NBA legend Larry Bird heralded an era of change to a pertinent problem of drugs in the league. Being wary of his health and well-being, Bird largely stayed away from large parties and gatherings since college. In the book ‘When The Game Was Ours,’ Bird details an incident where he exited himself from people consuming cocaine and other drugs.
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The NBA had a significant drug problem, which was only solved after an intervention by David Stern. During the ’70s and early ’80s, the Los Angeles Times estimated that around 40% to 75% used cocaine, and one out of ten smoked or freebased the drug. Perhaps Larry Bird’s arrival and David Stern’s proactiveness helped tackle this raging issue ravaging the league’s image worldwide.
Larry Bird once exited a party with people consuming drugs during his college days
In the ’70s and the ’80s decades, drug abuse was a ravaging issue across the United States and the NBA. Several youths succumbed to narcotic substance addiction, destroying lives and futures. Larry Bird had long realized the perils of drug abuse, which could have been detrimental to his college basketball career and future stint in the NBA.
In the book ‘When The Game Was Ours,’ Bird recalled an incident where he left a party during his college days in Indiana. At that party, he noticed a girl acting strangely due to being under the influence of cocaine. After enquiring, Larry stormed out of the party, not wanting to associate with drug users in any way. Here is an excerpt from the book explaining why Larry Bird avoided large parties and social gatherings during his NBA career.
“Larry adopted the same theory in the NBA: he avoided large parties and confined his fun to more intimate, manageable settings. The Celtics were decimated by two high-profile tragedies in the eighties and nineties—the death of draft pick Len Bias from cocaine intoxication, and the shocking passing of teammate Reggie Lewis from heart trouble, which his physician, Dr. Gilbert Mudge, later alleged may have been linked to cocaine use. In both cases, Bird never saw it coming.”
Larry Bird himself experienced the loss of two bright NBA athletes, Celtics draft pick Len Bias and teammate Reggie Lewis, who died early due to cocaine usage and intoxication. Perhaps, to keep himself in the best shape and not succumb to such perils, Bird kept away from such circles.
Len Bias’ death started the ‘Just Say No’ campaign in the league
Boston Celtics’ 1986 draft pick, Len Bias, died just two days after the reigning NBA champions selected him as a second pick. People expected Bias to be a talent as dynamic as Michael Jordan and mark history with the then-greatest NBA team of all time. However, his death was unexpected and of a nature that rocked the league.
Bias’ death made the entire nation of the United States further paranoid during the peak era of drug abuse. The ‘Just Say No’ campaign by First Lady Nancy Reagan eventually gained its attention in the league. Bias’ death might have been a part of introducing severe sentencing guidelines for the possession of crack cocaine, immensely impacting African-American society.
