It may have been twenty-three years ago, but Nate McMillan remembers the 1986 NBA Draft like it was yesterday.
He couldn't forget if he tried.
"They (the television network) turned it off after the first round. Right when they stopped coverage, I was the next selection," said McMillan, now the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.
But back then, he was a 6'5" guard and the 30th overall selection out of North Carolina State by the Seattle SuperSonics.
"You go through that draft and there was some unbelievable talent."
The Cleveland Cavaliers made Brad Daugherty out of North Carolina the number one pick. It's the same draft that yielded once obscure players such as Mark Price, Dennis Rodman, Kevin Duckworth and Jeff Hornacek who became household names in the late '80's and throughout the '90's.
Others would battle addictions off the floor instead of finding success on the court.
"There were some guys that made some mistakes also and guys that had some problems and ended up not finishing their career," McMillan admits thinking back a draft class ruined by headlines of drug abuse
Len Bias, Chris Washburn, William Bedford and Roy Tarpley were four of the top seven first round selections that year. Three were eventually banned from the league. The other died two days after being chosen as the second overall pick.
Washburn – a 6'11, 225 pound center from North Carolina State – was selected third by the Golden State Warriors. Three months into his rookie season, Washburn checked into a drug rehabilitation clinic for a cocaine problem. The NBA banned Washburn for life in June 1989 after he failed three drug tests in three years with the Warriors and Atlanta Hawks.
"I knew it would be tough for him," McMillan said of Washburn, whom he played with under the late Jim Valvano at N.C. State.
"He was one of the most talented big men coming out at that time. He should have dominated the NBA with his speed and athletic ability. He was a center that could play power forward. It was just his decisions off the floor. Same thing with (Roy) Tarpley. They were both talented big men who could have dominated at their positions."
A 6'11" center from Michigan, Tarpley was the seventh pick by the Dallas Mavericks and made the NBA All-Rookie Team in his first season. He was barred from the league for violating the NBA's drug use policies in 1991 and banned again from the league in 1995 – despite returning to the Mavs briefly - for using alcohol and violating the terms of a court-imposed personal aftercare program.
The Phoenix Suns made William Bedford - a 7-foot, 235-pound center from Memphis State - the sixth pick and he played six seasons in the league before drugs took over his life. Bedford is now serving time in a Fort Worth, Texas prison on drug related charges.
He is scheduled for release in 2013.
Yet it is the passing of Len Bias two days after the draft that's stuck with McMillan and even the rest of the league after all these years. McMillan and Bias - a 6'8, 210 pound forward and All-American at Maryland - became friends right before the draft, as the two were barnstorming with the ACC All-Stars around North Carolina.
"I got to know him really well a couple months before the draft. I knew exactly where I was. I was at Coach Valvano's basketball camp when I heard the news. I was just shocked."
On June 19, 1986 Bias suffered a heart attack from a cocaine overdose 48 hours after being selected by the Boston Celtics. He was just 22 years old.
"They came over and told me that Len had passed. I left right then, and I was driving home to see the news when I heard about it again on the radio and I couldn't believe it. I could not believe that happened."
Conflicting stories remain. Some believe Bias was overwhelmed by the publicity he'd received during the draft process and pressures of being the second pick and used cocaine to medicate the stress. Others chalk it up to a chance decision resulting in death.
"I never even saw him drink a beer. I don't know if it was a one-time deal, but I know I was with him for a couple months and never heard anything about drugs," McMillan explained.
"To this day, I haven't really heard that he was abusing drugs. Normally you would hear something. I never heard that. He loved the game. He was all about basketball. To hear what happened, it was a total shock."
As McMillan recalled days gone by, he spoke highly of Bias the player instead of the tragedy that surrounded his short life. Len had the body. Len could jump over you. Len had a nice mid-range game. Len would shoot over the top of you. McMillan doesn't know if he could have been Michael (Jordan), but he knows he could have been really good.
Much like McMillan, we will never really know. Instead, we are left with nightmarish stories where drug abuse won out over hoop dreams in the top tier of a draft.
"To be in that draft and see what happened to Len, for me that was a big event in my life," McMillan said, thankful for the longevity of his career in the league as a player and coach.
"That was a long time ago."
