Len Bias Documentary

[old school]

Originally Posted by pajaroman

great piece. My only question about it is this: what the f*** is John Thompson doing on there? He hated Maryland and hates Maryland, and wouldn't play Maryland unless the NCAA told him to. His son carries on the tradition.

That maybe the case, but coaches are often privy to information that isn't disseminated to the public. Just because he wasn't part of the MD program doesn't mean he didn't have access to inside information. Outside of Lefty and his staff, what college player, assistant coach or head coach wouldn't have time to give to John Thompson?

[jtschrei]

Originally Posted by old school

I watched this again and I have the feeling that they still haven't presented the entire story. His teammates and closest friends all knew that Len was doing coke and knew that he had been doing it for some time. Otherwise, if they were truly his friends I don't see how they could sit in a room and watch him do coke after being drafted to play in the NBA and not say anything. It seems to me that it was an accepted practice - they had seen him doing coke before and thought he could handle it. He SOMEHOW passed all the drug test - NCAA and NBA unless of course both teams turned a blind eye to their prize athlete.

Interesting documentary. And I agree. We still don't think we have the whole story here. But, I do think the doc. gives an explanation of how his friends could allow this to happen.... and Tribble says it: VERY FEW PEOPLE were afraid of cocaine at that time. It was a recreational drug and few people died from overdoses. That's the legacy of Bias, people, including myself, became scared to death of coke. But it wasn't the case that people were super afraid of coke before he died.

No. 1 question: how "pure" was that coke and who got it? Did Bias know that he was doing pure coke?

Leading to the second question... which I feel was virtually unexplored by the documentary... what kind of guy was Bias? Was he a leader? Was he someone that always wanted to fit in? Did he have really good friends? The documentary editors really did a bad job with that... and no one has ever done a good job.

Why wasn't there more testimony from his former girlfriend about what kind of personality he was? Did he love to party? Why didn't they ask Jeff Baxter, who roomed with Bias, more about the evolution of Bias as a person from his freshman year to the time he got drafted?

I mean, was Tribble his best friend? Was that other guy who did coke with Bias, ie, the guy who seemed almost as sleezy as Tribble, really good friends with Bias? Why would Bias be friends with those kinds of guys? Did he want to be cool? I mean, he clearly fell in with this certain crowd. Why?!!!?!? Why wasn't he hanging out with his girlfriend or his parents after he got drafted?

I mean, the impression you get from Tribble is, none of us were worried about dying. We were just partying. How true is that impression? Why wasn't Tribble looking out for his friend who clearly had so much ahead of him?

The big point that I've learned is that Bias definitely had done coke before this. The myth that was fed to me as a child, and I'm fine with it, was this is the first time anyone heard of Bias doing coke... that if you do coke once, there is the chance you can die. That was the lesson I learned as a 10 year old kid. I still think it's a good lesson... but it's a lie in Bias's case.

What are the other lies? What kind of person was Bias? They don't tell us. We're just supposed to assume that he was an angel. I'm was left wanting more.

[Rosdaman]

Originally Posted by jtschrei

We still don't think we have the whole story here.

Good points in above post.

Indeed, the documentary does not break any new ground and is notable only for the vivid examples of how the main characters have aged since 1986.

Another question that should have been explored is who supplied the fatal cocaine?

It has been established that, the night before his passing, Len's new sports car (hard to imagine him not being the driver) was cruising an area notorious for its drug traffic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Bias

This link states:

However, prior to, and concurrent with, some of the given timelines of his activities at the campus, Bias's vehicle was observed and recorded by undercover agents of the Washington, DC metropolitan police department "cruising" one of the city’s most notorious drug neighborhoods along Montana Avenue, in the northeast section of the city. Although the surveillance did not determine who specifically was in the vehicle, or if the vehicle stopped for any purpose, they did estimate there were at least two people, driver and passenger, in the vehicle, and they recorded its license number.

Who was he with? What is that person's account of what happened?

Not passing moral judgement, but always good for the truth to emerge.

[Rosdaman]

Originally Posted by pajaroman

great piece. what the f*** is John Thompson doing on there? He hated Maryland and hates Maryland, and wouldn't play Maryland unless the NCAA told him to.

Thompson is connected to the story via the Celtics (he backed up Bill Russell for several years). He maintained a very close relationship with Red Auerbach over the years. And, like it or not, he has assumed a role of "spokesperson" for the role of African American male athletes in modern society.

I am a Terrapin but was not put off by anything Thompson said nor do I think it inappropriate for him to have been included.

Having said that, he should have been asked about drug use on his own teams and his response, whatever it had been, should have been part of the documentary.