30 Years in 30 Days: Day 24- The Nicknames

Art by Ralph Mc

The Mailman.  The X-Man.  The Human Highlight Film.  All those forwards from the same time period had nicknames you probably remember.  He didn't live for very long but Len had two nicknames he went by during his short time alive.  "Frosty" was the one he was probably most known for.  He was given the nickname by his good friend and pastor Rev. Gregory Edmond because he was "tall and cool and quiet and unassuming."

But it was mostly known back home in Columbia Park, MD.  From C. Fraser Smith's Lenny, Lefty, and the Chancellor:

In Columbia Park, people still called him Frosty.  It was a name that marked off home as separate and distinct from the pressing world of basketball.  At times though the nickname captured his moods.  He could be arrogant, overly sure of himself, threatening.  It was useful sometimes to be menacing if that would repel people who thought he was their property.

The other nickname Len had was "Horse."  The guys with Bias in the room the night he died told him to take it easy, told him that he was doing too much.  We have since learned, Len sat up on a bed, bent over a mirror, proclaimed himself "a horse" -- the nickname his teammates had used for him because of his on-court grace and physical presence -- and snorted one last line of cocaine.


24 Seasons Before: 1962-63, Celtics win NBA championship
24 Seasons After: 2009-10, Celtics lose in NBA Finals

Index of 30 Years in 30 Days articles