30 Years in 30 Days: Day 15- Odd Job


We've chronicled Len's increased spending habits over the final couple months of his life.  But that's not to say he wasn't willing to work.  Terrence Lewis (no relation to Reggie or Derrick) was one of Len's closest friends growing up and remembers Bias saying two weeks before the draft that he wanted a job.  He mentioned being both bored in waiting and stressed out from the process.

Only a few days before he was to be drafted and become an instant millionaire, Bias went to John Brown, the owner of Bentley's, a restaurant near campus, and told Brown he was running low on funds.

"I need some work," he said.

"Why don't you get a loan, borrow some money from a bank?" Brown said he told Bias.

"That comes too easy," Brown remembered Bias saying. "I want to earn some."

Brown gave Bias some yardwork to do at a nearby office building he owns, watering the lawn and trimming hedges.

"People would call up and say, 'Do you know Len Bias is out here watering the lawn?' " Brown said. "It got to be kind of a joke. In a week he was going to be a millionaire, and he was doing yardwork."



15 Seasons Before: 1971-72, Celtics lose in Eastern Conference Finals
15 Seasons After: 2000-01, Celtics fail to qualify for playoffs

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