Film Review: "Without Bias"

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“Without Bias"
Directed by Kirk Fraser

Kirk Fraser’s film, “Without Bias,” portrays the story of Len Bias, a rising basketball legend who was meant to leave a legacy with National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics, but unfortunately was remembered for leaving this world through a heartbreaking death.

Bias, a 6’ 8’’ basketball player of the University of Maryland had always dreamed of making it big, and told everyone he knew that one day he would make it to ‘the pros.’ Although he had a slow start in his high school years the late bloomer, soon became very serious about the game and knew one day he would achieve his life goal. When the time finally came for him to be drafted to the Boston Celtics, Bias tragically died of cocaine intoxication in June of 1986. The basketball player was 22 years old.

This film, part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, indulges into Bias’ amazing rise to the top and how instantly it can all be taken away. Several sports journalists’ that grew close to Bias over the years such as Michael Wilbon say, “Lenny’s legacy is that he saved a lot of our lives.”

Although populations of thousands were hurting inside, many took his death as a wakeup call for young athletes to avoid drug abuse. Advocates such as Bias’ mother, Lonise, used her son’s death to speak out to several youth organization just how in a few hours of fun with friends can put an end to years of hard work, and suffering to many.

Throughout this film, Fraser takes an interesting approach in showing Bias’ death through the eyes of the media and how greatly journalists were affected by the tragedy. Wilbon along with other sports journalists saw two defining players of this time in the 1980s, they were Michael Jordan and Len Bias.

As Bias and several others could predict during that itching moment of the NBA draft, Wilbon says, “He knew that he couldn’t be stopped, he knew he was one of the greatest players of the country, he knew he was going to be one of the top draft picks.”

Through interviews with icons such as Red Auerbach, the Boston Celtics President, Auerbach says that he could just see how happy Bias was to finally reach his goals.

Director Fraser makes note of the several interviews to include in this documentary, ones that entailed everyone’s utter shock of Bias’s use of cocaine. Bias is seen talking about how a lot of players easily get caught up in drugs and you need to be smart and use your time wisely.

There were no other substances found in Bias’s body other than cocaine. Several friends and family members could not recall any other time that Bias had used the substance.

During this time of the 1980s, Fraser makes it clear that no one understood just how powerful drugs could be, and underestimated what misfortunes could come from them.

Former teammate David Gregg of the University of Maryland says, “The enormity of that loss at that time was something I could not fathom.”

Fraser’s main objective of this film was to show that, with every tragedy also comes a time to teach. Although Bias was always sought to be a person of tenacity and hunger for the game of basketball and a role model to athletes of all ages, the death of Len Bias escalated this player to a new form of recognition.