Len Bias Was Headed to the NBA Before His Tragic Death — What Happened?

There have been many tragic stories to come from the sports world, and one that gets talked about the most is the untimely death of college basketball star Len Bias, who was headed to live out his NBA dreams before his life was cut short in the mid-80s.

Born Leonard Kevin Bias in November 1963, the Maryland Terrapins standout and All-American made national headlines when the Boston Celtics picked him second in the 1986 NBA Draft.

However, his life was cut short before he stepped on a professional basketball court.

On June 19, 1986, while attending an off-campus party in the early morning hours, Len (along with other Terrapins teammates, such as Brian Tribble) snorted cocaine for at least three to four hours, according to the New York Times.

He then suffered a seizure and collapsed while talking to his other teammate, Terry Long.

At approximately 6:32 a.m., Len was unconscious and not breathing, prompting Brian to call 911. Sadly, when emergency responders arrived on the scene and attempted to resuscitate him, they were unable to do so, per the outlet. After he was transported to Leland Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, Len was pronounced dead at 8:55 a.m. of a cardiac arrhythmia related to the use of cocaine.

Following his death, multiple teammates who were with Len the night he died were hit with criminal charges, including Brian Tribble, Terry Long, and David Gregg.

In July 1986, Brian was indicted by a grand jury for cocaine possession and cocaine possession with intent to distribute, while Terry and David were charged with cocaine possession and obstruction of justice, according to the Baltimore Sun.

They all entered not guilty pleas a month later in August 1986.

In exchange for their testimony against Brian, prosecutors dropped all charges against Terry and David in October 1986. The same month, the grand jury added three additional indictments against Brian for one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and two counts of obstruction of justice, per the outlet.

The same day that Brian was hit with the three additional indictments, Brian’s roommate, Kenneth Mark Fobbs, was charged with perjury for lying about when he last saw Brian before Len’s death.

In March 1987, the charges against Kenneth for perjury were dismissed. A few months later, in June 1987, Brian was acquitted of all five charges related to Len’s death. Although acquitted of those charges, Brian did eventually serve jail time for dealing cocaine and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in October 1990, according to The Washington Post.

In October 1987, following the intense media coverage of Len’s death amid the large war on drugs in the 1980s, then-President Ronald Regan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which is better known as the Len Bias Law.

Under the terms of the law, there is a minimum 20-year prison sentence and a maximum life sentence for all drug distribution cases that lead to death or serious injury, in addition to a fine of up to $2 million, according to The Raleigh News and Observer.