40 for 34 #30 - June 11

Barnstorming the Postseason

Len Bias continued playing games

soon after his Maryland season ended.

Len Bias was interested in making some money and having some fun after Maryland’s season ended. In early April, Bias achieved both objectives when he joined a different postseason competition - the ACC Barnstorming Tour. That was an annual series of games between top conference players who were planning to enter the upcoming NBA draft against top high-school players or other local all-stars.

The games were played in North Carolina; they were not meant to be as competitive as an

ACC contest. Mike Sumner, who started the Tour, compared them to a

Harlem Globetrotters type event. The play was loose and bending the rules was common.

Other players who took part in the tour in 1986 included Johhnie Dawkins and Mark Alarie of Duke...and Brad Daugherty of North Carolina. All were later selected in the first round of the 1986 NBA draft.

Sumner marveled at Bias’s generosity during the games. Bias stayed willingly after games to sign autographs, and during one game wheeled a young boy with muscular dystrophy onto the court, passed him the ball, and slammed a dunk from the return pass.

“He always went out of his way to be good to the fans,” says Sumner, who hosted Bias in his home during the trip. “He would sit and talk with the kids. He went to schools and talked to kids about life as a prominent basketball player. He was just a prince of a fellow, a wonderful individual.”

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

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