WI Len Bias didn't die from a cocaine overdose?

Probably not. Even assuming that Bias was the talent everyone anointed him as being, Bird and Mchale were still old. You'd have one unproven player replacing two great players. Plus, the overdose means he was already using drugs in college. Drug users tend to spend as much as they make, meaning the problem would get worse. He'd probably flame out in two years.
 
Bias

I think that Len Bias is a big mystery. Not his talent on the floor, which was awesome, but the way that he lived his life. He was portrayed as an All-American Christian, but he did cocaine. Some people said that he went out with both good girls and bad girls. Who really knew what this guy was actually like?

But, let's say that that night was an abberation, and that he lived, the history of the Boston Celtics would have been different, obviously. In 1986-87, he would have been a big help with Bird and McHale. He would have taken away minutes from them, which would have preserved them for the playoffs. McHale wouldn't have gotten the stress fracture in his foot that he did that season. They would have beaten the Lakers in the Finals in six that year.

The next year, they get back to the Finals after beating the Pistons in seven, but the Lakers beat them this time. In 89, the Pistons finally dethrone them in six games, and dethrone the Lakers, as in OTL. In 90, the Pistons repeat after beating the Bulls, Celtics, and Blazers.

In 91, people forget that the Celtics opened the season the first few months with the best record in basketball. Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe said that if they had the playoffs in Dec. 1990, they would have won. With Bias, they finish with the best record in basketball. Bird probably wouldn't have missed much time with a back injury, and they go back to the Finals after beating the Bulls in the East Finals and win it all over the Lakers.

In 92, the Celtics would have made the Conference Finals against the Bulls, but I think the Bulls finally would have broken through. But the Blazers, with the Finals experience, would have beaten them in six games. They should have at least taken them to seven games that year anyway. By 93, though, the Bulls would have won their first championship over the Suns.
 
I think that Len Bias is a big mystery. Not his talent on the floor, which was awesome, but the way that he lived his life. He was portrayed as an All-American Christian, but he did cocaine. Some people said that he went out with both good girls and bad girls. Who really knew what this guy was actually like?

But, let's say that that night was an abberation, and that he lived, the history of the Boston Celtics would have been different, obviously. In 1986-87, he would have been a big help with Bird and McHale. He would have taken away minutes from them, which would have preserved them for the playoffs. McHale wouldn't have gotten the stress fracture in his foot that he did that season. They would have beaten the Lakers in the Finals in six that year.

The next year, they get back to the Finals after beating the Pistons in seven, but the Lakers beat them this time. In 89, the Pistons finally dethrone them in six games, and dethrone the Lakers, as in OTL. In 90, the Pistons repeat after beating the Bulls, Celtics, and Blazers.

In 91, people forget that the Celtics opened the season the first few months with the best record in basketball. Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe said that if they had the playoffs in Dec. 1990, they would have won. With Bias, they finish with the best record in basketball. Bird probably wouldn't have missed much time with a back injury, and they go back to the Finals after beating the Bulls in the East Finals and win it all over the Lakers.

In 92, the Celtics would have made the Conference Finals against the Bulls, but I think the Bulls finally would have broken through. But the Blazers, with the Finals experience, would have beaten them in six games. They should have at least taken them to seven games that year anyway. By 93, though, the Bulls would have won their first championship over the Suns.

the thing is, len would have probably continued his drug use. maybe he could have even spread it into the celtics locker room.

a coked-up team in the nba?
 
In order to make a positive impact on the Celtics the PoD probably has to be either 1) Bias never did cocane or 2) Bias survives that night, has an epiphany, and kicks the habit, perhaps costing him some productivity his rookie year. If the latter, then he not only becomes an NBA star and stretches out the careers of Bird and McHale as Jab7345 outlines, but also becomes a spokesman to youth against drug use.
 
Bias

the thing is, len would have probably continued his drug use. maybe he could have even spread it into the celtics locker room.

a coked-up team in the nba?

It seems to me that his use was recreational, and it got out of hand the night that he died. Look at his college career. It was great. And, I am pretty sure that there were people that said he used it before his final night on earth. So, from that, I don't think that he had that big of a problem. And, I don't see him getting Bird, McHale, Parish, Danny Ainge, and Bill Walton addicted to drugs. Those were the best players and, in some cases, leaders of that team. I think he would have tried to keep it on the down low and do it every once in a while. I don't think he was like Roy Tarpley or William Bedford, guys that were drafted after him that year in the first round that had their careers destroyed by drugs.

But, another "what if" scenario dealing with Bias has to do with the Sonics. What if they don't trade that #2 overall pick in the 86 Draft to the Celtics for Gerald Henderson and they draft Bias? Maybe he is in Seattle that night, and one of his friends dies instead while celebrating Bias's drafting in the dorm. Then, maybe Bias kicks whatever drug use he was doing, and joins the war on drugs in his friend's memory.
 
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