Len was thriving. A 6-foot-8 senior forward at the University of Maryland, he was perhaps the best college basketball player in the country, a powerful athlete with a perfect jumper, poised for NBA superstardom. His athleticism drew frequent comparisons to another young star already in the league: Michael Jordan.
I could not believe it. It was like a dream. It really was. But still. Her son had entered a world of infinite possibility. He had fame. He was near riches.
And more importantly, whether on the basketball court or off it, he exuded joy. It was something weightier down in me that was a truth, that what looks like is going to happen is not going to take place. So while she experienced these moments of pride watching her son do what few people on Earth could do on a basketball court, she also felt this weight.
It was something in me telling me something is coming. Bird played in only six games in the season after having bone spurs removed from both of his heels. The star forward held no interest in going through surgery but felt obligated to lead the charge in Boston.
However, the situation could have played out differently with Bias in the fold. However, he tragically died from a cocaine overdose two days after being selected with the second overall pick in the draft. Bias could have shouldered being the face of the franchise, while Bird would have stepped into retirement after nine seasons. He returned to play his final three years despite dealing with back issues. The star forward guided Boston to playoff appearances by completing win campaigns and earning Atlantic Division titles in both of his last two years.
However, the Celtics failed to move past the Eastern Conference semifinals. Bird led the Celtics to a start to the campaign but missed 22 games due to a compressed nerve root in his back. The following offseason, he underwent surgery to remove a disc from his back. The Celtics selected Bias with the second pick of the draft after he had spent four years playing college ball at Maryland.
And the list probably goes on and on a lower-level set of achievements, such as playing 37 MPG, scoring Len Bias was probably the next-big-thing, and Boston remember, a time champion franchise with the Larry OB just took from the basketball oven and put in the Celtics showcase mere days before the draft. Boston had all of the reasons to be ecstatic, until the unthinkable happened. If you know the story, then you know Bias was drafted on June 17 to die only two days later on June 19, leaving Boston without their soon-to-be second-overall pick and rookie.
This alternate universe is meant to test what could have the Celtics done had Bias not died in , but instead had a full NBA career.
They had also lost the Finals, and made a couple of trips to the conference finals too. Simply put, the Celtics were a machine poised to keep it going for long.
Without Bias, though, the Celtics lost the Finals and the conference finals. With Bias, though, things would have looked like this at the start of the campaign. That is some stocked roster right there. All of them posted 6. Even Bill Walton, already 33, reached 5. Add Bias to that, who entered the league according to this simulation with an OVR rating of 68 Ron Harper, just for comparison with another rookie from , is a 65; Michael Jordan is a 74; Bird is the best player in the game at Basically, it was chip or bust for these Celtics.
That was the main core for , when Boston went all the way to The Celtics were able to sign Ricky Pierce for the season and retained the rest of the pieces, making it to the conference finals The season was quite different for Boston, as Parish was already cooked, Ricky Pierce dropped his production a ton, and only Len Bias Bias himself had delivered on the expectations: he snatched the Rookie of the Year award in at age , made the All-Rookie team, and was named to the All-Star game during the three-year span while even making the Second and Third All-League teams three times and the Third All-Defensive another three.
Michael Jordan was good but never reached the cult-level we all know him for in our world, and the Bulls were a middle-of-the-pack team at best. Detroit missed the playoffs more often than not. After endless rumors of a potential retirement due to a frustrating run with Bias in town, Bird decided to extend his contract with Boston at least until even being already 34 years old.
Lenny was entering his peak at age and the Celtics had traded for Michael Adams in , who would become an important piece of the championship team. Boston absolutely destroyed the field posting the best regular-season record beating the second-best team in the league Dallas by nine wins.
After spending five seasons in Philadelphia, Charles Barkley became a free agent in the summer of and half the NBA was trying to acquire his services.
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