Len Bias statue: Yes or no?

I just remember that Brian Tribble was on TV more that summer than Cliff Huxtable.

 

Yeah, I agree. That strikes me as a lot of coin that could be better used than for a statue of anyone.

 

That post is the last straw.

 

Brings back some painful memories for this Celtics fan. I remember getting a phone call in the shop I was at in South Carolina when Bias died, asking me if it was true. I told him it was and the guy starting sobbing. Just an awful day.

The Celtics had just come off winning the NBA championship and they got to draft Bias. Just think of the possibilities. Bias paired with the Big Three. They might have won four or five titles in a row.

 

Celtic and Maryland fans have some fantasy that he would have walked the straight and narrow and flourished. I tend to believe that a guy who overdosed on blow would have had a career more like Roy Tarpley, Chris Washburn and William Bedford.

 

To be fair, Tarpley was a terrific player even when he was on drugs. Washburn and Bedford were little more than guys who sat at the end of the bench.

 

Yeah, you just can't... This is a horrible, horrible idea...

Maryland Hall of Fame? I'm guessing he's been there for awhile.

It would be fitting that Maryland would have statues of Bias and Ray Lewis. I just hope they find Lewis' white suit so they can properly dress the statue.

 

Spend $500 on a plaque and the other $49,500 on something that would actually benefit present and future students.

 

I'd like to think that's true, about the Celtics, but realistically they only had one more good year in them. If Bias wasn't on drugs his whole rookie year, maybe -- maybe -- he gives them the push they needed to beat the Lakers in the 87 Finals. Take away Magic's Baby Hook in Game 4 and the Celtics win that one. They did win Game 5, which means they'd have gone back to LA with two chances to win one game. They were so beset by injuries (Parish's ankles, McHale's foot, Ainge's hamstring) -- and had so little help off the bench -- that Bias would have been a significant factor in that postseason.

But I'm forced to agree that the drugs probably would have dragged down Bias' career. And the Celtics were really done after that 87 postseason. Detroit, as much as I disliked them, was undeniably a rising force. I wasn't a bit surprised that they won the East in 88.

As far as the statue, those who know the area know what a beleaguered school system that is. The last thing they need is to put up a statue honoring a guy who died of a drug overdose. But statue or no statue, Bias is very much a hero in the area, remembered as one of the best players the DC area has ever produced. If they want to honor someone, they should put up a statue of his mother, who also lost another son in a senseless shooting, and who has spent years talking to students about drugs and staying on the straight and narrow.

 

Beat me to that precise response.