Len Bias 5

I was a freshman at Maryland during Bais's senior season so I was able to see him play in person. I was familiar with him from his senior season in high school, as I attended school in the same town and followed him in the papers. When the Washington Post shot the 1982 High School All-Metropolitan team photo in my school's gym, the energy in the room changed when Lenny walked in. The other players in the gym were no slouches -- Johnny Dawkins comes to mind -- but Bias gave off a different vibe even then. In college he was a tremendous presence on the basketball court. I got the sense that teammates tried harder in order not to disappoint him. He had a wiry frame early in his career which he developed into a superhero-caricature upper body by the start of his senior year. He was an explosive leaper with a soft touch on his jump shot. He had range but perferred to work close in. He was a smooth finesse player when he needed to be and he was a rugged, shoulder-bumping grinder when the dirty work of rebounding and defense needed doing. His left-handed dribbling needed work but with his leaping ability he needed only to drive within 8 feet of the rim and a dunk would result. He dunked off two feet in transition, off one foot with one hand slashing through the lane, on reverse alley-oops and off one step in traffic around the lane in people's faces. He demoralized opponents and created highlights for the 11 o'clock news before cable put SportsCenter in nearly everyone's home. Bias lined up at small forward in college and likely would also have played the "3" position in the NBA. I believe he would have been an All-Star and could have helped the Celtics challenge in the East for years to come. It is hard to say whether he would have challenged Jordan for scoring supremacy but the road to the Finals consistently would have gone through Boston as frequently as through Detroit, New York, and Chicago during the late 80's and early 90's. Bias would have been a solid rebounder and serviceable passer for a forward, if not to the level of Larry Bird, however, playing his first few seasons with Bird would have taught him how to be a complete player. Based on all I got to see of him during his lifetime, looking at what other small forwards with his size, athleticism and killer instinct have done in the NBA since the late 1970's and knowing he was drafted by Boston and would have played with Bird for a few years, my guess is that once he replaced Bird as the starting small forward, barring serious injury Bias would have averaged about 25-27 points per game, 7-8 rebounds and 4-5 assists per game for at least 5 to 8 years of the prime of his career. I imagine Boston might have won around three titles with Bias over a 15 year career, depending on how they built around him and who the coaches were. The Boston-Chicago Eastern Conference Championship series would have been epic but we have to remember that many great players had the misfortune to be born between 1961 and 1965 -- Jordan's biggest competition. Bias could have wound up like Malone, Stockton, Drexler, Barkley and Ewing but as a fan and eyewitness I imagine he would have found a way to win. Finally, I'm sure he would have been a Dream-Teamer and Laettner never would have been in that discussion. Don't be fooled by Bias being picked second in the draft. Chris Washburn was never going to be good and Cleveland didn't need Bias -- as someone else said, Cleveland needed a center. Bias was worthy of the No. 1 pick but we have to settle for ifs and buts, now.