Some of them didn’t even get the chance to play in the NBA. Some of them were only able to scratch the surface of their potentials as NBA players. Some of them were entering the NBA’s stardom. But each and every one of them had much more to offer than they were given a chance to. Here’s a list of 10 NBA players who left us too soon before fully showing their talents to the NBA world.
He was supposed to be the one to give Michael Jordan a run for his money. But as fate would have it, Len Bias never got the chance to compete against the best. Just two days after he was drafted by the Boston Celtics, a 22-year-old University of Maryland star collapsed in his Washington Hall dormitory suite on the College Park campus. Two hours later, he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy revealed that “an unusually pure dose of cocaine” triggered a heart failure, “interrupting the normal electrical control of his heartbeat, resulting in the sudden onset of seizures and cardiac arrest.” Bias stood no chance. He was supposed to be the next guy to take the NBA by storm. Instead, he was gone, way too soon.
Reggie Lewis
Unlike Bias, Reggie Lewis got to showcase his talent on basketball’s biggest stage. He was six years into his NBA run, was already an All-Star, and one of the best performers at the shooting guard position. But unfortunately, that’s where it ended.
