Home
Register
Log inBias vs Jordan, what might have been
5 posters
Page 1 of 1
Bias vs Jordan, what might have been
by RosalieTCeltics Thu May 14, 2020 12:27 pm
The rivalry that wasn’t: Boston’s Len Bias vs. Michael Jordan
celticswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/10/nba-boston...
celticswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/10/nba-boston...
RosalieTCeltics- Posts : 40328
Join date : 2009-10-17
Age : 76
Re: Bias vs Jordan, what might have been
by gyso Thu May 14, 2020 12:34 pm
Here's the complete link:
https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/10/nba-boston-celtics-len-bias-michael-jordan-rivalry-that-wasnt/
It was supposed to have been the rivalry of the era, akin to Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain or Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
But the much-anticipated showdown across the careers of the Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan and her apparent of the Boston Celtics Len Bias never happened due to Bias’ untimely death.
Two days after being drafted by the Celtics, Bias would pass from a cardiac arrhythmia brought on by a cocaine overdose, dealing a blow to the organization that would take decades to fully recover from.
When people intimate the potential impact of Bias on the NBA of that era, it’s not just green-tinted lenses when it is suggested he might have been a true contemporary rival of Jordan.
ESPN’s Michael Wilbon recently released a video on exactly this topic, highlighting the depth of the basketball community’s loss.
Noting his omission from “The Last Dance,” the ESPN documentary on Jordan’s last season with the Bulls, Wilbon refers to Bias as a “talented force of nature who likely would have changed the course even of Michael Jordan’s story.”
“He stood 6-foot-8, had Shawn Kemp’s explosion, Michael Jordan’s athleticism and a jump shot from basketball heaven — straight up, flick, bucket. No leaning, no drifting, back down to the floor with the bold defiance of a young Jim Brown.”
But isn’t it hyperbole to suggest an untested player out of Maryland would have been capable of even approaching the success of the player many regard even now in the era of LeBron James as the greatest to play the game?
Perhaps.
But it’s not just an army of 40-something Celtics fans and Michael Wilbon who believe this, as Wilbon is sure to note:
“Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told the Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan 17 years ago, ‘This is my 24th year at Duke, and in that time, there have been two opposing planets what really stood out, Michael Jordan, and Len Bias'”.
You might not like Krzyzewski’s program, but you’d be lying if you said he wasn’t an astute judge of the potential of prospects at the college level.
“Those of us who had the pleasure of watching him believe Bias would have been to Jordan what [Larry] Bird was to Magic [Johnson] — a true natural, equally fierce rival, the singular decade long rival Jordan never had,” offered Wilbon.
Scottie Pippen was almost traded to the Boston Celtics in 1997
“The Last Dance” could have had a very different story arc had a proposed deal to send Scottie Pippen to the Boston Celtics panned out.
Bias’ tragic death left us only with counterfactual histories that never came to pass, hints and daydreams of what might have been a richer, fuller history of competition in the 1990s.
The loss of Bias and not long after, Reggie Lewis, would usher in the darkest days of Celtics history in the team’s seven decades of existence. But far more importantly, it robbed the world of an amazing talent — and the epic battles with Jordan that never were.
https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/10/nba-boston-celtics-len-bias-michael-jordan-rivalry-that-wasnt/
It was supposed to have been the rivalry of the era, akin to Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain or Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
But the much-anticipated showdown across the careers of the Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan and her apparent of the Boston Celtics Len Bias never happened due to Bias’ untimely death.
Two days after being drafted by the Celtics, Bias would pass from a cardiac arrhythmia brought on by a cocaine overdose, dealing a blow to the organization that would take decades to fully recover from.
When people intimate the potential impact of Bias on the NBA of that era, it’s not just green-tinted lenses when it is suggested he might have been a true contemporary rival of Jordan.
ESPN’s Michael Wilbon recently released a video on exactly this topic, highlighting the depth of the basketball community’s loss.
Noting his omission from “The Last Dance,” the ESPN documentary on Jordan’s last season with the Bulls, Wilbon refers to Bias as a “talented force of nature who likely would have changed the course even of Michael Jordan’s story.”
“He stood 6-foot-8, had Shawn Kemp’s explosion, Michael Jordan’s athleticism and a jump shot from basketball heaven — straight up, flick, bucket. No leaning, no drifting, back down to the floor with the bold defiance of a young Jim Brown.”
But isn’t it hyperbole to suggest an untested player out of Maryland would have been capable of even approaching the success of the player many regard even now in the era of LeBron James as the greatest to play the game?
Perhaps.
But it’s not just an army of 40-something Celtics fans and Michael Wilbon who believe this, as Wilbon is sure to note:
“Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told the Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan 17 years ago, ‘This is my 24th year at Duke, and in that time, there have been two opposing planets what really stood out, Michael Jordan, and Len Bias'”.
You might not like Krzyzewski’s program, but you’d be lying if you said he wasn’t an astute judge of the potential of prospects at the college level.
“Those of us who had the pleasure of watching him believe Bias would have been to Jordan what [Larry] Bird was to Magic [Johnson] — a true natural, equally fierce rival, the singular decade long rival Jordan never had,” offered Wilbon.
Scottie Pippen was almost traded to the Boston Celtics in 1997
“The Last Dance” could have had a very different story arc had a proposed deal to send Scottie Pippen to the Boston Celtics panned out.
Bias’ tragic death left us only with counterfactual histories that never came to pass, hints and daydreams of what might have been a richer, fuller history of competition in the 1990s.
The loss of Bias and not long after, Reggie Lewis, would usher in the darkest days of Celtics history in the team’s seven decades of existence. But far more importantly, it robbed the world of an amazing talent — and the epic battles with Jordan that never were.
_________________
gyso- Posts : 22202
Join date : 2009-10-13
Re: Bias vs Jordan, what might have been
by RosalieTCeltics Thu May 14, 2020 12:43 pm
I did not get over this loss for a long time. He was the link....Bird would leave and he would take over. I do not know if we would have had a shot at Reggie if he was here, but can you imagine what basketball we would have seen from those two??? Sad, so very sad, both are gone
RosalieTCeltics- Posts : 40328
Join date : 2009-10-17
Age : 76
Re: Bias vs Jordan, what might have been
by RosalieTCeltics Thu May 14, 2020 12:44 pm
I did not get over this loss for a long time. He was the link....Bird would leave and he would take over. I do not know if we would have had a shot at Reggie if he was here, but can you imagine what basketball we would have seen from those two??? Sad, so very sad, both are gone
RosalieTCeltics- Posts : 40328
Join date : 2009-10-17
Age : 76
Re: Bias vs Jordan, what might have been
by kdp59 Thu May 14, 2020 4:33 pm
oh boy,
these stories seem to come back every couple years, when things are slooooowwwww.
I grew up in Maryland and watched Maryland BB from the tom McMillen days up til a few years after Lefty left as coach (as part of the Len Bias issues).
Len Bias was NOT nearly as good as Jordan was. SORRY.
to try to compare Bias or even put him NEAR the same level is nothing less than foolishness by people who never say him play.
Bias was good, no doubt. He may have been an NBA all- star perhaps. Though any player who just got drafted and can't refuse taking copious amounts of cocaine right after is likely a guy who doesn't have the mental makeup to be an elite pro.
as someone who probably watched most of his college games, I think his high end was an all-star. But NOT a real rival to Jordan, I mean come on man!!
these stories seem to come back every couple years, when things are slooooowwwww.
I grew up in Maryland and watched Maryland BB from the tom McMillen days up til a few years after Lefty left as coach (as part of the Len Bias issues).
Len Bias was NOT nearly as good as Jordan was. SORRY.
to try to compare Bias or even put him NEAR the same level is nothing less than foolishness by people who never say him play.
Bias was good, no doubt. He may have been an NBA all- star perhaps. Though any player who just got drafted and can't refuse taking copious amounts of cocaine right after is likely a guy who doesn't have the mental makeup to be an elite pro.
as someone who probably watched most of his college games, I think his high end was an all-star. But NOT a real rival to Jordan, I mean come on man!!
kdp59- Posts : 5709
Join date : 2014-01-05
Age : 64
Re: Bias vs Jordan, what might have been
by NYCelt Thu May 14, 2020 7:08 pm
I thought this story had a familiar ring to it. After a little Google memory assist, it appears to be a mash-up of recent comments by Michael Wilbon with a story from the Washington Post back in 2016.
Tough to say what might have been, especially since Bias never got the chance to step onto an NBA court. He almost certainly would have been a top pro talent, but a Jordan rival? Who can say? Then again, when Jordan came out of college, we knew he'd be a star, but no one expected him to reach the level he did. Maybe Bias would have climbed just as high. Maybe not. We can speculate about anything.
Tough to say what might have been, especially since Bias never got the chance to step onto an NBA court. He almost certainly would have been a top pro talent, but a Jordan rival? Who can say? Then again, when Jordan came out of college, we knew he'd be a star, but no one expected him to reach the level he did. Maybe Bias would have climbed just as high. Maybe not. We can speculate about anything.
NYCelt- Posts : 10628
Join date : 2009-10-12
Re: Bias vs Jordan, what might have been
by cowens/oldschool Thu May 21, 2020 10:35 am
kdp59 wrote:oh boy,
these stories seem to come back every couple years, when things are slooooowwwww.
I grew up in Maryland and watched Maryland BB from the tom McMillen days up til a few years after Lefty left as coach (as part of the Len Bias issues).
Len Bias was NOT nearly as good as Jordan was. SORRY.
to try to compare Bias or even put him NEAR the same level is nothing less than foolishness by people who never say him play.
Bias was good, no doubt. He may have been an NBA all- star perhaps. Though any player who just got drafted and can't refuse taking copious amounts of cocaine right after is likely a guy who doesn't have the mental makeup to be an elite pro.
as someone who probably watched most of his college games, I think his high end was an all-star. But NOT a real rival to Jordan, I mean come on man!!
That all might be true, and I didn’t see Bias play much, but there still must be a reason he was going to be the 2nd pick in the draft. Read enough to know he would have gotten minutes at both forward spots and with his athleticism who’s to say he wouldn’t develop into a board eating 3-4, heard he was a serious competitor, and he had a history of playing really big in the biggest college games. Who’s to say with that teams culture and his substantial gifts, he wouldn’t have gotten better and alot better...??? He obviously was just that injection of youth and athleticism that team needed to go right at the plethora of great wing like players from that era. He would have made Larry’s life so much easier having an athletic stud to go defensively right at the Worthys, Dominique, Barkley, Malone, Jordan and Pippen, giving Bird a lot more energy for offense. I would have started him at 3 next to Larry and have McHale come off the bench.
cowens/oldschool- Posts : 27300
Join date : 2009-10-18
Re: Bias vs Jordan, what might have been
by RosalieTCeltics Thu May 21, 2020 10:44 am
Red followed that kid for years, why would he have felt he pulled one off getting the draft pick high enough to draft him. The kid had real talent. What might have been? who knows
RosalieTCeltics- Posts : 40328
Join date : 2009-10-17
Age : 76
Re: Bias vs Jordan, what might have been
by cowens/oldschool Thu May 21, 2020 10:57 am
Bird and Jordan are 2 players that nobody thought would be near as good, as great as they turned out to be, even Jaylen Brown falls into this category. I have rewatched some of Bias games and similar to seeing Jordan in college, the college zone takes away so many driving lanes, forcing players into jump shots. They all have said the pro game with more good players and no zone was made to order for a lot of pros. Seeing Bias in real game action, he also had a reliable jump shot that he used over and over, that would have gotten even better over time.
cowens/oldschool- Posts : 27300
Join date : 2009-10-18
Similar topics» Bias in officiating
» What If? The Legacy Of Len Bias
» ESPN, Len Bias story
» Len Bias would have turned 50 today....
» Len Bias and the cursed 1986 draft.
» What If? The Legacy Of Len Bias
» ESPN, Len Bias story
» Len Bias would have turned 50 today....
» Len Bias and the cursed 1986 draft.
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum|
|
|