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The life, career, and death of Len Bias to be examined in podcast from The Ringer

The Celtics selected Len Bias with the second pick of the 1986 NBA Draft.

By Chad Finn, The Boston Globe

June 2, 2021

1 minute to read

Len Bias remains the greatest what-if in Celtics history, if not the entire NBA.

As the 35th anniversary of his death nears, Bill Simmons’s The Ringer is launching a seven-part narrative podcast examining Bias’s life, career, and death at age 22 from a cocaine overdose, two days after the NBA champion Celtics drafted him with the No. 2 pick in the 1986 draft.

Titled “What If? The Len Bias Story,” the podcast debuts on Wednesday, June 9 on The Ringer Podcast Network, a Spotify Studio.

It is hosted by The Ringer staff writer Jordan Ritter Conn, who previously hosted the podcast “Sonic Boom: How Seattle Lost Its Team” on the Seattle SuperSonics’ legacy and eventual move to Oklahoma City.

Bias, a powerful and electrifying All-American forward at the University of Maryland who seemed certain to become the next Celtics superstar, died in the early morning of June 19, 1986 in his dorm room on the school campus. He had spent the night partying with friends and teammates, reportedly snorting a substantial amount of cocaine. He was pronounced dead just before 9 a.m. due to cardiac arrhythmia caused by use of the drug.

Among the notable voices who share their recollections about Bias on the podcast are former Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, who spent time with Bias in Boston before his fateful return to Maryland; Lefty Driesell, then-Maryland’s men’s basketball coach; former NBA stars Spencer Hayward and John Lucas, both of whom battled cocaine addiction; ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt, a Maryland graduate; Michael Wilbon, who covered Bias’s death and the fallout for The Washington Post; the Globe’s Bob Ryan and ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan; and Lonise Bias, Len’s mother.

Episodes 1 and 2 will release on June 9, followed by one new episode every Wednesday for five weeks. It will be released on “The Book of Basketball 2.0” podcast feed under the The Ringer podcast umbrella.