The Death of Len Bias
Deep Dive with Kirk Minihane
Kirk Minihane explores the profound impact of Len Bias's tragic death on the Boston Celtics and the 1986 NBA Draft. The episode weaves perso
Key takeaways
- Len Bias was the highly anticipated #2 overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft out of Maryland.
- The Boston Celtics traded Gerald Henderson to the Seattle SuperSonics for a 1986 first-round pick.
Main topics
- Death of Len Bias
- 1986 NBA Draft
Notable quotes
The Celtics draft pick died.
Conclusion
A poignant historical retrospective on how a single tragedy could have
Transcript preview
Speaker 1 (0:00) Stella Blue Coffee is more than just great coffee. It's coffee with a purpose. Introducing We Brew to Rescue, a nationwide campaign using proceeds from our new ready-to-drink cans to help fund 1,000 pet adoptions this year. Every can you crack open helps a real pet find a real home. Simple as that. Made with 100 % Colombian coffee, each 11-ounce can delivers smooth, drinkable energy with a boost of protein. Available in Espresso Cafe Mocha and Espresso Sweet Cream. Built for mornings, long days, and everything in between. Drink Stella Blue, fuel your day, and help save a pet's life. You can follow our progress in real time throughout the campaign by watching the adoption tracker on our site. Grab yours now at StellaBlueCoffee.com, Amazon, and select retailers nationwide. Speaker 3 (0:55) All right. Good evening. Early Sunday evening. The windows are open in the studio. It is what? Is it the 20th Speaker 4 (1:06) already of September? Have I lost my mind? Speaker 3 (1:09) Sunday, September 20th, 2026. Deep dive. Episode something. I thank you guys again, as I do at the beginning of every episode. Speaker 3 (1:20) Go subscribe. Leave a good review. Hope you're enjoying them. The last one we went in the sports world with Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard in the 80s in Massachusetts. Well, Hagler being from Brockton. And we stay there this week for a deep dive that I have some history with working on. Lean on that a little bit and some other stuff as we go back 40 years and a few months. And I'll take you to little Kirk Minahan at Vincent Owen Elementary School in Winchester, Massachusetts. Sixth grade back then. Now it's K through five. The school was rebuilt. I'm about to do a deep dive on Vincent Owen. Though, I want to get this correct. The school was named after Maribel Vincent Owen, born 1911. Through 1961, she died February 15th, 1961. She was a 1932 Olympic bronze medalist as a figure skater, two-time world medalist, silver and bronze, 1937 North American champion, and a nine-time U.S. national champion. She lived in Winchester, Massachusetts, my hometown. So again, a huge career as a skater. Speaker 3 (2:39) Her as a coach. She then became a coach. She got older. Her two daughters, also skaters, were all part of the United States skating team scheduled to appear in a world championship event in Prague. They flew out of New York's Isle of Wiles airport at a stopover. Brussels scheduled an arrival the next day, the 15th. Never made it to the airport. Speaker 3 (3:04) plunged in Belgium into the farmland there, I guess, taking the lives of all 72 passengers on board, plus a farmer at work in the fields. All 18 members of the American National Figure Skating Team, plus 16 of their friends and coaches and relatives, were all gone. I'm seeing the name of the grammar school after her and her daughters. I don't know when Vincent Owen started. I don't know that. Speaker 3 (3:38) the school. But I was there in 83 when I moved from Billerica through 86 when I graduated. Sixth grade, went to McCall Middle School after that. But anyway, so it was a half day very late in the school year. Thursday, June 19th, 1986. Half day. So I would generally walk. I would say, Speaker 3 (4:07) Sometimes my mom would drive. Sad to say. From 14 Tangle, where I grew up, to Vincent Owen, it's just a straight shot there downhill. Maybe like six, seven-tenths of a mile, maybe. But sometimes my mom would drop me off in the morning. But this time I walked to school with, I think, Dave Middleton. Speaker 3 (4:30) Yeah, I don't think Adam went with me. He would have been in first grade. Maybe. I don't think so. So it was a half day. I got to think we were there late for June 19th. Maybe. Might have been the last day of school. But very frequently, as I'm sure you guys have, we have half days. Speaker 3 (4:51) On Thursdays. So this is one of them. So I'm walking back. And a crossing lady, a crossing guard, this older woman who was probably in her early 60s maybe. Being able to guess that when I was 12, 11 in June of 86 is impossible. I would guess she was that age. Saw her in the morning. Hello, hello. She was a big sports fan. We would talk about sports. She was very nice. She would cross us over to Johnson Road. I took a left on Johnson. I don't know. 700 yards. I don't know. To take a right, Vince Noem, the old Vince Noem, since I said redone maybe like 15 years ago. Speaker 3 (5:36) Yeah, it had been redone in 2010. I know that at least because I did a race there the Saturday of the Masters in 2010 in May. Very hilly run. I was annoyed with my mom because she was having a surprise 50th birthday for my aunt Sandra. It was the Masters Saturday. It was early. It was like a month before her birthday to surprise her. But Freddie was in the mix. Fred Couples was in the mix on that Saturday. He wanted to finish in tight sixth. Anyway, I was annoyed with her because all these people were going to come over. for this lunch. I made a promise I'd be out of there by the time the Masters started. They really weren't. They were gone by the time the second night began. He shot 68 that day, chipped in for Eagle on 15, Speaker 2 (6:13) made Speaker 3 (6:13) bogey on 18, bad bogey. Came back Sunday. I think he went par, birdie, birdie, par, par. All pars on the front. I tell him 9 to the birdie. He then bogeyed 11, put in the water on 12. Made birdie on 13. Made birdie on 15. Made another bogey on 16 and made birdie on 17. Par 18 on finishing T6. Minus 9. And he shot 66. First round lead 75-68-70. I could be misquoted there. I'm sorry. Anyway. Speaker 3 (6:50) Long way of saying it was the old school then, which had like three different levels. You were the highest level was fifth and sixth grade. Sixth grade, I had Miss Valvie, who I did not like. She was not very pleasant to me. I'm sure she was a nice person. I'm sure I was a real shit bird to be as a student. That, of course, is the score of my dad, famously. If you're just a deep diver, not a KMS, my other show listener, my dad at one point absolutely blitzed off his tits drunk one night. I was hiding a report card that I knew he wouldn't like. At like 10.30 at night, made me run. from the school, from the house, from Winchester, at night, with no shoes on, by the Speaker 2 (7:33) way, Speaker 3 (7:33) in sixth grade. It was that year. Run to the school and knock on the seat of somebody who was there. Luckily, Pat McDonough, the janitor, was there. He was always there late. I think he liked to have a sud or two. He was actually there, let me in. I got the report card. Speaker 3 (7:56) And, yeah, whatever. He did drive me back, to be fair. See if Ryan would... We're trying the Bluetooth again, week two. Speaker 4 (8:09) Oh! Oh! Speaker 3 (8:22) He doesn't answer. Speaker 2 (8:25) Your call has... Speaker 3 (8:26) That's a lot of shit, bird. I'm going to get off this. Because if I stay on Bluetooth, if I do any... You'll hear this. I'm Speaker 4 (8:38) doing anything, so... I Speaker 3 (8:40) can now sign off Bluetooth. Sign back on. Sign back off. Unless you like that sound. Because it's a little ASMR-ish. Anyway. I... Speaker 3 (8:51) I'm done with half the day, half a day on that Thursday. And make my way back after school on June 19th, a Thursday. Make my way back. The crossing guard is there. And she looks like upset, like really upset. I'm like, I don't know. This is strange. And she said to me, do you hear what happened? Speaker 3 (9:28) And I said, I think I was with Dave Middleton. I don't know that for sure. I said, I don't think so. No. Speaker 4 (9:37) What happened? Speaker 3 (9:40) And she said, the Celtics draft pick died. She's not saying anybody's name. And obviously, I'm at that point, like, inarguably one of the world's four biggest Celtics fans. And for some reason, I still don't know why this day. I remember doing this. I remember studying the draft picks they made. We'll get into it. And I said, oh, the guy from Texas Tech? I don't know why I wanted that to be true for some reason, this poor guy. Tony Benford was his name. And she said, no, the second pick in the draft, he's dead. And I didn't really compute. It was nothing really, it was nothing, I had nothing in my life to compare this to at this point. So I knew she was talking about, of course, land bias. But I didn't really like believe it, believe it. So I went. Speaker 3 (10:29) The way back is uphill from Vincentville back to 14 Tanglewood. You go up Old Village, take a left onto Girard, up that hill, and then down Tanglewood and up the long driveway to 14 Tanglewood Lane. Say goodbye to Dave Middleton. He walks off. Everybody gets some lunch, figure out what's going on. My mom is watching the TV in the kitchen. She has a little black and white TV, which is a great TV. I'm moving it right now, moving it to 56 or 30 with my hand. She still had them. She's watching the news, and the news is live. I'm very sure, with all due respect to my good friend Mike Lynch and John Dennis, I'm sure she was watching Lobel, Liz Walker, Jack Williams, that crew. And they're live there doing it and covering it. She looked at me and said, this guy, Len Bias, she didn't know. He's dead. Speaker 3 (11:28) And I couldn't believe it. I was stunned. And nobody knew anything at that point. All I knew was this guy who was going to be the next, we thought, the next great player in Boston, taken just days after they won their last championship. A game I was at with my dad, the Game 6 clincher, is dead. Speaker 3 (11:48) Two days after he's drafted and nobody knows why. I'm sitting there in the kitchen, almost certainly with a Celtics championship, you know, six-pack, sweet 16 shirt, almost guaranteed I'm wearing one of those shirts on a Celtics hat at that point. And short shorts and, you know, basketball shoes. Fucking guaranteed. So that's where we start this episode of Deep Dive. The death, really. And the drafting. Of when bias. This week's deep dive. Well, it seems appropriate. If you're looking for info and you want to learn more deep dive. If you like lunch menus and a little curveball deep dive. Please subscribe. Please subscribe. Please subscribe. Deep dive. So where it really starts. with this is so a couple of things I should go backwards I often do before I go forward I've covered this I did an oral history for wei.com which you can still find somewhere online I found it um where I interviewed a bunch of people this was like 2011 for the 25th anniversary talked to a bunch of people got burned uh very briefly on the phone I just met him before that, but he made like five sentences. Jan Volk, Gerald Henry, a bunch of participants. And I had Jan Volk on my old Enough About Me podcast where we went over the drafting of bias. A sort of one-on-one interview. I would tell you guys to go listen to that, but that's on a Odyssey, so I would tell you not to listen to that. I did not. Going all by memory here with that. But I do have the story. Some blog has it somewhere. I'll link to it on the KMS Deep Dive Twitter account, which Speaker 2 (13:52) I think, Speaker 3 (13:53) you Speaker 2 (13:54) know, maybe it would call maybe the right first call for this. Speaker 3 (13:58) We're going to try it. Wow. 0 for 2, I think. Please Speaker 2 (14:14) leave your message for... I'm Speaker 3 (14:19) alone out there, guys. It's a big, scary world, and I'm all alone. Wow. Wow. Wow. Hello. Hey, you got me? Wow, you're on. Oh, you got it working? You're on. You're on Deep Dive right now. I'm calling you. Speaker 2 (14:43) Oh, I don't know if I can help you here. You're not going to be able Speaker 3 (14:46) to Speaker 2 (14:46) help with this. I'm assuming I wasn't. Yeah, I'm assuming I wasn't. I don't think you know Speaker 3 (14:48) much about, other than your shared history with nose candy. I don't think you and Len Bias have much in common. I will ask you this. Speaker 2 (14:56) No, Speaker 3 (14:56) I don't think Speaker 2 (14:56) so. Speaker 3 (14:57) Is KMS Deep Dive available on Twitter? Speaker 2 (15:03) I can check. I will check. It sounds Speaker 3 (15:05) like you don't. You were about to say no. I do not know. Speaker 2 (15:08) But you don't actually. I Speaker 3 (15:08) do Speaker 2 (15:08) not know. Speaker 3 (15:09) I Speaker 2 (15:09) don't actually know. Speaker 3 (15:11) If it is, can you make it an account? Speaker 2 (15:14) Yes. You Speaker 3 (15:15) will make it an account? Speaker 2 (15:15) Right Speaker 3 (15:15) now. Speaker 2 (15:16) All right. Yes. Okay. Speaker 3 (15:17) All right. Thank you very much. That is how things get done. KMS Deep Dive. It's still Kirk Minahan Show Deep Dive, but it's like, it's better. I think just Deep Dive. First of all, Deep Dive has to be taken, right? I don't know if Speaker 2 (15:31) there's any doubt about that, right? Speaker 3 (15:34) Anyway. So. The Celtics, we got to go back a couple of years. The Celtics win the championship in 83-84. Gerald Henderson is a starting guard for the team. Dennis Johnson's the other guard. And Maxwell, the frontcourt, McHale's the sixth man. Bird and Parrish. Speaker 3 (16:05) But two things are happening. First of all, McHale is clearly a better player at this point than Maxwell. He's a six-man, but it doesn't really matter. And Danny Ainge is becoming a real threat with the two-guard for Gerald Henderson. You can tell he's beginning to surpass him a little bit. Now, Henderson in 84 has a good year, starts, has career highs and points in assists, and has one of the, I don't know, Speaker 3 (16:37) three or four most important plays in Celtics history. Game two of the 84 finals. They're down 1-0. They lose game one at home. They're dead in game two. They're down two with 20 seconds to go. If they lose that game, they're down 2-0. They've lost two home games. They're going back out west to L.A. And they're going to get swept. They're done. Speaker 3 (17:02) So, Lakers turn it over. Henderson steals the ball, of course, famously. Lays it in. Tie game. Celtics win in overtime. They get blitzed in game three, but they come back in game four. In L.A., which is what they had to do, and then the home teams win. They win in seven. Without that Henderson play, there is no chance they win the championship. But Henderson's contract is up at the end of the 83-84 season. So, he holds out. There's contract negotiations going on. back and forth between Red Auerbach, Jan Volk, the general manager. Volk is really the guy who handles the bulk of the contract stuff. Red is a big picture guy. Now, in the past, he did everything. Speaker 1 (17:47) You know, Speaker 3 (17:48) that first, you know, that run with Russell and Kuzi and Havlicek and Heinsen and Sam Jones and Casey Jones and Satch Sanders and Don, all those guys. You know, he was a traveling secretary. He was the only head coach. He was a general manager. He would call people for season tickets. He would be cold calling fans and saying, you know, he did everything. But now he has handed some power over, though he still has a complete final cut. Every call is his. So Henderson is negotiating back and forth for a new contract. This is in the preseason. It goes all the way to the preseason in 84. And what's interesting is... Speaker 3 (18:38) is Ainge is now playing in the preseason and they start seeing, the Celtics start seeing that, wait a minute. Speaker 3 (18:49) Like, Ainge and Dennis Johnson have, like, great chemistry together in the backcourt. Like, really good. Like, do we even need Gerald Henderson? Like, is this necessary? And they begin to have these kind of conversations. Now, they would have been very happy to have these three and live with these three guards. I mean, that's three, you know, a really good three-guard rotation. I'm trying to find a specific date here before I do this. Speaker 2 (19:38) Okay. Speaker 3 (19:39) So you're in the preseason in October. They're out in the Texas swing. And they get the deal done. They get the contract signed. Gerald Henderson is done. You know, Auerbach has said that Henderson is not in great shape, heading into camp. You know, they're kind of talking. So, you know, there's a back and forth going on. Scott Lang is Henderson's agent. Speaker 3 (20:13) So this is Volk's second year as a general manager. There's ideas that they're potentially going to trade Maxwell or Henderson to free up some contract room. This is not what happens. So Lang says when they signed the contract for Henderson. Speaker 3 (20:40) He says he asked Jan Volk, are you going to trade Gerald? He says Volk tells him, that's a silly question. I shook hands with him. Gerald shook hands with him. He said he had no intention of trading Gerald. In fact, we're talking about things in the fourth, fifth, sixth year of the contract. This is a six-year contract. He wants to finish his career in Boston. But... An interesting thing happens. He gets a call, Volk does. Now, Volk is handling sort of the day-in, day-out calls from general managers around the league. A rival Eastern Conference team, who Volk won't say who it is, reaches out and says, hey, I just saw the Henderson contract. It's pretty reasonable. Volk says, yeah, I think we've made a good deal on it. He said, we need a guard. Would you take a first-round pick for Gerald Henderson? Speaker 3 (21:29) And Volk says, hmm, that's interesting. You know, Hedges is a good player. Now, his team, Volk says, is pretty good. So, not going to be a super high pick. But still, it's a first-round pick for Gerald Henderson, who, because they think Ainge is now better, he's going to start, is kind of movable. This is what we'll think about. Speaker 3 (21:54) He gets on the phone, so they start talking. He talks with Red Auerbach, of course, who runs everything. Casey Jones, the head coach. And Jimmy Rogers, the assistant coach, who has more of a say in personnel than Casey, has a pretty big role in the personnel of the team. And they say, well, why don't we float this around? We don't want to trade him in conference, and we don't really want to trade him to a good team where the pick doesn't have much value. Let's see what we can get with it. They call Seattle. Or he's talking to their general manager. He gets in touch with the Supersonics. And they're interested, but they want to give him, they offer the 1987 first round pick. Well, folks looking at the Sonics and Auerbach and these guys are saying, well, they're kind of on the wane right now. That's a chance maybe they'll rebuild and be better in 87. Speaker 3 (22:46) So, you know, 85 is no. So they say, how about 86? And they say, well, we'll get back to you. Here's a conversation with another West Coast, Western Conference general manager, who says, we'll give you a first round pick. We want it lottery protected. This is the first time. Remember, the lottery is only a couple of years old. At this point. He said, but we want a lottery protected in 86 or 87. And Volk says, oh, maybe. And he goes back to Seattle. And they're like, yeah, we just don't want to give this pick up. And Volk says, maybe talk to your owner and then get back to us if you change your mind. They talk to the owner. They get back. And Seattle says, we'll make the trade. 1986 first round pick for Gerald Henderson. They have to wait through the 84-85 year. Speaker 3 (23:33) and then see where the 86 pick lands. They make the deal, and Henderson and his agent are pissed off. I mean, this is like three days after the contract is signed. Henderson has traded a key part of the team. Now, look, he's not Larry Bird. He's not Kevin McHale, not Robert Parrish, not Cedric Maxwell, not Dennis Johnson. Turns out not Danny Ainge, though he was a really important component of that championship team. So he goes off to Seattle on the Celtics' weight. 84-85 doesn't really matter. So let's lose the championship in 85. It could have used Henderson really as a third guard in that team. They just didn't. Quinn Buckner was not good. Ray Williams they brought in didn't work. Henderson was missed. Was Henderson the difference between the Celtics losing to the Lakers in six games in the finals in 85 and winning? Probably not. Probably not. But he was definitely missed on that team. And Henderson, who I talked to years ago for the original story, was very nice when I spoke to him. And like not really anti-Celtics really at all. Went on to have a pretty long career in the league and was