40 for 34 #40 - June 19
- Dave Ungrady
- Jun 19
- 2 min read
"Len Bias Needs Help...."
The final hours of Len Bias's life took a tragic turn from revelry to death.
It took place through much of the early morning of June 19, 1986. Len Bias and three friends had been celebrating Len's selection by the Boston Celtics in the NBA draft since shortly after midnight. Part of that celebration in a University of Maryland dorm room included snorting cocaine.
At one point, one friend, Brian Tribble, went to the bathroom, stumbled back to Long’s room and said, “We’re all [expletive] up.” Terry Long, a member of Maryland's basketball team, added that they all felt much the same way. They snorted cocaine until sometime after 6 a.m. At about that time Bias then rested on Long’s bed for about five minutes before struggling to go to the bathroom because he was wobbly.
Bias then suffered a seizure. Long placed a pair of scissors in Bias’s mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue while Gregg held Bias’s feet. Tribble called his mother who told him to call the county emergency number for an ambulance. Tribble then made the following emergency call at 6:32 a.m (the following is part of that phone call).
Tribble: Yes, I’d like to have an ambulance come; (to someone else) what, what room? What room?
(Answer from the background: Washington Hall)
Tribble: What? Eleven-oh-three Washington Hall. It’s an emergency. It’s Len Bias and he just went to Boston and he needs some assistance.
911: What are you talking about?
......
Tribble: I’m talking about, uh, someone needs, Len Bias needs help.
911: Well, it doesn’t matter what his name is, what’s the problem?
Tribble: He’s not breathing right.
911: What’s the address?
Tribble: Eleven-oh-three Washington Hall on Maryland University’s campus.
911: Washington Hall?
Tribble: Yes, sir.
911: What’s your name?
Tribble: My name is Brian.
911: Brian what?
Tribble: Tribble.
911: Tribble?
Tribble: Yes, sir.
.......
911: What’s the room number?
Tribble: Eleven-oh-three.
911: Eleven-oh-three?
Tribble: Yes, sir.....they’re giving him mouth-to-mouth. You can hear it now. Hear ’em? This is Len Bias. You have to get him back to life. There’s no way he can die. Seriously, sir, please come quick.
........
911: All right. We’ll have an ambulance out, all right?
........
Tribble: OK.
911: Thank you.
Tribble: Yeah.
After the ambulance took Bias to the hospital, Long cleaned the empty beer bottles and cut straws from his room and emptied them into a dumpster behind the dormitory. Bias was pronounced dead at the hospital at 8:55 a.m. Cocaine intoxication was later determined to be the cause.
Excerpted from the book,
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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