The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2021 on Sunday. It includes 1998 national POY Antawn Jamison, 2008 NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce, and 2-time All-American Len Bias. 9 days after winning the 1986 NBA title the Celtics drafted Bias with the 2nd overall pick in the NBA Draft, but less than 48 hours later he was pronounced dead due to “cardiac arrhythmia induced by a cocaine overdose”. His off-court behavior tragically ended his pro career before it ever got started but cannot diminish his on-court dominance at Maryland. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Walt Williams about his fellow Maryland All-American and the impact of Len’s death over the past few decades.
In the 1983 NCAA tourney as a freshman at Maryland Bias scored 10 PTS including a 17-footer with 2 seconds left in a 1-PT win over Chattanooga: how were the Terps able to come all the way back from a 14-PT 2nd-half deficit? I was a Georgetown fan growing up as a kid and did not pay too much attention to the Terps until Len’s sophomore year. My dad took me to a North Carolina-Maryland game and from that point on I became a Terps fan.
He had a 44” vertical leap and Coach Lefty Driesell said that he was the only athlete on the football or basketball team who could bench press 300 pounds: where does he rank among the most athletic players that you have ever seen? He has to be right there at the top. Just on a jump shot his elevation was crazy in terms of how high he could get up.
In February of 1986 he scored 35 PTS in a 5-PT OT win at top-ranked North Carolina: how was he able to play his best against the best? Due to his versatility he could take big guys outside and then keep them off-balance. His baseline jumper was unbelievable: it is hard to stop penetration and then rotate out to a jump-shooter.
In the 1986 ACC tourney semifinals he scored 20 PTS but Keith Gatlin’s inbound cross-court pass to Bias was intercepted by Duane Ferrell with 5 seconds left in a 2-PT win by Georgia Tech: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of his career? At that time it was a heartbreaker for me. They played so well throughout the game so it was a tough way to end it.
He was a 2-time ACC Player of the Year/2-time All-American: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? I imagine that he thought they were great honors because that was 1 of the best eras in ACC basketball. Nowadays the best guys leave after 1-2 years, but back then the competition level was at an all-time high as seniors would battle other seniors. He dominated guys who were experienced.
He finished his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer: what was his secret for being a great scorer? He was very skilled at moving into open spots but could also score in the post and hit pull-up jumpers.
On June 17, 1986 he was selected 2nd overall by Boston in the NBA draft, but 2 days later he passed away from “cardiac arrhythmia induced by a cocaine overdose”: what was your reaction when you 1st learned of his death, and how good an NBA player do you think that he could have been? His death was devastating not only to me but to people throughout the area because we all loved him. It was a blow to the heart that still lasts to this day: I was such a big fan of his. He was so advanced as a college player so I think that he would have kept elevating his game around those legendary Celtics players. I think the sky was the limit.
What impact do you think that his death has had on drug usage/policy/enforcement in American society over the past few decades? Laws were put into place because of his death and a lot of young men went to jail because of it. The lessons you learn can be both positive and negative. I think he impacted other players because if a guy who seemed invincible like him could die from using drugs then it showed that drugs could bring down anyone and we needed to stay away from it. The university has put a lot of policies into place that have had a positive impact. Unfortunately, Len paid for it with his life.
When people look back on his career, how do you think he should be remembered the most? As the greatest player to put on a Maryland uniform: it is that simple.