40 for 34 #4 - May 19

Warrior Mentality

Len Bias's high school coach Bob Wagner helped develop Len into a warrior

To Bob Wagner, Len Bias' high school coach, Bias epitomized the warrior mentality he tried to instill in his troops. He was a battler, and he learned, as true warriors do, how to gain the upper hand without hurting his team.

Wagner remembers the time Bias was taking a beating in the first half of a game in Boston against a Catholic school. But Wagner and Bias both understood the rule of retaliation, which says the referee often misses a first physical violation but calls a foul, or worse, on the act of retribution. So, don’t retaliate right away. Instead, wait for a more subtle moment to send the message. That’s the way it’s done on the playground.

At the start of the second half, Wagner suddenly noticed that one of the players who beat up on Bias earlier was doubled over in so much pain that he had to leave the court. Wagner didn’t see what Bias had done, but he understood its impact. Bias had sent the player a message without hurting his team and, as Wagner remembers, was not called for the foul.

Excerpted from the book,

Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Buy autographed copies

as a Father's Day Gift

The audio for this post was narrated by the author,

Dave Ungrady.

And listen to more about Len's early life in Episode 2 of the narrative podcast series, Len Bias: A Mixed Legacy