port of indecision

Len Bias: Legend or Lesson

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I do not have any memory at all from the passing of Len Bias. I was only 4 years old at the time, but growing up a Celtics fan I've heard a number of stories, and have come to realize what he could of meant to the franchise as well as what some people think he could of done for the NBA in general. Up until a day ago I always thought of Bias as a guy who could of been a regular in the All-Star game, may of been the difference for 1 or 2 Celtics titles at the tail end of the Bird era, and possibly made some noise teaming up with Reggie Lewis in the early nineties. I have not heard many people claim much more than this, this would of made for a very good NBA career. Then I traveled to ESPN's website, and apparently I was lied to growing up or something is really out of the ordinary with the world wide leader.
I will start with a column written by Scoop Jackson. (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/060619_bias) Let me begin by saying I'm not a fan of much of Scoop's work so normally would not even bother to critique any of it because I would waste too much of my own time doing so. We begin with Scoop calling Len Bias a martyr. Wait, let me rephrase that, a #$@!ing martyr. Here are the Webster definitions for martyr 1 : person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion
2 : a person who sacrifices something of great value and especially life itself for the sake of principle.
It is widely accepted that Len Bias died of a drug overdose when he decided to celebrate being drafted with a little cocaine. He did not die for a religous or political purpose and he certainly did not sacrafice his life for any principle belief. He instead died because he celebrated in excess. I will not even bother to delve into the rest of the column, outside of saying Scoop chooses to call Len "LB" throughout. There is only one LB who has dawned a Celtic uniform, enough said. If you choose to read on past the martyr section of the column, be prepared for the mentioning of Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Tupac Shakur, and Martin Luther King in an article about someone who never set foot on the court in an NBA jersey.
Now onto a column by Bomani Jones (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jones/060619) I know nothing about Bomani Jones, have no history with his writing so I would consider myself not to be biased (no pun intended) when it comes to his writing. The article starts with Bomani buying a Len Bias Boston Celtics jersey out of the back of a Ford Tempo. I would normally follow this up a question along the lines of, why are you buying a jersey out of the back of a Ford Tempo? But there is too much to work with here and I don't have time for how rediculous this start is. Now onto this statement from Bomani: "Without question, Len Bias has influenced my life and the lives of my generation more than any other. He might be the most influential athlete of the 20th century." This could go on for hours, so I will only name a few I consider to be more influential, and not by a small margin either. Let me begin with Jackie Robinson, broke the baseball color barrier. Something wildly more important than anything Len Bias ever did or dreamed of doing. If it weren't for Robinson there is a good chance no one would of never heard of Len Bias. How about Lance Armstrong? Lance has survived cancer, inspiring those victimized by the disease and now financially he is helping to create forward progress in the fight against cancer. Did Bomani forget Jesse Owens, did he skip over the part of history involving Joe Louis, and I know Bomani was around for the movie "Miracle," could he of thought that it was a fictional tale?
Mr. Jones goes on to play the same martyr card Scoop had in the previous article. Unlike Scoop, Bomani actually attempts to explain why he considers Bias a martyr. I'm not buying what he's selling, but at least he gives some reasoning.
The last column of the group belongs to Bill Simmons. It's from "The Sports Guy Vault" meaning it was written a ways back. In this case it was June 20, 2001. I have been a huge fan of Simmons and usually enjoy his columns to the point where I creepily check the ESPN website multiple times a day hoping he's written something new, but I can not defend much of what he says here. (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/vault) First Simmons writes about Bias as if he were a family member, using language you would only use in describing a loved one. If you didn't know that in reality Bias was a complete stranger to Simmons, never mind family, you may be easily fooled. Bias was a Celtic for 48 hours, and this is the only connection between the two. Almost anything could have happened in Len's career, and it's funny when you think some of the things that could of left Bill writing about if Bias lived, just not to Bill's expectations. What would Simmons be writing if Bias lived? What if Bias fled the Celtics in 1993 for a bigger contract with San Antonio, teaming up with David Robinson for 3 titles while the Celtics floundered? Simmons would probably call Bias every name in the book the same way he does Roger Clemens. What if it had been the other way around and Clemens passed away in '86? Simmons would of written about how "The Rocket" would of launched the Red Sox to multiple '90's World Series rings.
Simmons goes on to compare Bias to a handful of NBA superstars, including Michael Jordan. Here is where my knowledge of Bias comes in a little fuzzy, but if he was this good why was he drafted #2? If he was the next Michael Jordan, then was Brad Daugherty the next Wilt Chamberlain at the time?
I am not going to argue that Len Bias was not a great college player, I was only 3 years old when he was a senior, my argument would be filled with made up garbage, which is what it seems some of these columnists chose to do. I see Bias as someone who should be seen as someone who young athletes can learn from. He was killed by excessive drug use that could kill anyone. In no way should he be seen as a martyr, looked at as a hero, or worshipped in anyway. Young athletes have enough poor "role models" shoved in there faces on a daily basis. Only time can tell the future, and Len Bias never did get to realize his full potential. No one really knows what could of happened, but if you write for ESPN you can pretend to know.

posted by Southeast of Disorder @ 9:48 PM