Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Bill Russell, Dennis Johnson, Robert Parrish, Bob Cousy, Robert Parish are all Celtic greats. They created a legacy that no other team will create. They created the most storied franchise in sports history, winning ten straight and 16 in all. The Celtics are the cream of the crop when it comes to winning.
Red Auerback and the Celtics were probably the greatest dynasty in the history of the NBA. So how does a franchise change in the matter of a few years? Some bad luck and a overdose of cocaine changed the Celtics for the worst. College star Len Bias was the 2nd overall pick in 1986 draft. The huge prospect was a 6ft 8in small forward from the University of Maryland. He was the ACC player of the year twice on 1985 and 1986. He wore number 34 with the leaping ability of Michael Jordan. He was a complete player and one of the best forward in history to come out of college. He was compared to the great Michael Jordan when he was in his second year in the NBA. He was going to sign a shoe contract with Adidas and be the face of the NBA. The Boston Celtics were the happiest people in the world when they chose Len Bias in the draft. And they should have been because he was an amazing with the most potential in the world.
Then he was gone. Len bias was found dead in his dorm room at 6:25 AM. He died from an overdose of cocaine. He took a lethal dose of cocaine though inhalation. He was at an off-campus party at 2:00 AM in the morning and returned to his dorm at 3:00 AM overdosed on cocaine.
“Because of its location and method of ingestion (the nasal cavity), the dose went immediately to the autonomic nerve center of the brain. There, it shut down the nerve signals that tell the diaphragm to expand/contract (allowing a person to breathe). In other words, as the dosage in his blood stream rose (through inhalation), he promptly stopped breathing. In addition, other secondary effects of the over dosage were convulsive vomiting and an irregular heartbeat.” (Paragraph 5 of article LEN BIAS). He had a seizure on the couch and was reported dead at Leland Memorial Hospital in Riverdale, Maryland. Of cardiac arrhythmia related to cocaine overdose. And this happened at the worst time it could. Because Larry Bird was at the end of his career.
But this wasn’t the end of the Celtic’s problems; in 1997 they had another chance to become a dominating franchise. With The Big Fundamental coming out of college the Celtics had a chance to draft the best power forward eve to play in the NBA. Tim Duncan was a college star who showed his skills at the University Of Wake Forest. The Celtics had the worst record in the NBA on the 1996-1997 seasons. Expecting to get the top pick in the draft the Celtics were happy Tim Duncan was in the draft. But because of the NBA’s weird draft the ball did not fall on favor of the Celtics and into the Spurs. The Spurs easily chose Tim Duncan with the first draft pick. Tim Duncan would go on to win 9 championships with the Spurs.
Now the Celtics have moved on and are rebuilding their franchise. Trading for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. They three stars in Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. The big three are striving for 60 wins and a NBA championship. The Celtics are back on the rise so watch out.