Leonard Kevin Bias was a student at the University of Maryland, where he competed in college basketball in the United States. Throughout the four years that he played college football for Maryland, he was selected to the first team of All-Americans three times.
Two days after the Boston Celtics used the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA draught to select him, the player committed suicide. Find out more about his life and the circumstances surrounding his passing at such a little age.
Early life of Len Bias
Bias spent his childhood in the Prince George’s County region of Maryland, which is located not far from the Washington, District of Columbia metropolitan area. He was the third of his parents, James Bias Jr. and Dr. Lonise Bias’s, four children to be born.
He was one of three siblings: his sister’s name was Michelle, and he had two brothers named Eric and James III. From Landover in the state of Maryland, The Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, is where Bias earned his diploma.
Len Bias got collapsed and lost consciousness
Interviews with Bias’ friends, teammates, and family paint a picture of his final hours: He arrived at College Park around midnight after taking a flight from Boston with his father, visiting the family’s home in Landover around 11 p.m., eating crabs in his dorm room with teammates and a football team member until about 2 a.m., driving off alone and being spotted at an off-campus event, and arriving back at his dorm around 3 a.m.
When speaking with teammate Terry Long, he passed out sometime after six in the morning. Four minutes after they were called and six minutes before a mobile intensive care unit arrived, county ambulance attendants found Bias unresponsive and not breathing in his dormitory suite at 6:36 a.m. He never recovered consciousness or started breathing on his own, according to Dr. Edward Wilson, the head emergency room physician at Leland Memorial.
More To Read- How Did Regis Philibin Died | Check Actual Cause Of Death
Cocaine was the reason of his death
Len Bias, a famous basketball player for the University of Maryland, was found dead from “cocaine intoxication” after taking an extraordinarily pure dosage of the drug, which instantly stopped his heart. Since cocaine “interrupted the normal electrical control of his heartbeat, resulting in the abrupt onset of seizures and cardiac arrest,” Dr. John E. Smialek directly blamed cocaine for Bias’ passing on last Thursday early.
But Len Bias was not a user of Cocaine
There were, according to Smialek, no signs that Bias had ingested alcohol or any other drugs in the hours before he passed out in his Washington Hall dorm room on the College Park campus.
He claimed that there was no sign of long-term cocaine use in Bias’ body following an autopsy, and that it was “possible” that the All-deadly American’s ingesting of the substance was his first.
More To Read- How Old Was Benjamin Franklin When He Died?
The memorial
A memorial service was held on June 23 at the Cole Field House, the university leisure and student centre where Bias played for the Terrapins. More than 11,000 people attended the service, which took place four days after Bias passed away. Among those who spoke at the memorial was Red Auerbach.
He revealed that he had been considering drafting Bias for the Celtics for the previous three years. The Boston Celtics held a memorial service for Bias on June 30, 1986, and as part of the ceremony, they presented his mother, Lonise, with his unused #30 Celtics jersey.
More To Read- When Did Sojourner Truth Died?
Person arrested for possession of Cocaine
Indictments were brought against Brian Tribble by a grand jury on the 25th of July, 1986, for both possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. Following an undercover sting operation that lasted for two years, Tribble entered a guilty plea to a drug charge in October of 1990. Due to the fact that he assisted the authorities in their investigation, he was given a sentence of ten years and one month in jail.
To Conclude
Len Bias a great basketball player at his time unfortunately died at 22. Reports told that he died due to some reactions caused by Cocaine found in his body. Bias was admitted to the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
