WHAT IF: Len Bias Played a Full Career
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- Опубліковано 5 лис 2023
- Len Bias tragically died two days after the 1986 NBA Draft in which the Celtics took him #2. He was one of the best players to come out in the 80's and many thought he would be one of the greatest of all time. What would happen if he played a full career with no injuries and no major issues with the NBA.
As mentioned in the video, here is the article in which Larry Bird said he would have retired in 88 if Bias was on the Celtics:
www.basketballnetwork.net/old...
If Bias was playing for the Celtics and his career took off like it did in college the Chicago Bulls wouldn't have six championships.
Bias would have given the Celtics "juice." He was the guy who could steal a pass at half court and bring the crowd to its feet with a rim-rattling dunk. The Celtics had no one at that time who could do those kinds of things. His presence also could have helped preserve the likes of Kevin McHale, who played the second half of that 1987 season on what amounted to a broken foot.
It would have been so unfair for that team to get Bias at that time. Bird's Celtics would have been reborn into a new nightmare.
I am an LA Lakers fan. If Len lived, I don't think the Lakers would have won the championships in 1987-88 - those championships would have gone to the Celtics.
Thank you for making this video. I appreciate the fact that you consider the outcome of Reggie Lewis playing with Len as well as Dee Brown. Yet I have to admit I'm surprised that you think that the bulls would still win as many championships as they did. One would have to be a fool to deny the greatness of Jordan even if these events were to play out. That does leave the what if scenario of Larry Bird not suffering the multitude of injuries prior to him playing a single NBA game. For that matter maybe Mchale does not get injured in 1987.
There's a million scenarios. If he didn't pass away, maybe he just has a drug problem that dogs him his entire career. Maybe he wants to start immediately and that caused friction. Or he's injury prone. People seem to act like had he not died that night he would have been a ten time all star, never have an on or off the court issue for his entire career. I'm not trying to insult the man. We'll never know. R.I.P.
Celtics would have won 2 more titles. He was that good. He was #2 to Jordan.
I can not remember a greater athlete of Bias's size, or any size, coming out of college (Jordan and David Thompson are close, though somewhat smaller). I think he would have had to improve his handle, but most players do after being in the NBA. Len Bias was a beast with the ball from fifteen feet on in. His highlight videos are scary...
I have him and reggie on my starting 5
I think he would have been similar to Carmelo Anthony because looking at his college stats he simply didn't pass the ball at all averaging only 1.3 assists per game. He also didn't put much effort into rebounding averaging only 5.7 per game. Melo ended up being more of a cancer to the teams he played on because he was a ball stopper. I witnessed it for several years when he was in OKC. He would have been a good player but those Celtics teams really shared the ball and I don't know how well he would have fit in there.
Bird was not going to retire in 88, No chance No way. Bias would have taken so much off his shoulders.
If Bias is that good, there's no way the Celtics trade him to the Bulls unless they at least get Scottie Pippen in return along with draft picks. The Bulls were able to get Rodman fairly cheap because he was too much of a headache in San Antonio, they wanted to get rid of him. Asking price would have been much higher for what we imagine Bias to be.
Bias was notva PF. BULLS already had a SF, Scottie Pippen. I think the Celtics wouldve made traded picks to get some players around Bias to keep them competitive.
Very reasonable take
Brad Daugherty of course. I remember because supposedly the Celtics spread rumors about Bias so the Cavs would pass him up and it worked. Daugherty was still a damn good player but I think Bias would have been better. And I seriously doubt Bird would have hung it up if they were still making the finals every year. Despite what he says. He's too competitive, I believe.
Bias is the best college player that I have seen in my 51 years! He was as athletic or even more than Jordan! I remember where I was when I heard on the car radio that Bias had passed away. Brad Daugherty was the #1 pick in 1986. Thanks for doing a Bias video 🤙!
The celtics almost made it to the conference finals in 92 with an injured Bird and no Bias. If Bias was there they could have beaten the Bulls. The idea they couldn't have beaten the Bulls with Bias in 92 is nonsense. The Bulls had problems with the Cavs in 92 conference finals. Pretty sure Boston with Bias would have been a bigger problem.
Celtics Would Of Beat The Lakers In 87
Yeah, I think Larry Legend is kinda pulling our leg. If he get's a physical monster, like Bias, on the team and they get a realistic chance for a couple, possibly successive titles, I don't see Larry passing that up. Bias could pick up like 90%+ of the Bird's usual physical load while Larry's freakish IQ keeps him in the right spot without having to stress himself. Just imagine that duo for a second, then combine it with 'Torture Chamber' Mchale's post, you've got a high-octane motor-powered creature with grabby-ass long arms, the clutch-gene, a triangulating supercomputer in it's head and a 50/40/90 level shot output. Aurbach and Bill Russel and the rest would've lost their minds. But, we'll never know.
i wonder if someone can make a vid of Christian Laettner, if the TWolves had philosophy to build around him. Shaq got Penny. Alonzo joined LJ. who did Laettner get? he avg 18 ppg 8 rpg for his 4 years with the Wolves, with like 13 shots/game. but what would have been if the Wolves drafted better pieces around Laettner.