Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Len Bias, our Own Mortality, and the Choices we Make

By Charlie Scaturro


With what would have been his 50th birthday yesterday, the shock of Len Bias’ tragic passing has abated quite a bit. Time can’t completely heal this wound, but at least we have some perspective on the death of Len Bias nearly 30 years later.

Having never seen him play, I can’t take a few grainy highlights and anecdotes about his awe-inspiring physical abilities and even attempt to extrapolate what it might have meant in the context of NBA history (besides, that’s been done by much better writers than me). And even though I wasn’t around to see Len Bias play, I think what we’re looking at when considering Bias’ death after stripping away the basketball side of the equation is valuable in many ways.