40 for 34 #37 - June 17

Recruited by Reebok

Reebok Wanted to Make Len Bias its Marquee Athlete

In the late morning of June 18, 1986, Joanne Borzakian met Len Bias at Logan Airport in Boston. She then escorted Bias to Reebok’s headquarters in nearby Avon after his short flight from New York. Beginning at about noon, Bias met with Borzakian and other members of the Reebok staff along with his father, James, and his agent, Lee Fentress of Advantage International. They discussed ways for Bias to become part of their basketball sponsorship program, in which players would make personal appearances in the Boston community to promote the burgeoning basketball shoe brand.

“We wanted to sign a new young talent, and he was our number-one choice at the time,” says Borzakian Ouellette, who was married after Bias died. “We wanted him to meet the powers that be and see if it was a good fit.

Bias had planned to return home to Landover immediately after the meetings at Reebok headquarters. But as the day wound down Borzakian’s boss at Reebok suggested she ask Bias if he wanted to attend a reception for Celtics players Danny Ainge and Dennis Johnson. She presented the idea to Bias. He agreed but only after Borzakian promised to make sure he would get home that night.

Ouellette worked for 16 years at Reebok, advancing to the position of global marketing director for NBA and NCAA basketball. During that time, she worked with such marquee players as Shaquille O’Neal and Dominique Wilkins. She remembers Len Bias as quiet and polite throughout the time they spent together. “This was not Shaquille O’Neal,” she says. “O’Neal had a presence, a personality, and was lots of fun.” Bias, she says, was not especially gregarious at the reception, but “neither was he looking at his watch to get out of there.”

She added: When it was time for him to leave, I told him a limousine would take him to the airport. He said, ‘I’m glad to be going home. I can’t wait to see my mother.’ ”

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