ESPN to honor Len Bias Tuesday with four consecutive hours of programming
In honor of Len Bias, ESPN will dedicated four hours of programming to the Maryland legend on Tuesday night, the network announced.
The showcase, which kicks off at 7.pm. with a special edition of SportsCenter, will include a more Terp-friendly matchup between Bias and North Carolina than the network showed last month during the airing of ‘The Last Dance’ documentary. Via ESPN’s press release:
On Tuesday, June 2, ESPN will honor the life and impact of college basketball great Len Bias. Thirty-four years ago this month, Bias was drafted second overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft. A two-time ACC Player of the Year and All-American at the University of Maryland, Bias tragically passed away two days later as a result of an overdose.
Programming will include SportsCenter Special: Remembering Len Bias at 7 p.m. ET, hosted by Rece Davis with Jay Bilas, who played against Bias during his career at Duke, and Michael Wilbon, who covered the Maryland standout while at The Washington Post. The show will take a look at his impact as a player, what he may have done as a teammate of Larry Bird, and the potential rivalry with Michael Jordan. Guests will include Brad Daugherty and Jackie MacMullan.
Following the one-hour special, ESPN will air the 1986 classic college basketball matchup (8 p.m.) between Maryland and North Carolina, where Bias, who had a game-high 35 points, and the Terrapins upset the then-No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels at home in overtime. An encore presentation of the 30 for 30 Without Bias will air at 10 p.m.
Full schedule:
7 p.m. SportsCenter Special: Remembering Len Bias
8 p.m. Classic College Basketball Maryland at North Carolina (Feb. 20, 1986)
10 p.m. 30 for 30: Without Bias
The four-hour celebration of Bias will precede an episode of SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt. Van Pelt, who attended Maryland at the same time as Bias, shared a story about the legendary basketball player on Michael Locksley's Instagram Live show last month.
"I was there for senior day, when [Maryland] played Virginia,” Van Pelt said. “Olden Polynice was the dude who played for Virginia, who played in the [NBA] for a long time. Now, Olden had blocked a shot of Lenny’s that year and got in his face and pointed at him. So Lenny, he filed that away for later.
“So it’s senior day, and some point Lenny blocks Polynice’s shot and the play is continuing, and Leonard’s in his ear and he’s mf’n him sideways. The play’s going on and Bias isn’t even playing anymore, he’s just letting Polynice know we’re good.”
The sequence ended with an alley-oop from Jeff Baxter to Tom “Speedy” Jones, “and the roof blows off the building," Van Pelt said. “And for the entire time that there was a timeout one half of Cole [Field House] chanted ‘Len,’ the other half chanted ‘Bias.’”
The 34th anniversary of Bias' tragic death is later this month on June 19.
