High Plains Drifter: Thank you for your response. That was very imformative.By the 86-87 season, the Celtics front court wasn't old, but it wasn't young either. Bird was 30, McHale was 29, and Robert Parish was 33. Each played a lot of minutes per games that season: Bird 40.6, McHale 39.7, and Parrish 37.4. There are minutes to spread around to a rookie Bias, probably to get him into the low 20s per game. Anymore than that and the veterans are going to start bitching big time. Reasonable to suggest the Celtics have an excellent shot at winning the Championship. But no guarantee, the Pistons took them to 7 games in the Eastern Conference Finals, and that only happened because of the miracle steal by Bird at the end of game #5. And the Lakers weren't exactly slouches.
What do the Celtics do in 87-88. Will Bias stay as the super sub? Will one of the veterans give up even more minutes to Bias? Will the veterans bitch to managment/media about reduced playing time? Can the Celtics afford to pay everyone? Does management trade McHale or Parrish to free up room for Bias to be a starter? Parrish is the oldest. McHale would bring more value back in trade. But trading Parrish forces McHale to become the fulltime center, how does that impact his play? Regardless of who gets traded, the other two front court veterans aren't getting any younger. And neither is 33 year old point guard Dennis Johnson.
Does Larry Bird's back still go in the 88-89 season? IOTL he only played 6 games that year. The man played a lot of minutes per game in his career up till that point.
Ainge left after the 88-89 season. Dennis Johnson after the 89-90 season. Is Reggie Lewis being available in the 87 draft for the Celtics butterflied away? If they get Lewis, does he still tragically die in the summer of 93, or does that get butterflied sooner or later? Are Brian Shaw and Dee Brown still the not too exciting replacements for Dennis Johnson at point guard?
Having a live Bias who played up to his apparent potential (Hall of Famer, Top 50 ever) would only be a postive result toward the Celtic's chances of winning. But there are a lot of roster possibilities to take into consideration about a Bias-ed Celtics team. And the Lakers, Pistons, Bulls, Cavaliers, Jazz, and Trail Blazers were all high, high quality teams at points during an ATL Bias-ed Celtics. A slam dunk multiple repeat championship team is far from an automatic.
I was stationed in the military in Washington D.C. in 1986 and it was a SHOCK to hear the news, no doubt. I have always wondered what impact Bias would have made in the NBA. Thanks again.