30 Years in 30 Days: Day 26- Premonitions & Visions

 
Bill Simmons’ noteworthy piece on Bias’ death 15 years ago has probably convinced people that Lenny died with his green Celtics’ hat on.  The one Simmons mentioned he turned around before burying his face in a giant pile of coke, taking the entire Celtics' franchise down with him.  In actuality he was wearing a blue Reebok cap, blue Reebok t-shirt, jeans and sneakers when he died.  But that might not be the only memory that’s been forgotten over the years.

The night before the draft in NYC, Len had a nightmare that he was late for the draft and was running to make it on time.  In addition to that in May of 1986, about a month before Len died, his mom Lonise Bias was reading the bible near a portrait she had of Len when she heard a voice say “He’s never going to play ball.


If that’s not creepy enough, the Saturday after Len died, Lonise lifted her head from her pillow and saw Len sitting there on a flight of steps with her mother, Lillian Scott, who died of cancer three years earlier.  There were pink roses all around and Len had on a striped suit “so obnoxious that only he could wear it” his mother recalled.  He was smiling and “where his teeth were, it glowed.  I won’t say it’s heaven but he was happy.”  After that she allowed herself a good cry, just one more time.

One last account: Len’s father James Bias, right after the draft, couldn’t shake the image of his son driving away in a limousine. He said later that it looked to him like a hearse.



26 Seasons Before: 1960-61, Celtics win NBA championship
26 Seasons After: 2011-12, Celtics lose in Eastern Conference Finals

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