Here's part of his introduction.
Speaker 15 (43:40):
Thirty five years later.
Speaker 14 (43:42):
The memory of Len Bias and his startup at Maryland
still stands, Straw.
Speaker 30 (43:47):
What we're here tonight to do is to celebrate the
life and the playing career at the University of Maryland
of Len Bias, which was unbelievable and for those that
obviously aren't old enough to have witnessed it, it was
something special.
Speaker 18 (44:04):
Kevin Henderson was well aware of the Lenn Bias story.
He was a student at the University of Kansas when
Bias died, and he's been a member of the selection
committee at the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame for
some fifteen years.
Speaker 19 (44:18):
We really became more aware of Lyn and his story
as young men when thank you for reminding me.
Speaker 14 (44:25):
The other day. Peter Jennings came on the World News
tonight and it was the lead story, and I remember
seeing that, and that's when I became more aware of
Lynn and his kind of his short history as a
(44:46):
college basketball player and everything that happened in that tragedy.
But Lynn's death was a shock because he looked like us,
looked like us, he was our age, we can relate.
So it was a shock in that way. It's like, oh, man,
(45:08):
here's a guy who's, you know, basically on top of
the world, and his potential was long, and you know,
now this happens that he's gone.
Speaker 18 (45:22):
Henderson is also the CEO of the College Basketball Experience,
which manages it's Hall of Fame. He says discussions about
lens induction focused only on one aspect of his career.
Speaker 19 (45:34):
Obviously, the tragedy that befeled him was a topic of
conversation during the discussion, but I don't believe it had
any varying on him getting into the Hall or not.
So it wasn't let's do it because we feel sorry
for them bias or you know, with you know, this
(45:57):
whole drug thing, and now it was based on his
It was based on what he did on the court.
And you often heard during those deliberations, you heard, you know,
comparisons to Michael Jordan that he would have been greater
than Michael Jordan, or he would have been just as
bid as Michael Jordan. A lot of that talk was
(46:19):
going on how phenomenal of a basketball player he was,
and I'm talking guys who have been in the game
on that committee for forty fifty years, and how they
remarked about him as a player.
Speaker 18 (46:42):
What is the most profound part of the legacy of
Len Bias? Was he a savior or a villain, a
cautionary tale or wasted talent? What is the big takeaway
from his story? Does his laws still trigger sadness today?
What follows is a sampling of responses we've compiled from
as we talked to for this podcast series, as well
(47:03):
as others profound perspectives on Len's legacy. We start with
Shaquille O'Neil, a four time NBA champion and a member
of the Nasmith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was
fourteen years old when Len Bias died. This comes from
an interview on the Jordan Harbinger Show.
Speaker 15 (47:21):
One Tragic Story. When Len Bias passed away from using cocaine,
My father came in the house furious, furious, if you
ever do this, I'll kill you. You don't even have time,
no overdose, I'll kill you. So I always say you
know what, no drugs for me.
Speaker 18 (47:39):
Bryan Strauss is a soccer writer for SI dot Com.
He grew up in Washington, DC and watched Bias play
basketball on television. Strauss found a deep connection with the
death of Bias.
Speaker 31 (47:51):
And so it became this reflex that whenever cocaine was
referenced in any way or mentioned or seen, the immediate
like electrical cognitive response was Len Bias and Len Bias's death,
and this is what this drug does, and this is
(48:12):
the havoc and chaos that this drug can cause. And
so it was the red light kind of the metaphor
like stop immediately, like an instantaneous repulsion, because to me,
cocaine represented everything that happened to this guy, who obviously
I never met and had no connection to and barely
(48:35):
understood who he was. But like I said, I knew
he was this larger than life figure in Washington sports.
I loved sports, and it was the only way that
I could comprehend his death when I was eleven was
to connect it to the drug. And that connection has
existed ever since.
Speaker 18 (48:52):
Robert DuPont was the president of the American Council of
Drug Education when Bias died in the nineteen seventies. He
was the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse
and a white House Drugs Are. He sees Lens legacy
is a profound marker that changed the perception of cocaine.
Speaker 23 (49:09):
Oh my god, I think that that death was not
in vain. That death was a marker of a changed
attitude in our society, in the world. It was a
very dramatic switch that went on, and I think about
it very much as a legacy of len Bias that
(49:29):
we're all grateful for. We're all in his debt and
gave a meaning to his life that otherwise wouldn't have
been there, and that was to unmask cocaine as a
dangerous drug.
Speaker 18 (49:45):
Bonnie Bernstein was a Maryland gymnast in the late eighties
and early nineties, at a time when Maryland athletics endured
drastic changes. She later became a network sportscaster.
Speaker 32 (49:55):
It's important to keep history alive because we have to
keep the anti drug message alive. The reality is the
kids who need to hear that message, they're not going
to listen if it's coming from a parent. They're probably
not going to listen if it's coming from a coach
(50:15):
or an administrator. Those messages resonate most strongly when they're
coming from people they admire and want to emulate. And
while len Bias is gone, his story is still strong.
And when his story is shared, and when you think
about who len Bias could have been, that means something.
(50:40):
That means something to kids, whether they're playing basketball or football,
or soccer or lacrosse or gymnastics, they want to be
the very best. Len Bias was one of the best
in college basketball, and he was projecting to be one
of the best to ever play the game in the NBA,
and he never may had that chance because of the
(51:03):
choices he made, and for that reason alone, we need
to keep history alive.
Speaker 18 (51:10):
Joe Anne Borzakian was a marketing representative for Reebach who
was working with lenn when he died. She sees the
legacy of Bias for what he was, not what happened
because of how he died.
Speaker 33 (51:22):
For me, it's everything he had accomplished and all that
he could have accomplished. I think he had the potential
to make others great. I just feel so sad. I
feel so sad that we didn't get to see all
the greatness that he brought up to that point. I
just wonder what was in that Genie bottle ready to
(51:42):
be unleashed.
Speaker 18 (51:44):
Johnny Dawkins was the College Player of the Year in
nineteen eighty six. A duke like Bias. He is from
the Washington, DC area. He played against Bias in high
school and college.
Speaker 34 (51:54):
Definitely a sadness in a DMV. There was definitely a
sadness in that community. You know, probably still is, to
be quite frank, I mean, just you know, just thinking
about who we would have become. I think everyone carries
that you know with them. I mean, I think sometimes
we overlook the fact that, you know, a generation of
players that have.
Speaker 6 (52:13):
Come behind him.
Speaker 34 (52:15):
I mean, who knows that would have happened to one
or more of those players if it hadn't been for
the story of Lenn Bias too. I think he saved
a lot more lives that we'll never know because of
history and the fact that we've kept his story alive
the way that des been kept alive.
Speaker 18 (52:29):
Earlier in this podcast series, Len Elmore compared the legacy
of Bias to a Greek tragedy for all involved. Elmore
was an All American at Maryland in the mid nineteen seventies.
Speaker 35 (52:39):
Len Bias's name will always be associated with Maryland because
of his greatness.
Speaker 19 (52:44):
As an athlete, but it should also be.
Speaker 35 (52:49):
Associated with Maryland because of the tragedy and the humanity
that's associated with it as well.
Speaker 17 (52:54):
Yeah, and this is the idea of a star in full.
Speaker 36 (52:59):
Bloom that ultimately had that had that flame dowst by
a mistake. And this is not the only kind of
mistake that you've can make to dowst that flame, and
to recognize that.
Speaker 35 (53:15):
No matter how good you are, no matter how good
you think you are, you know you're vulnerable. And the
idea is to recognize those vulnerabilities now before you know
they have a chance to catch up to you. And
as I said, dowst that flame too. You know, limit
your trajectory, you know, to to place a ceiling on
(53:36):
your altitude.
Speaker 18 (53:38):
And similar to iconic actors and musicians who died young,
from James Dean to Jim Morrison, Bias has become larger
in death than he was in life. Here's Chris Knaki,
Marilyn Basketball's radio analyst.
Speaker 20 (53:50):
It's the same reason why people talk about James Dean,
John Kennedy. You know it's a it's a it's a
wonder kind dying young way.
Speaker 3 (54:00):
Way way before their time.
Speaker 20 (54:02):
And it's a I think it's the age old thing,
and part of it is that promise unfulfilled.
Speaker 18 (54:09):
Here's more from Dawkins, the men's head coach at the
University of Central Florida.
Speaker 34 (54:14):
You know, we all are in a position where we
you know, we're not invincible, and not to tell my
players that to this day, I say, you know, you
guys walk around you like you superman, but you know
we really aren't.
Speaker 25 (54:26):
We all are vulnerable and we all.
Speaker 34 (54:28):
Can succumb to something. And again, you know, you think
about Linear's situation because it's no more powerful, explosive person
and player than he was during his time, and he
was still in his early twenties, and so that can
happen him, it can happen to anybody.
Speaker 18 (54:43):
Jeffrey Harding is a Maryland basketball fan who was also
a prosecutor in the Brian Tribble trial related to the
death of Bias.
Speaker 3 (54:51):
His real legacy is that he.
Speaker 37 (54:57):
Really presented two sides of the roller to people. He said,
on this side of the roller, you can be whatever
you want to be coming up from the streets, working hard,
being dedicated, you know, getting to be the number one
draft pick, number two in the overall draft and making it,
you know, getting out there making it.
Speaker 3 (55:19):
The other side of the ruler is the outside. You know,
Drugs took his life.
Speaker 37 (55:26):
Not on purpose, but it took his life, and that
should be an example and part of his legacy of
what not to do.
Speaker 18 (55:33):
J Billis played four years of basketball at Duke at
the same time Bias played at Maryland. As an analyst
for ESPN, he's now one of the more respected voices
in college basketball.
Speaker 27 (55:43):
Well, you can always use use him and others as
a cautionary tale, but it doesn't work. You know how
many cautionary tales are there out there about not just
about drug use, but about drinking, about you know, driving
too fast, all these things. You know, does it work?
Speaker 14 (56:01):
I don't know. I don't.
Speaker 25 (56:02):
I don't think it did.
Speaker 27 (56:03):
With drug use, that's sir. I'm maybe a little more
cynical about that kind of thing because we've all sat
through those and I think the people that resonates with
are the ones that wouldn't do it in the first place.
I just don't think the data shows that it's doing
a hell of a lot of good.
Speaker 18 (56:21):
Molly Glassman was a Marylyn beat reporter for the Baltimore
Sun during the Bias era. She looks at his legacy
through the lens of her two different careers as a
sports writer and sports editor and later as a teacher
in the Baltimore County system.
Speaker 8 (56:36):
Well, his legacy at Maryland is of a local kid
who made good and worked his ass off to make
himself a great basketball player.
Speaker 9 (56:54):
And so that could be you.
Speaker 8 (56:57):
The greatness can be achieved by anyone who has talent
and is willing to work to make that talent the best. Well,
that's why I'm very happy to have these ten year,
(57:18):
twenty five year, thirty five year retrospectives to you know,
to revive those memories and introduce Lend's story to another
group of kids. You're like we tell kids all the
time as teachers. You know, you learn through your mistakes.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes, don't be a perfectionist,
(57:41):
keep trying, keep working. But Lenny's story shows us that
even when you keep growing and learning and making yourself
the best person you can be, that there.
Speaker 9 (57:53):
Can be.
Speaker 8 (57:55):
Tragic consequences You are never totally invincible.
Speaker 18 (58:00):
Marriam Leguer was a friend of Bias at Maryland and
is now a producer for ESPN. She sees those who
feel betrayed by his loss.
Speaker 38 (58:08):
And I think people, actually, they get so emotionally invested
in it. They're angry, They're like, you cheated me out
of rooting for you. They were looking towards the future,
and I feel like while Lenny's future was cut short,
I think people's dreams about who he was and who
they wanted him to be was cut short too.
Speaker 18 (58:29):
Ed Tapscott is a former college and NBA head coach.
He is a Washington, DC native who followed the career
of Len Bias closely.
Speaker 16 (58:36):
Tragic waste of potential is what I see as the legacy.
It was a guy who had put himself on the
precedence and enormous success.
Speaker 17 (58:48):
But for a one mistake that didn't work out the
way it was supposed to. It was obviously an object
lesson that many coaches used to preach to their players about,
and so for Lenny. I think for an entire generation
of young.
Speaker 16 (59:08):
Men in this area, young men and women, and particularly
those in the athletic community, this story rings as a
very very tragic story that will be used for a
long long time to help other people recognize how decisions
and mistakes matter in life.
Speaker 18 (59:28):
Tom O'Neill's father, Tip O'Neill, was the Speaker of the
House when len Bias died. Tip O'Neill guided the nineteen
eighty six Anti Drug Abuse Act legislation through Congress. The
legislation created mandatory minimum sentences for certain cocaine criminals. One
of Tom O'Neill's brothers died from drug and alcohol addiction.
Speaker 6 (59:48):
You know, he's a great basketball player.
Speaker 39 (59:50):
I think people don't know his backstory because there was
so much abuse in our society today that anything that
could be remedial, anything that can educate, can inform people
as mistakes being made by others or having been made
by others won't be repeated or done again.
Speaker 7 (01:00:14):
This is Dave Ungrady, a producer of this podcast series.
I'd like to take a minute or so to recognize
someone who was featured in this episode, and that is
Bob Gagan. Bob passed away earlier this year. Bob was
a pioneer promoting basketball in the Washington, DC area. In fact,
(01:00:35):
he is considered perhaps the most prominent promoter of basketball
in Washington, DC of most relevance to this podcast series.
Bob was the first person to induct len Bias into
a basketball Hall of Fame. I've known Bob since the
early nineteen eighties. More recently, he's been very supportive of
(01:00:58):
the book I wrote about lens Lelegacy that inspired this
podcast series, and he has played a significant role in
helping preserve the complex legacy of len Bias.
Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
Up next on len Bias and Mixed Legacy, Bias and Culture.
Speaker 28 (01:01:20):
Gwennolan Brooks was one of the most distinguished poets in
the country at the time. And to have that person
who represents the pinnacle of you know, of a literary position.
Speaker 6 (01:01:39):
Have a meeting with.
Speaker 28 (01:01:43):
Arguably the best college basketball player in the United States
at the time. I mean, that's remarkable, isn't it.
Speaker 17 (01:01:52):
It meant to me the coming.
Speaker 28 (01:01:53):
Together of two cultures, you know, the literary humanities culture
and the student athlete culture.
Speaker 17 (01:02:02):
And it seemed clear to.
Speaker 28 (01:02:03):
Me that len Bias recognized the importance of the moment.
Speaker 40 (01:02:10):
Think there were these connections, political connections, cultural connections, social connections.
Do you realize that this may have been the most
impactful moment in modern sports history, just because of the
impact it had on politics, on culture, on a generation
(01:02:31):
of African Americans.
Speaker 3 (01:02:35):
One and more painful, what if in.
Speaker 16 (01:02:39):
Pop culture history?
Speaker 41 (01:02:41):
It's called Home Court. It's a play about an inner
city family that's striving to beat the odds, which I
should notice based not too loosely on the tragedy of
of of Len Bias.
Speaker 6 (01:02:59):
What I do.
Speaker 42 (01:03:03):
Lynn Bias post nineteen eighty six overwhelms. The narrative of
Lynn Bias pre ninety pre overdose and overwhelms is so
much so that for me, him as a basketball player,
has to constantly try to compete with his effect on
the culture in all of those other ways.
Speaker 1 (01:03:23):
This podcast series is based on the book Born Ready,
The Mixed Legacy of limb Bias, published by Go Grady Media.
The series is produced by Go Grady Media in partnership
with Octagon Entertainment. This segment was produced by Daveon Grady
and Don Mark. It was written by Davon Grady and
edited by Don Marcus. The narrator was Kevin Sheen, with
additional narration by Jamal Williams. Technical production was provided by
(01:03:46):
Octagon Entertainment. Production assistance was produced by Kevin mcnelty, Tino Quagliata,
Lauren Ross, Georgia Brown, Casey Fair, Jamal Williams, Chelsey Mannox
and Enzo al Varna social media assistance. Special thanks to
the University of Maryland and American University for providing inservice.
The Decision Education Foundation is a content and promotional partner
(01:04:08):
of this podcast series. For more information, go to gogradingmedia
dot com. This has been a production of go grading
Media and the Eighth Side Network
This podcast is based a large part on the book
Born Ready Mixed Legacy of Lenn Bias. Some quotes are
narrated by podcast producer and book author Dave and Grady
from interviews done for the book. Recordings for those comments
were not available.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, I found out after calling Lefty Uh that Lynn
has never been inducted into the Maryland Basketball Hall of Fame,
and so I actually said, what the hecken?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Again?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
You know, he deserves to be recognized.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
I remember one gear recently departed alumni said that he
would have his name removed from the Hall of Fame
if Lenn Bias got in. So that was how strong
they felt about it.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
We are experiencing today here.
Speaker 6 (01:04):
It would have been so sick.
Speaker 7 (01:05):
Crucial m byers fan here anybody, Yeah, that's what we're here.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
What do you know about him?
Speaker 8 (01:11):
That he played a lot long time ago.
Speaker 9 (01:13):
I think it was yeah, yeah, the world was the kids,
me out coming up.
Speaker 10 (01:20):
I remember every almost every game from from Lenny.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I actually the Lenney was.
Speaker 10 (01:25):
Actually the reason why I attended Maryland back then.
Speaker 11 (01:29):
He made uh Maryland Pride a regular routine, became.
Speaker 6 (01:37):
The life of Lynn still goes on. The legacy.
Speaker 12 (01:44):
Family, my grandchildren that Lynn didn't even know, he never
twenty eyes on them.
Speaker 6 (01:51):
But he had enough facts on that and then the
curse with lym byxcept the Earth. He gave the world
a wake up calling it.
Speaker 13 (01:57):
I'm speaking totally as a fan. You know, there's nobody
had more than greater impact on me in terms of
my favorite Maryland athlete of all times. You know, it's
no doubt for me it was Lynn Bias.
Speaker 14 (02:11):
Now it was strictly based on his achievement, that's that Maryland.
It was based on what he did on the court
you heard, you know, comparisons to Michael Jordan's that he
would have been greater than Michael Geordan, or he would
have been just as good as Michael Jordan.
Speaker 6 (02:27):
Man all get paid.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
I'm just trying to pay respect.
Speaker 15 (02:30):
One tragic story. When Lynn Bias passed away from using cocaine,
my father came in the house furious, furious, if you
ever do this, I'll kill you. You don't even have time
though overdose, I'll kill you. So I always say, you
know what, no drugs for me.
Speaker 16 (02:49):
This story rings as a very very tragic story that
will be used for a long long time.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
To help other people.
Speaker 17 (02:59):
Records, how decisions and mistakes matter.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
On this episode of Lembias, the mixed legacy, fame and honor,
the struggle to accept the legacy of Lembias.
Speaker 6 (03:16):
Second game.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
I think they ought to put a statue up. I
think he was a better college player than Michael Jordan.
Speaker 18 (03:26):
That's Lefty Drizzl, the former college coach for Len Bias.
There are no statues of Len Bias, no roads named
in his honor, no memorial tournaments or charitable events raising
money in his name. The Bias family has formed foundations
to raise money on behalf of Len and j. Bias,
but public records show they generated little, if any revenue
(03:46):
and no wonder When considering the legacy of Len Bias,
questions arise. How do you define the legacy of an
All American basketball player, one with potential to be one
of the greatest of all time when he goes and
throws it all away? How can when you honor a
young man whose youthful indiscretion placed the University of Maryland,
the school that helped make him a star, into a
(04:06):
tailspin that lasted for almost a decade. How can a
fan or even a friend of Len Bias salute the
vast achievements and joyful moments of his life without also
acknowledging how his choice one night wreaked havoc on the
world around him. You want to badly, but even thirty
five years later, some still struggle. One pioneer did find
(04:27):
a way before anyone else to honor Len's legacy more
than a quarter century after his death.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
And of course I had only known Len because he
played in the Capitol Classic, which is an all star game.
I started in nineteen seventy four, he played in the
eighty two, and his brother Jay played in nineteen eighty eight,
so I was familiar with the biases. And I had
gone to Maryland or basketball games at Colefield House when
(04:56):
he was playing and saw some of his great games
and was very familiar with him.
Speaker 18 (05:01):
That's Bob Gagan, a legend promoting basketball. Gagan started the
Capitol Classic in the mid nineteen seventies. It was an
annual all star game in the Washington, DC area, featuring
the top high school basketball players in the United States
against those from the DC area. It was one of
the first of its kind, so it's no surprise that
Gagan was the first person to induct Len Bias into
(05:24):
a Hall of fame. He was inspired in part after
reading the book Born Ready, The Mixed Legacy of Len Bias.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I found out after calling Lefty that lenn had never
been inducted into the Maryland Basketball Hall of Fame, and
so I said, well, what the heck? You know, he
deserves to be recognized.
Speaker 18 (05:47):
Gagan is also the founder of the Washington, DC Metropolitan
Basketball Hall of Fame. It inducted its first class in
nineteen seventy eight. Bias joined that hall in twenty twelve.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
I did it primarily because of the injustice that he
wasn't being recognized by the Maryland university that he played for.
And I wasn't looking to get a lot of publicity
from it, But I was doing it because I thought
it was the right thing to do.
Speaker 18 (06:13):
The effort to afford Bias Hall of Fame recognition has
been a prolonged process. It was not only because of
the way he died from a heart attack after consuming
a large amount of very pure cocaine, but also when
he died less than forty eight hours after the Celtics
made him the second pick of the NBA Draft, and
with Bias expected to be a prime time player in
(06:33):
the NBA. By the end of twenty twenty one, Bias
was a member of four Halls of Fame that includes
the University of Maryland. But it took more than a
quarter century after his death for all of that to
start to happen, and Maryland, for one, is finally accepting
the legacy of Bias. In late November, Maryland Athletics released
a documentary about the basketball accomplishments of Bias, and on
(06:57):
December first, it held its first Len Bias Knight at
a Maryland basketball game. In this episode, we will explain
why it took so long for Len Bias to receive
his ultimate honors and how it happened, and we will
also provide comments about the depth and breadth of his
legacy from many who knew him. Some did try to
(07:22):
memorialize the legacy of Len Bias before the Halls of
Fame came calling. The Columbia Park Civic Association represents the
neighborhood where Bias grew up. John Ware was a longtime
neighbor of the Bias family in Columbia Park. He saw
Len and Jay grow up and play basketball in the
neighborhood where was part of a group that wanted to
establish a one thousand dollars annual scholarship award in Len's name.
(07:46):
It would be given to someone in the neighborhood to
attend college, but Lenisse Bias turned it down. Here's podcast
producer Dave Ungrady where.
Speaker 7 (07:58):
Told me his mother did not allow me to do it.
She did not tell me why. They are a very
private family. They don't take advantage of their name.
Speaker 18 (08:08):
An alumnus of Northwestern High School tried to erect a
statue in lens honor on the school's campus. Bias also
attended that school. The alumnus was Victor Ramirez, a Maryland
state senator at the time. The effort didn't go far.
He withdrew a fifty thousand dollars bond bill to fund
the effort in twenty thirteen. Apparently some people were concerned
(08:28):
about recognizing Bias as a positive role model. One was
Melinda Miles, then the mayor of the town of Mount Rainier,
It's located some five miles southwest of the Maryland campus.
In a news report in twenty thirteen, Miles said she
didn't want her grandchildren to model someone who died of
a drug overdose. She seemed to soften her thoughts about
(08:50):
it in an interview with podcast producer Daveonngrady in twenty twenty.
Speaker 7 (08:54):
Miles told me there was a lot of discussion in
my neighborhood about it. I care what the message says
to young people, but life has changed the people who
are as peers. If you are doing it for them,
maybe now. If you want to create a legacy for
his mother, that's a different ballgame.
Speaker 18 (09:14):
Ramirez was a big fan of Bias for years. He
explained the reason for the statue in a Washington Post
story in twenty thirteen. Quote, I grew up with a
Lenbias poster in my room. He represented someone who could
make it. He was one of us. I think it
was a tragedy, but you can't allow that one night
to take away from who he was, what he stood for.
(09:36):
I think he stood for giving people hope and giving
kids who grew up in the neighborhood just like his hope,
that education the University of Maryland, That college was possible.
Speaker 19 (09:47):
End quote.
Speaker 18 (09:49):
Two restaurants in College Parker Forever linked to the legacy
of Bias. A jersey of Bias hung on a wall
in an enclosed class frame at RJ. Bentley's for years.
Then one day in the early nineteen nineties, it was gone.
It was removed from the frame. Bentley's owner John Brown,
had offered as much as several thousand dollars for the
return of the jersey. Brown told some Marilyn lacrosse players
(10:12):
at a Maryland football tailgate party that whoever found the
jersey would receive a one hundred and fifty dollars bar
tab at Bentley's. A few weeks later, Brown received an
unmarked Brown envelope in the mail. Inside was Bias's jersey.
A loyal customer later told Brown that her brother and
two of his friends stole the jersey and rotated possession
(10:34):
of it.
Speaker 7 (10:34):
John Brown told me they put it up wherever they
were living. One would have it for a while. Something bad,
what happened to him? They'd handed to the next guy,
and something bad what happened to that guy? So they
got fit up with it and sent it back. This
could be an urban myth, the Curse of the Bias Jersey.
Speaker 18 (10:54):
Mike Cogburn was the manager on duty at Townhall Liquors
in College Park when Bias stopped by A few hours
before he died, Cogburn advised Bias on his liquor purchase,
suggesting a bottle of cognac. He talked with Bias about
the Celtics in the NBA, and Bias autographed the purchase receipt.
A short time later, Cogburn was featured in a local
(11:16):
television news report about Bias stopping by the liquor store.
About six months later, Cogburn was fired from town Hall.
He claims it was due in part to the media
attention he brought to the bar and liquor store. The
bar owner was not pleased when the media calls didn't stop.
Cogburn then moved to Saint Croix, where he stayed until
Hurricane Hugo devastated the island in nineteen eighty nine. After that,
(11:40):
Time's got so tough that Cogburn was forced to sell
the receipt for just two hundred dollars. Lefty Drizzel was
among those invited to attend the induction of Len Bias
into the Washington, DC Metropolitan Basketball Hall of Fame in twelve.
(12:01):
Drizzell was Biased, his coach. He had been inducted into
that same hall a few years earlier. But this time
he couldn't attend. Here's Bob Gagan, the founder of the event.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I wanted him to be there because I thought he
had a great relationship, you know, with Lynn, and would
like to be there when we inducted him. And he
said his health didn't allow him to travel that particular
night that we were doing it, But he said, I
would love to stand you a letter and if you
(12:32):
could read it at the event, I would appreciate it.
So I gave it to our host that night.
Speaker 18 (12:39):
The master of ceremonies was Chris Knaki, currently the color
analyst on Maryland basketball radio broadcasts. Naki recalled that Drizzl
wrote a long and heartfelt letter from Drizzel to his
fallen star.
Speaker 20 (12:51):
What I remember was the emotion, and I also felt
like it was a very cathartic letter for Lefty to write,
and it.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Was it was.
Speaker 20 (13:01):
Clear in the letter, the verbiage, just how emotional he
was still about Len. I just felt like Lefty was
unburdening himself of, you know, something that had waited on
him for a long long time. It was not it
wasn't a one pager, it wasn't a three paragraphs And
(13:22):
I'm done.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Hey had a great night at the Hall of Fame
kind of thing. It was not that at all. It
was heartfelt, it was emotional, it was I mean, it was.
Speaker 18 (13:31):
Something KNACKI grew up in the Washington, DC area. He
was an assistant coach at American University when Bias played
at Maryland. He later became the school's head coach. Naki's
among many who wondered why Bias had not been selected
to a Hall of Fame until twenty twelve.
Speaker 20 (13:47):
Well, I mean, my first thought, to be quite honest
with you, is what took you so long? I was
fortunate I had a chance, at a very young age
in my coaching career to watch Len play almost every
day for about three months leading up to that NBA draft.
I was working at American. You he was working out
in that gym every single day, and he was working
(14:11):
out with a bunch of NBA guys and a bunch
of really great college players. Georgetown was loaded at the time,
as was Maryland, and he was superman, you know, he
was so much better than everybody else.
Speaker 18 (14:22):
Drizell was not the only notable no show at the ceremony.
Another was a member of the Bias family. Here's Bob Gagan.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
I thought it would be proper to invite his mom,
who was making a name for herself in Prince George's
county but going around talking about her son and the
problems that she saw with young people that she was
(14:51):
trying to correct, and I thought I would reach out,
but I got no response.
Speaker 18 (14:57):
Gagan had hoped a member of the Bias family or
Drizzelle himself could accept the honor on Len's behalf, with
no luck. He then chose to ask Dave On Grady,
the executive producer of this series. He is also the
author of the book on Bias that inspired this podcast series,
and Grady was more than a bit surprised.
Speaker 7 (15:18):
I told Bob it was an honor, but I wasn't
sure I deserved it. I wasn't sure how it would
be received. At that time. There seemed to be some
reluctance still to accept the premise of the book. It
dealt with so many uncomfortable issues. And I recall a
response after I posted something about it and Facebook, a
local broadcaster who I won't name and who was a
(15:41):
big Bias fan and went to Maryland, said, really, as
if he was surprised, as well, but it's hard to
say no to Bob Gagan. He's done so much for others,
So in large part I did it out of respect
for him.
Speaker 18 (15:54):
And Grady recalls a somber crowd during his presentation.
Speaker 7 (15:58):
I purposefully wanted to keep keep it brief, and I
didn't want to embellish the good or the bad. I
really wanted to explain the reality of his legacy and
acknowledge his life and accomplishments. I vividly recall sad expressions
on many faces. That's not typical when you're honoring someone
in such a way. One that comes to mind is
(16:20):
prominent broadcaster James Brown. He's a DC native and he's
a close friend of the Bias family. He looked very somber,
and I vividly remember at the end there was muted applause,
and I understood why it must have felt odd for
them to applaud such a presentation by someone with no
real direct connection to the family.
Speaker 18 (16:42):
Naki gives Ungrady credit for helping keep alive the memory
of Bias as well as the impact of his legacy
by writing the book that forms the basis of this
podcast series.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I want to circle back to too.
Speaker 20 (16:54):
You asked me if I felt like we were sort
of the forerunners in terms of starting that continuum that
we talked about. I really think Dave has a big
hand in that. You know, he's alone. He wrote a
pretty comprehensive book. It's not one of those he understood.
It was not a cut and dried look and a
guy who made an awful choice one night. There are
a lot of angle with different angles to this, and
(17:16):
I think that that sort of thing is what is
what matters as much as anything. And I'm not gonna
say he beat the drum because he doesn't impress me
as a guy who beats a drum, but I would
say he he did a great job of increasing awareness.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I think a lot of people don't even want to
talk about it.
Speaker 20 (17:35):
We realized that we were past the point of the
wound and and that, you know, we had to sort
of come to terms with this. A part of coming
to terms with that is recognizing who Lenn was and
for all his faults, he was an absolute gem of
a basketball player.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
And so I think Dave has.
Speaker 20 (17:54):
A big hand in terms of you know, how that
all that all happened.
Speaker 18 (17:59):
The first Hall of Fame induction ceremony for len Bias
ended with a dubious and unique act of tribute. Gagan
had placed placards of all the inductees on a stage.
At the end of the night, all but one remained.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
So I had five easels up there. They were mostly
hand and shoulder pictures, and I put that on stage
to decorate the stage a little bit. And after the
event was over, somebody took the len Bias who walked
off with it. I still have the remaining ones other
than Lenz. I don't really know what happened to it.
(18:36):
I know I never got it back.
Speaker 18 (18:44):
The Exfinity Center in College Park, Maryland, is the epicenter
of University of Maryland athletics. It's the home venue of
the men's and women's basketball teams, and other sports. Athletics
offices are housed in the facility as well. It also
features a temple of Terrapin's tradition and a triumph known
as the Maryland Walk of Fame. It's on a wall
(19:05):
that stretches about a half length of a football field.
It features dozens of larger than life images of the
best athletes to ever wear a Terps athletic outfit. In
the middle of the wall, it's easy to notice two
of Maryland's all time great basketball players from the early
nineteen seventies. They are All Americas, Len Elmore and Tom McMillan,
(19:26):
standing side by side. A few feet to the left
is the headshot of Lewis Bosey Berger. In nineteen thirty one,
Burger became Maryland's first basketball All America. To the right,
you noticed the Terrapins mascot Testudo. He's holding a sign
that reads fear the Turtle. Next to him stands Len Bias.
He is wearing the iconic gold Maryland jersey with the
(19:48):
blazing red number thirty four. His arms are raised triumphantly.
Until twenty fourteen, it was one of the only two
concrete reminders of his career at Maryland. The other was
his banner head in the Arenas Rafters. That year, Bias
was finally inducted into the University of Maryland Athletics Hall
of Fame. Bias was eligible to receive induction in nineteen
(20:09):
ninety six, but the way Bias died, related to a
drug overdose, created caution among many who had to say
in his selection.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
I think every year for a number of years Len's
name would come up, and we probably would spend an
hour in the meeting talking about Len's nomination.
Speaker 18 (20:29):
That's Steve Haylick. From two thousand and five to twenty twelve,
Halick was a member of the selection committee that picked
inductees for Maryland's Hall of Fame. He supported Len's selection,
but he was also among the minority. Another was Laura Lemire,
a Hall of Fame inductee. In two thousand and four.
The Hall of Fame selection committee had used one of
its bylaws to exclude bias. It reads, nominees must have
(20:53):
good character and reputation and not have been a source
of embarrassment in any way to the university.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
And there seemed to have been a generational divide. I'm
going back to now, I would have been in my fifties.
It seemed like those that were in their upper sixties
seventies were just totally against it because he died of
a drug overdose, whereas I know Laura and I would
(21:20):
be allied in arguing for it.
Speaker 18 (21:24):
Lemiir now deceased, compared a bias selection to Babe Ruth
being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ruth was
known for his borish and abusive behavior off the field,
but he made it to Cooperstown on the strength of
his playing feats.
Speaker 7 (21:39):
Laura told me, should we really be paying tribute and
honor to someone of Ruth's character with Bias? Some are
looking at after his death. You have to look at
his career and what he accomplished.
Speaker 18 (21:52):
The selection committee is part of Maryland's m Club, a
group of former Maryland letter winners and coaches that supports
programs for athletes at the school. Halick is a former
terps wrestler, and he served as club president in the
nineteen nineties. Halick called Bias the six hundred pound gorilla
in the room.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
It never went to a vote that I recall, or
if it did, you know, he didn't get in. And
it was every year for a number of years. I
remember one recently departed alumni who said that he would
have his name removed from the Hall of Fame if
len Bias got in. So that was how strong they
felt about it.
Speaker 18 (22:31):
The person who made the threat just happened to be
one of the most revered quarterbacks in Maryland history. In
nineteen fifty two, he was a unanimous first team All
America and a runner up for the Heisman Trophy.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
But I mean the one that said he would resign
if it was Jack Scarbat carried a lot of weight.
It was extremely frustrating. I mean, it's an athletic Hall
of Fame. You have the arguably the best basketball player
in Maryland's history. You have gone on, you know, and
I think we're all looking forward to seeing him in
the NBA. And if he'd gone on to a distinguished
(23:05):
career in the NBA and then died of a drug overdose,
they probably would have voted him into the Hall of Fame.
But it was I mean, it was it was tragic
the way it happened, but it was just they implied
that he was unworthy because of that, and I guess
a letter of the law with the rules depending on
(23:26):
how you said, brought this honor. And part of it
was I think because of the reaction to the university
and how the athletic department suffered in the aftermath of
Len's death, that I think steal some of those against him.
Speaker 18 (23:42):
Those on the committee supporting a bias selection gained a
stronger voice after others who were against it started to
leave the committee. Frank Costello was Maryland's head track coach
in the nineteen seventies and was an All America high
jumper at Maryland in the nineteen sixties. He's a member
of the Hall of Fame and a past member of
its selection committee.
Speaker 21 (24:02):
And I can understand both sides of the picture on that.
I can really see where some people may have had
a hard time going past the drug problem and so
forth like that. But I remember those meetings, yeah, and
(24:23):
I remember Jack wasn't happy, and so Forth's hard sometimes
to divorce from the drug problem to the super athlete.
Here's this individual right in the middle, and I think
that's where the problem was.
Speaker 18 (24:39):
Jerry Bechtel played basketball at Maryland in the late nineteen
fifties and early nineteen sixties. He's a past member of
the selection committee. Bechtel offered a prescient proclamation about a
decade ago.
Speaker 7 (24:51):
Bechtel told me it would not surprise me that sooner
or later he will get in there. There are enough
people talking about it. Lena is a good example why
some kids now are not using drugs.
Speaker 18 (25:02):
It was a slow build in the early two thousands
toward a Maryland Hall of Fame induction for Bias podcast
producer Dave and Grady recalled an incident in twenty eleven
related to his book that reflected the department's reluctance to
accept the bias legacy.
Speaker 7 (25:18):
I had set up a signing in a party room
and then Comcast Center in a room called Heritage Hall.
It was hosted by the Fastbreakers. They were a basketball
fan club that supports Maryland. The night before the event,
they called me and said they had to cancel. Apparently
Athletics wanted no part of the book.
Speaker 18 (25:37):
And Grady saw that reluctance change. In twenty fourteen, he
explains a chance meeting with then athletic director Kevin Anderson
that signaled lends eventual Hall of Fame induction at Maryland.
Speaker 7 (25:49):
It was in the spring of twenty fourteen. Maryland was
hosting an NCAA seminar on campus. I was there and
I met Anderson for the first time. Introduced myself to him,
said I was a former chirp athlete and author of
a book about bias. He responded saying he read the
book and then he said, we've got to get len
(26:10):
Bias in the Hall of Fame. I agreed with him.
I had advocated for Len's Hall of Fame induction since
the book was published. Kevin then reached in his pocket
and handed me something. He said, take this. It was
a Maryland Challenge coin. On one side was Testudo, the
school mascot. On the other it read presented by the
(26:32):
Athletic Director for Excellence. He jokingly explained that if I
met him again and did not have the coin with me,
I had to buy him a drink. I thought there
was more to it and later asked him why he
gave it to me. He responded, for the work you
are doing for len Bias. At that time, I felt
(26:53):
the mood and athletics related to Bias was about to change,
and it did. A few months later, Maryland announced lend
would be inducted into its Hall of Fame.
Speaker 22 (27:08):
And we are absolutely thrilled. Though some people have said
it should have been done, the Bias family is thrilled,
and so many of our friends are thrilled that this
time has come.
Speaker 18 (27:22):
That's Lenise Bias speaking on the Rock Newman television show
in early October twenty fourteen. Later that month, Bias was
finally inducted into Maryland's Athletics Hall of Fame.
Speaker 6 (27:35):
Lynn Myers was Rais dolan flair ed fluair of Maryland's
massic cultures and surely his athleticism and Rachel's only.
Speaker 9 (27:46):
Court Overgil.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Philip back a, she is a remarkable career time and
she's not doing it americaland athletics.
Speaker 23 (27:56):
All the vais.
Speaker 18 (28:00):
Moments later, the events MC introduced Lynn's parents.
Speaker 24 (28:07):
Against us that ever, it is Anita and I and
a privilege to be here this evening and should be
a part of this historic occasion.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
Some of the best times of our life were spent
out of here over at cold Field House watching Lynn
play ball. But I can remember when I made in
the floor and cried, and back.
Speaker 9 (28:43):
Tonight when my second son died.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
I didn't know how my two remaining children were gonna.
Speaker 9 (28:50):
Make it, how my husband and I were going to
make it.
Speaker 5 (28:53):
And so here we are today with fine brand children.
Speaker 9 (28:58):
And so one of the things that I like.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
To impress upon the audience tonight is this is to
reveein the time, because we're in a time of suddenly.
Speaker 9 (29:09):
Everything is happening so quick and so fast.
Speaker 25 (29:12):
And I will just tell.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
You, just let your loved ones know how you feel
about them, your love and encouragement because this is not
the time not to have time. We stay here today
for twenty six, twenty eight years saying that there is
life after death, after you had the good life, after
(29:34):
you have your night, there after you had life after death.
Speaker 9 (29:38):
That the best is yet to come. And we are here.
Speaker 5 (29:42):
Today experiencing history when the best coming upon the Bias
family today here at the University.
Speaker 9 (29:51):
Of Roland as left Bias as Dames inducted and you w.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
I thought it was well deserved.
Speaker 13 (30:05):
I mean, obviously a huge, huge error in judgment took
place and he paid the ultimate price for his death.
Speaker 18 (30:15):
That's Mike Loxley, Maryland's head football coach. He imparts a
message of forgiveness related to honoring the legacy of Bias.
Speaker 13 (30:23):
But I also don't feel as though that error that
he made, which we all make mistakes in our life,
should prevent a guy that had such a huge impact
on Maryland athletics, Maryland basketball, this community.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
To be given his second chance post mortem.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
Per se.
Speaker 13 (30:46):
And I deal with kids on a daily basis, eighteen
to twenty two year olds that will and do make mistakes,
and a lot like as a parent when your kids
make a mistake, do you minished them from your family
that you say you're done because you made a mistake.
Speaker 18 (31:05):
Acceptance of the Len Bias legacy increased gradually. His image
was featured on promotional materials when Maryland celebrated one hundred
years of basketball in twenty nineteen. That included a ticket
stub for a game that year that would have seemed
unimaginable just ten years earlier. Since his induction, Len's been
featured in university publications. On the thirty fourth anniversary of
(31:27):
his death, in June twenty twenty, Maryland's Alumni magazine published
a cover story called Remembering thirty four for its Winter
twenty twenty two edition. Maryland's Athletics magazine published an updated
version of a story about Bias it first appeared in
twenty fourteen, and recognized his accomplishments as a player That's
(31:48):
not all. In late twenty twenty one, Len was inducted
into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Former Maryland
coaches Lefty Grisell and Gary Williams are also members of
that Hall of Fame. Only one other Turps player is
in as well, and that's Tom McMillan. He feels fewer
as pleased at Len's induction into the Hall of Fame
(32:09):
as Drizzell, the former coach for both McMillan and Bias.
Speaker 26 (32:13):
And I don't think that Lenny's mistake should deny him,
you know, credit for his great basketball career. That's just
my view, and you know, I know coach shares that view,
but I mean, it certainly has marred his reputation and
it's left a big chip on his shoulder for years. Hey,
he'll never get over it, I mean, And so he
(32:36):
pushes hard to make sure that Lenny's so honored. He
doesn't think the athletic department does enough, not promoting this enough.
He thinks this is a big deal and they need
to really make it a big deal.
Speaker 18 (32:49):
They did. In late November twenty twenty one, Maryland Athletics
released a documentary about Len. It focused primarily on his
legacy as a basketball player and had only one mention
of how he died.
Speaker 25 (33:02):
Maybe one of the best players ever to play at
the University.
Speaker 6 (33:05):
Of Maryland, I said, that's the guy. You know, he
was unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Unfortunately for me, I had a coach against him for
four years in the acc.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Well of a player.
Speaker 27 (33:18):
Len Bias was not a great player.
Speaker 18 (33:22):
He was a transcendent player. He's one of the best
players I've ever seen.
Speaker 28 (33:25):
I was a student here when Leonard was a god
on campus and.
Speaker 19 (33:32):
Growing up a turf ban.
Speaker 28 (33:34):
He was the guy then and remains my all time
favorite term.
Speaker 11 (33:39):
He was the best, damn player.
Speaker 6 (33:45):
He was the best.
Speaker 18 (33:48):
A couple of weeks later, Maryland basketball stage Len Bias
Knight during a home basketball game against Virginia Tech. It
was the first time Maryland dedicated one game to Bias.
The game, some four thousand Len biased jerseys in gold
with red lettering and trim were handed out to students
A few hours before the game. Hundreds of students lined
(34:09):
up outside the arena to be the first to claim
them first. A group of female students.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
Who's a end Bias fan here?
Speaker 6 (34:17):
Anybody? Yeah, that's why we're here.
Speaker 19 (34:20):
What do you know about him that he played a
long time ago?
Speaker 2 (34:23):
I think it was an over Yeah.
Speaker 6 (34:28):
The dress.
Speaker 18 (34:29):
Here's Jacob Corba, a student from Eldersburg, Maryland.
Speaker 29 (34:33):
Well, he was a great player. People said at the
time that he could have been like Well in college.
He could have been better than Jordan decided to celebrate
with some friends and then that, uh, it's an then
too well.
Speaker 18 (34:45):
Inside the arena, a fan was wearing a different Bias jersey.
It had a white background with red letters. It's Rob
Mitchell of Ellicott City. Mitchell claims he played against j
Bias in pickup games when he was a student at
Maryland from nineteen eighty eight in nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 10 (35:02):
I've had it for about fifteen years now. It is
one of my class of jersey. I remember every almost
every game from Lenny. I actually Lenny was actually the
reason why I attended Maryland back again.
Speaker 11 (35:17):
He made Maryland Pride a regular routine.
Speaker 10 (35:23):
I enjoyed it. It was the battles against UNC's, the
battles against Duke, the championship from nineteen eighty four, I
remember distinctly.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Like it was Jessin.
Speaker 18 (35:36):
Maryland's players even were long sleeve versions of the giveaway
jersey as warm up tops. Johnny Holiday had a courtside
seed at the game. He's been Maryland's play by play
announcer for football and basketball for more than forty years.
Speaker 25 (35:59):
And it's a whole ballgame now, a whole new generation
of fans, and I think that's the best tribute to
him is to see people walking around at games at
other events with number thirty four and Bias in the
back of their jersey.
Speaker 18 (36:14):
Chris Naki was at Exfinity Center that night working with
Holiday as the radio broadcast analyst.
Speaker 20 (36:20):
None of those kids were alive when Len was alive.
It was an awesome moment to have those people. I
think even the kids who weren't alive understand the significance
of Len his life and his death and the fact
that the Bias has got to walk out on that court. Now,
honestly it wasn't called Fieldhouse where Len had played, but
(36:41):
it was it was, you know, the Gary Williams court
on Exfinity Center.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
To have them walk.
Speaker 20 (36:47):
Out and be recognized like that, it was an emotional
minute or so.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
And you know, I cannot remember it can't speak.
Speaker 20 (36:56):
To exactly what kind of ovation he got in twenty twelve,
but I can speak to what happened in Infinity and
it was brilliant.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
It was awesome, it was well.
Speaker 20 (37:05):
Deserved, it was extremely respectful, and it was loud and
Whiles no longer but must be.
Speaker 9 (37:15):
It's a legacy. It's a forever.
Speaker 26 (37:23):
James On the boy that I was their name.
Speaker 9 (37:26):
Sight Love was Lenny spies LEAs do.
Speaker 18 (37:40):
James and Lenise Spie held a press conference after the game.
Linise Spicue has spoken often publicly about Len's death and legacy,
but it.
Speaker 22 (37:49):
Wasn't until his death that I realized who he was
and the impact that he had made in the sports
were and how his death impacted the entire earth. I'm
a firm believer that Len was a seed that went
(38:12):
down into the ground to bring forth life. And to
see the hardship that the Bias family endured, not only
through death but the death of Len, but forty two
months later with the death of our son Jay, and
then to see us come full circle, not running away
(38:34):
from where the pain was, but standing until the healing
took place.
Speaker 9 (38:40):
And to be here today showing that.
Speaker 22 (38:45):
Just my husband and I standing out on the floor
through the death of Len is a message that you
can make it.
Speaker 18 (38:54):
James Bias has rarely talked publicly about lenn His words
then provided a more pro found impact at the press
conference than those of his wife, which, based on the
revered reputation of Lenise Bias is saying something.
Speaker 6 (39:08):
See no recognized.
Speaker 12 (39:13):
After thirty four years going thirty five years and that
a new receptment crowd. Things have teamed. You have a
whole brand faculty. Those people who were students then adults
can have children now. So I'm probably Indian right now
within that crowd out there.
Speaker 6 (39:34):
I mean, you know for real.
Speaker 12 (39:36):
And so that you think back on the legacy of
Limb and what do your accomplished here and June and
then you uh, many of those people were regular students,
just like Lynn was, and we need to ever forget that.
And that was a student at the University of orl
didn't just pop up and be here gone. No, he
(39:58):
was a student just like those kids that up down
and doing the same thing he did before he came
in to the school.
Speaker 6 (40:05):
So that's what impressed me.
Speaker 12 (40:09):
And I was looking at every one of them, and
I said, look at that, Look at them.
Speaker 6 (40:13):
He was just like that.
Speaker 12 (40:16):
My sons, my sons, and my daughter was just like
them up there. They was up there, jumping up, down
and recruiting for Maryland. So that's what I was thinking
about it man, and each one of them I could
see a part of him because they're just like him.
Speaker 6 (40:36):
And that gave me a hope about the future. All
those people out there. We never know.
Speaker 12 (40:42):
One day one of them might be president. They may
be the president of this university. That's how I hope,
so that I still have hope that life going on.
Speaker 6 (40:56):
We've been successful at and that many things Bill jump
into uh yet done, and the life of Lynn still
goes on. The legacy lives.
Speaker 12 (41:07):
Not only does he live through them and live stool
my grandchildren that Lynn didn't even know when he never
put his eyes on them, but he had an effect
on them. I have three grandchildren who graduated college.
Speaker 6 (41:26):
They weren't he born. Then you understand what I'm saying.
He never saw.
Speaker 12 (41:30):
Them, but he had an effect on them because we
taught them about their and their own and who.
Speaker 6 (41:37):
He was and his legacy.
Speaker 12 (41:39):
And that's why you see, after all these years, people
still talking about land Bys on the media and in
conversations everywhere. So I'm very proud of it. But he
accomplished Chill, and I'm just proud of everyone who supports him.
And I'm standing up in.
Speaker 9 (41:59):
Chier, as my husband said, seeing the sea of.
Speaker 22 (42:08):
Jerseys out there and the young people cheering and jumping
up and down, and said, when we were passing through
the crowd, people touching us and finding us. And I
understand that when we grieved, as I said earlier, for Lend,
there were so so many people that grieved and they
are people that are still.
Speaker 9 (42:30):
Breathing over his death.
Speaker 18 (42:38):
Lenbias Knight marked a departure from the old way of
thinking about bias at Maryland, no longer a burden, but
rather a blessing to be accepted. Few can offer insight
is deeply on the evolution of acceptance of bias at Maryland.
As head football coach Mike Loxley, he grew up in Washington,
d C. As a Len Bias fan and has seen
the change within Terps athletics.
Speaker 13 (43:00):
Folk lord that goes along with it, and his legacy
just continues to grow with these generations because it's the unknown.
I'm speaking totally as a fan and not as the
coach of the football team. That you know, there was
nobody that had more of a great impact on me
in terms of my favorite Maryland athlete of all times.
(43:21):
You know, it's no doubt for me it was Len Bias.
Speaker 18 (43:24):
Two more Halls of Fame of honored Bias. The DC
Sports Hall of Fame inducted Bias in twenty eighteen. Perhaps
Len's highest honor happened in late November twenty twenty one.
That's when he was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball
Hall of Fame. Here's part of his introduction.
Speaker 15 (43:40):
Thirty five years later.
Speaker 14 (43:42):
The memory of Len Bias and his startup at Maryland
still stands, Straw.
Speaker 30 (43:47):
What we're here tonight to do is to celebrate the
life and the playing career at the University of Maryland
of Len Bias, which was unbelievable and for those that
obviously aren't old enough to have witnessed it, it was
something special.
Speaker 18 (44:04):
Kevin Henderson was well aware of the Lenn Bias story.
He was a student at the University of Kansas when
Bias died, and he's been a member of the selection
committee at the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame for
some fifteen years.
Speaker 19 (44:18):
We really became more aware of Lyn and his story
as young men when thank you for reminding me.
Speaker 14 (44:25):
The other day. Peter Jennings came on the World News
tonight and it was the lead story, and I remember
seeing that, and that's when I became more aware of
Lynn and his kind of his short history as a
(44:46):
college basketball player and everything that happened in that tragedy.
But Lynn's death was a shock because he looked like us,
looked like us, he was our age, we can relate.
So it was a shock in that way. It's like, oh, man,
(45:08):
here's a guy who's, you know, basically on top of
the world, and his potential was long, and you know,
now this happens that he's gone.
Speaker 18 (45:22):
Henderson is also the CEO of the College Basketball Experience,
which manages it's Hall of Fame. He says discussions about
lens induction focused only on one aspect of his career.
Speaker 19 (45:34):
Obviously, the tragedy that befeled him was a topic of
conversation during the discussion, but I don't believe it had
any varying on him getting into the Hall or not.
So it wasn't let's do it because we feel sorry
for them bias or you know, with you know, this
(45:57):
whole drug thing, and now it was based on his
It was based on what he did on the court.
And you often heard during those deliberations, you heard, you know,
comparisons to Michael Jordan that he would have been greater
than Michael Jordan, or he would have been just as
bid as Michael Jordan. A lot of that talk was
(46:19):
going on how phenomenal of a basketball player he was,
and I'm talking guys who have been in the game
on that committee for forty fifty years, and how they
remarked about him as a player.
Speaker 18 (46:42):
What is the most profound part of the legacy of
Len Bias? Was he a savior or a villain, a
cautionary tale or wasted talent? What is the big takeaway
from his story? Does his laws still trigger sadness today?
What follows is a sampling of responses we've compiled from
as we talked to for this podcast series, as well
(47:03):
as others profound perspectives on Len's legacy. We start with
Shaquille O'Neil, a four time NBA champion and a member
of the Nasmith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was
fourteen years old when Len Bias died. This comes from
an interview on the Jordan Harbinger Show.
Speaker 15 (47:21):
One Tragic Story. When Len Bias passed away from using cocaine,
My father came in the house furious, furious, if you
ever do this, I'll kill you. You don't even have time,
no overdose, I'll kill you. So I always say you
know what, no drugs for me.
Speaker 18 (47:39):
Bryan Strauss is a soccer writer for SI dot Com.
He grew up in Washington, DC and watched Bias play
basketball on television. Strauss found a deep connection with the
death of Bias.
Speaker 31 (47:51):
And so it became this reflex that whenever cocaine was
referenced in any way or mentioned or seen, the immediate
like electrical cognitive response was Len Bias and Len Bias's death,
and this is what this drug does, and this is
(48:12):
the havoc and chaos that this drug can cause. And
so it was the red light kind of the metaphor
like stop immediately, like an instantaneous repulsion, because to me,
cocaine represented everything that happened to this guy, who obviously
I never met and had no connection to and barely
(48:35):
understood who he was. But like I said, I knew
he was this larger than life figure in Washington sports.
I loved sports, and it was the only way that
I could comprehend his death when I was eleven was
to connect it to the drug. And that connection has
existed ever since.
Speaker 18 (48:52):
Robert DuPont was the president of the American Council of
Drug Education when Bias died in the nineteen seventies. He
was the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse
and a white House Drugs Are. He sees Lens legacy
is a profound marker that changed the perception of cocaine.
Speaker 23 (49:09):
Oh my god, I think that that death was not
in vain. That death was a marker of a changed
attitude in our society, in the world. It was a
very dramatic switch that went on, and I think about
it very much as a legacy of len Bias that
(49:29):
we're all grateful for. We're all in his debt and
gave a meaning to his life that otherwise wouldn't have
been there, and that was to unmask cocaine as a
dangerous drug.
Speaker 18 (49:45):
Bonnie Bernstein was a Maryland gymnast in the late eighties
and early nineties, at a time when Maryland athletics endured
drastic changes. She later became a network sportscaster.
Speaker 32 (49:55):
It's important to keep history alive because we have to
keep the anti drug message alive. The reality is the
kids who need to hear that message, they're not going
to listen if it's coming from a parent. They're probably
not going to listen if it's coming from a coach
(50:15):
or an administrator. Those messages resonate most strongly when they're
coming from people they admire and want to emulate. And
while len Bias is gone, his story is still strong.
And when his story is shared, and when you think
about who len Bias could have been, that means something.
(50:40):
That means something to kids, whether they're playing basketball or football,
or soccer or lacrosse or gymnastics, they want to be
the very best. Len Bias was one of the best
in college basketball, and he was projecting to be one
of the best to ever play the game in the NBA,
and he never may had that chance because of the
(51:03):
choices he made, and for that reason alone, we need
to keep history alive.
Speaker 18 (51:10):
Joe Anne Borzakian was a marketing representative for Reebach who
was working with lenn when he died. She sees the
legacy of Bias for what he was, not what happened
because of how he died.
Speaker 33 (51:22):
For me, it's everything he had accomplished and all that
he could have accomplished. I think he had the potential
to make others great. I just feel so sad. I
feel so sad that we didn't get to see all
the greatness that he brought up to that point. I
just wonder what was in that Genie bottle ready to
(51:42):
be unleashed.
Speaker 18 (51:44):
Johnny Dawkins was the College Player of the Year in
nineteen eighty six. A duke like Bias. He is from
the Washington, DC area. He played against Bias in high
school and college.
Speaker 34 (51:54):
Definitely a sadness in a DMV. There was definitely a
sadness in that community. You know, probably still is, to
be quite frank, I mean, just you know, just thinking
about who we would have become. I think everyone carries
that you know with them. I mean, I think sometimes
we overlook the fact that, you know, a generation of
players that have.
Speaker 6 (52:13):
Come behind him.
Speaker 34 (52:15):
I mean, who knows that would have happened to one
or more of those players if it hadn't been for
the story of Lenn Bias too. I think he saved
a lot more lives that we'll never know because of
history and the fact that we've kept his story alive
the way that des been kept alive.
Speaker 18 (52:29):
Earlier in this podcast series, Len Elmore compared the legacy
of Bias to a Greek tragedy for all involved. Elmore
was an All American at Maryland in the mid nineteen seventies.
Speaker 35 (52:39):
Len Bias's name will always be associated with Maryland because
of his greatness.
Speaker 19 (52:44):
As an athlete, but it should also be.
Speaker 35 (52:49):
Associated with Maryland because of the tragedy and the humanity
that's associated with it as well.
Speaker 17 (52:54):
Yeah, and this is the idea of a star in full.
Speaker 36 (52:59):
Bloom that ultimately had that had that flame dowst by
a mistake. And this is not the only kind of
mistake that you've can make to dowst that flame, and
to recognize that.
Speaker 35 (53:15):
No matter how good you are, no matter how good
you think you are, you know you're vulnerable. And the
idea is to recognize those vulnerabilities now before you know
they have a chance to catch up to you. And
as I said, dowst that flame too. You know, limit
your trajectory, you know, to to place a ceiling on
(53:36):
your altitude.
Speaker 18 (53:38):
And similar to iconic actors and musicians who died young,
from James Dean to Jim Morrison, Bias has become larger
in death than he was in life. Here's Chris Knaki,
Marilyn Basketball's radio analyst.
Speaker 20 (53:50):
It's the same reason why people talk about James Dean,
John Kennedy. You know it's a it's a it's a
wonder kind dying young way.
Speaker 3 (54:00):
Way way before their time.
Speaker 20 (54:02):
And it's a I think it's the age old thing,
and part of it is that promise unfulfilled.
Speaker 18 (54:09):
Here's more from Dawkins, the men's head coach at the
University of Central Florida.
Speaker 34 (54:14):
You know, we all are in a position where we
you know, we're not invincible, and not to tell my
players that to this day, I say, you know, you
guys walk around you like you superman, but you know
we really aren't.
Speaker 25 (54:26):
We all are vulnerable and we all.
Speaker 34 (54:28):
Can succumb to something. And again, you know, you think
about Linear's situation because it's no more powerful, explosive person
and player than he was during his time, and he
was still in his early twenties, and so that can
happen him, it can happen to anybody.
Speaker 18 (54:43):
Jeffrey Harding is a Maryland basketball fan who was also
a prosecutor in the Brian Tribble trial related to the
death of Bias.
Speaker 3 (54:51):
His real legacy is that he.
Speaker 37 (54:57):
Really presented two sides of the roller to people. He said,
on this side of the roller, you can be whatever
you want to be coming up from the streets, working hard,
being dedicated, you know, getting to be the number one
draft pick, number two in the overall draft and making it,
you know, getting out there making it.
Speaker 3 (55:19):
The other side of the ruler is the outside. You know,
Drugs took his life.
Speaker 37 (55:26):
Not on purpose, but it took his life, and that
should be an example and part of his legacy of
what not to do.
Speaker 18 (55:33):
J Billis played four years of basketball at Duke at
the same time Bias played at Maryland. As an analyst
for ESPN, he's now one of the more respected voices
in college basketball.
Speaker 27 (55:43):
Well, you can always use use him and others as
a cautionary tale, but it doesn't work. You know how
many cautionary tales are there out there about not just
about drug use, but about drinking, about you know, driving
too fast, all these things. You know, does it work?
Speaker 14 (56:01):
I don't know. I don't.
Speaker 25 (56:02):
I don't think it did.
Speaker 27 (56:03):
With drug use, that's sir. I'm maybe a little more
cynical about that kind of thing because we've all sat
through those and I think the people that resonates with
are the ones that wouldn't do it in the first place.
I just don't think the data shows that it's doing
a hell of a lot of good.
Speaker 18 (56:21):
Molly Glassman was a Marylyn beat reporter for the Baltimore
Sun during the Bias era. She looks at his legacy
through the lens of her two different careers as a
sports writer and sports editor and later as a teacher
in the Baltimore County system.
Speaker 8 (56:36):
Well, his legacy at Maryland is of a local kid
who made good and worked his ass off to make
himself a great basketball player.
Speaker 9 (56:54):
And so that could be you.
Speaker 8 (56:57):
The greatness can be achieved by anyone who has talent
and is willing to work to make that talent the best. Well,
that's why I'm very happy to have these ten year,
(57:18):
twenty five year, thirty five year retrospectives to you know,
to revive those memories and introduce Lend's story to another
group of kids. You're like we tell kids all the
time as teachers. You know, you learn through your mistakes.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes, don't be a perfectionist,
(57:41):
keep trying, keep working. But Lenny's story shows us that
even when you keep growing and learning and making yourself
the best person you can be, that there.
Speaker 9 (57:53):
Can be.
Speaker 8 (57:55):
Tragic consequences You are never totally invincible.
Speaker 18 (58:00):
Marriam Leguer was a friend of Bias at Maryland and
is now a producer for ESPN. She sees those who
feel betrayed by his loss.
Speaker 38 (58:08):
And I think people, actually, they get so emotionally invested
in it. They're angry, They're like, you cheated me out
of rooting for you. They were looking towards the future,
and I feel like while Lenny's future was cut short,
I think people's dreams about who he was and who
they wanted him to be was cut short too.
Speaker 18 (58:29):
Ed Tapscott is a former college and NBA head coach.
He is a Washington, DC native who followed the career
of Len Bias closely.
Speaker 16 (58:36):
Tragic waste of potential is what I see as the legacy.
It was a guy who had put himself on the
precedence and enormous success.
Speaker 17 (58:48):
But for a one mistake that didn't work out the
way it was supposed to. It was obviously an object
lesson that many coaches used to preach to their players about,
and so for Lenny. I think for an entire generation
of young.
Speaker 16 (59:08):
Men in this area, young men and women, and particularly
those in the athletic community, this story rings as a
very very tragic story that will be used for a
long long time to help other people recognize how decisions
and mistakes matter in life.
Speaker 18 (59:28):
Tom O'Neill's father, Tip O'Neill, was the Speaker of the
House when len Bias died. Tip O'Neill guided the nineteen
eighty six Anti Drug Abuse Act legislation through Congress. The
legislation created mandatory minimum sentences for certain cocaine criminals. One
of Tom O'Neill's brothers died from drug and alcohol addiction.
Speaker 6 (59:48):
You know, he's a great basketball player.
Speaker 39 (59:50):
I think people don't know his backstory because there was
so much abuse in our society today that anything that
could be remedial, anything that can educate, can inform people
as mistakes being made by others or having been made
by others won't be repeated or done again.
Speaker 7 (01:00:14):
This is Dave Ungrady, a producer of this podcast series.
I'd like to take a minute or so to recognize
someone who was featured in this episode, and that is
Bob Gagan. Bob passed away earlier this year. Bob was
a pioneer promoting basketball in the Washington, DC area. In fact,
(01:00:35):
he is considered perhaps the most prominent promoter of basketball
in Washington, DC of most relevance to this podcast series.
Bob was the first person to induct len Bias into
a basketball Hall of Fame. I've known Bob since the
early nineteen eighties. More recently, he's been very supportive of
(01:00:58):
the book I wrote about lens Lelegacy that inspired this
podcast series, and he has played a significant role in
helping preserve the complex legacy of len Bias.
Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
Up next on len Bias and Mixed Legacy, Bias and Culture.
Speaker 28 (01:01:20):
Gwennolan Brooks was one of the most distinguished poets in
the country at the time. And to have that person
who represents the pinnacle of you know, of a literary position.
Speaker 6 (01:01:39):
Have a meeting with.
Speaker 28 (01:01:43):
Arguably the best college basketball player in the United States
at the time. I mean, that's remarkable, isn't it.
Speaker 17 (01:01:52):
It meant to me the coming.
Speaker 28 (01:01:53):
Together of two cultures, you know, the literary humanities culture
and the student athlete culture.
Speaker 17 (01:02:02):
And it seemed clear to.
Speaker 28 (01:02:03):
Me that len Bias recognized the importance of the moment.
Speaker 40 (01:02:10):
Think there were these connections, political connections, cultural connections, social connections.
Do you realize that this may have been the most
impactful moment in modern sports history, just because of the
impact it had on politics, on culture, on a generation
(01:02:31):
of African Americans.
Speaker 3 (01:02:35):
One and more painful, what if in.
Speaker 16 (01:02:39):
Pop culture history?
Speaker 41 (01:02:41):
It's called Home Court. It's a play about an inner
city family that's striving to beat the odds, which I
should notice based not too loosely on the tragedy of
of of Len Bias.
Speaker 6 (01:02:59):
What I do.
Speaker 42 (01:03:03):
Lynn Bias post nineteen eighty six overwhelms. The narrative of
Lynn Bias pre ninety pre overdose and overwhelms is so
much so that for me, him as a basketball player,
has to constantly try to compete with his effect on
the culture in all of those other ways.
Speaker 1 (01:03:23):
This podcast series is based on the book Born Ready,
The Mixed Legacy of limb Bias, published by Go Grady Media.
The series is produced by Go Grady Media in partnership
with Octagon Entertainment. This segment was produced by Daveon Grady
and Don Mark. It was written by Davon Grady and
edited by Don Marcus. The narrator was Kevin Sheen, with
additional narration by Jamal Williams. Technical production was provided by
(01:03:46):
Octagon Entertainment. Production assistance was produced by Kevin mcnelty, Tino Quagliata,
Lauren Ross, Georgia Brown, Casey Fair, Jamal Williams, Chelsey Mannox
and Enzo al Varna social media assistance. Special thanks to
the University of Maryland and American University for providing inservice.
The Decision Education Foundation is a content and promotional partner
(01:04:08):
of this podcast series. For more information, go to gogradingmedia
dot com. This has been a production of go grading
Media and the Eighth Side Network
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