30 FOR 30: WITHOUT BIAS (TV)
Summary
One in this series of sports documentaries presented by ESPN about important figures and events in athletic history. This program explores the shocking 1986 death of talented Boston Celtics draftee Len Bias. Bias, born in the suburbs of Washington D.C. in 1963, showed an early aptitude for basketball and was considered a hard worker by his high school and University of Maryland coaches Bob Wagner and Charles "Lefty" Driesell. He worked to hone his "raw" talent, and then had his "coming-out game" at the 1984 Atlantic Coast Conference, for which he was named the MVP. Sportswriter Michael Wilbon praises his unusually "pure" jump shot and perfect form, explaining that he and opponent Michael Jordan played with a kind of "controlled rage" and determination. Bias became the second player chosen in the 1986 NBA draft when he was selected by the Boston Celtics, who had just won the NBA championship, and described the honor as "a dream come true." His parents James and Lonise admit to feeling uneasy, however, with James describing an indefinable sense of tension right after the draft.
On the following day, June 18, Bias met with Reebok officials to discuss an endorsement deal and then headed out to celebrate with friends, though his father cautioned him to "be careful." After stopping at a liquor store, Bias and several others convened at their university dorm rooms and began to imbibe cocaine, though they hid the drug from some of the other team members, as it was not considered as "socially acceptable" as alcohol. Bias' friend Brian Tribble called 911 when Bias began to seize and stopped breathing, and other teammates and friends describe the "chaotic" scene in the early morning hours of the 19th. James and Lonise received a phone call telling them of their son's crisis, though they were first sent to the wrong hospital, and Lonise, a doctor, recalls realizing that the situation was already "done" when she learned that he was not breathing on his own. Members of the extended Bias family learned of Len's death from the national news, and Lonise and James ponder the meaning of their strange premonitions before his sudden demise. Bias' death "rocked" D.C., drawing comparisons to the cultural impact of President Kennedy's assassination, and the Bias received condolences from prominent figures like Larry Bird and President and First Lady Reagan.
The public's shock increased when the medical report determined that his heart attack had been caused by cocaine use, with several of Bias' friends and his girlfriend Sia Rose stating that had never seen him using drugs and suspecting that it may have been his first time doing so. In the 1970s, cocaine was considered an "elusive" drug used only by the wealthy, though it became more common over the course of the '80s and contributed to the rise of crime and street violence in D.C. A grand jury was convened to determine the source of the unusually pure cocaine that killed Bias, and Tribble and several others were indicted for possession. Driesell resigned in the wake of debate about the university's culpability, and the case soon became a "turning point" in Congress' creation of harsh mandatory sentences for drug possession and distribution. Eric E. Sterling, former counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, admits that they "screwed up" in creating the "five years for five grams" law, noting that it unfairly targets impoverished black youths. Bias became a memorable face in the anti-drug movement, but the family's tragedy was compounded when younger son Jay, still grieving Len's death, was murdered in 1990 after a dispute in a jewelry store. Lonise now speaks out about peer pressure and the dangers of drug-related crime, feeling that both of her sons have helped to "bring forth life" with their untimely deaths. Tribble was ultimately sentenced to ten years in prison for a separate drug charge and now lives with his family in D.C., and the Celtics made it to the 1987 NBA championships without Bias, though lost to the Los Angeles Lakers and did not win again until 2008. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ESPN
- DATE: November 3, 2009 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:53:30
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 114750
- GENRE: Sports
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Sports; Sports; Basketball
- SERIES RUN: ESPN - TV series, 2009-
- COMMERCIALS:
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CREDITS
- Keith Clinkscales … Executive Producer
- John Dahl … Executive Producer
- Joan Lynch … Executive Producer
- Connor Schell … Executive Producer
- Bill Simmons … Executive Producer
- John Skipper … Executive Producer
- John Walsh … Executive Producer
- Willie McDaniel … Executive Producer
- Kirk Fraser … Executive Producer, Director, Writer
- Sammy Steward … Producer
- Erin Leyden … Producer
- Gregory Stewart … Co-Producer
- Kali McIver … Associate Producer
- Sam Bardley … Associate Producer
- Lee Finkel … Associate Producer
- Mike Tollin … Consulting Producer
- Chucky Thompson … Music by
- 5 Alarm Music … Music by
- Bob Wagner … Interviewee
- Charles "Lefty" Driesell … Interviewee
- Michael Wilbon … Interviewee
- James Bias … Interviewee
- Lonise Bias … Interviewee
- Brian Tribble … Interviewee
- Sia Rose … Interviewee
- Eric E. Sterling … Interviewee
- Larry Bird
- James "Jay" Bias III
- Leonard "Len" Bias
- Michael Jordan
- Ronald Reagan
- Nancy Reagan