Celtics Mourn Death of Near-Teammate : NBA Champions Express Shock and Grief Over Fate of Len Bias

BOSTON —  The Boston Celtics mourned the death Thursday of their first-round draft choice, Len Bias, the University of Maryland star whom Celtic President Red Auerbach called “by far the best athlete coming out of college this year.”

Auerbach, who two days earlier used the No. 2 pick in the college draft to select Bias, said: “We’ll always consider him a member of the Celtics’ family. You never can tell, but basically he had the tools, the attitude and the work habits . . . to be a great player.”

Auerbach, Coach K.C. Jones and other team officials were somber as they gathered at team headquarters and spoke of the man who would have worn No. 30.

“It’s something you’d never expect,” Jones said. “He’d been through physical exams and the whole bit, and he came out perfect.”

Celtic star Larry Bird, who had urged the team to draft Bias, said through his agent: “It’s horrible. I am too shocked to respond. It’s the cruellest thing I ever heard. I was really looking forward to coming to rookie camp to play with him.”

Bird had vowed to attend rookie camp to work with Bias if Bias was drafted by the Celtics, the National Basketball Assn. champions.

Auerbach said that Celtic guard Danny Ainge had spent Wednesday, the day after the draft, with Bias, Bias’ father and the draftee’s agent before Bias left for a 7:30 p.m. flight to Washington.

“When I heard about it, I couldn’t believe it was true,” Ainge told the Boston Herald. “Here was a guy I was just with the night before, laughing and smiling and sipping on 7 Up. He was just on top of the world.”

Auerbach said he wanted the 6-8 forward for the Celtics since seeing him as a freshman at Maryland.

“Lenny Bias was a very strong competitor,” Auerbach said. “He did what he had to do to win. He was coachable and very well liked. I liked him. (The Celtic players) were all ecstatic about the draft, as all of us were. Len Bias was by far the best athlete coming out of college this year.”

Auerbach said the death of Bias was “a great personal loss” because he had grown unusually close to the 22-year-old prospect.

“I had a personal relationship with him which was quite unique,” he said. “I have been extremely close to him, more so than the average guy you draft, because I was the one who advised him to stay in school and complete his education and become a better player.”

“He was the happiest of anybody I’d ever (selected . . . because) he just achieved his main goal in life, which was to be drafted by the Celtics,” Auerbach said.

Jones and Auerbach declined to comment on the effect of Bias’ death on the team.

“I don’t want to talk about basketball,” Jones said. “My thoughts right away went to his family. I thought about his career, what he had accomplished (and) what he wanted to be.”

Auerbach said he was told of Bias’ death by Lefty Driesell, the Maryland coach. Driesell was crying on the phone, Auerbach said.

M.L. Carr, a team scout and the last Celtic to have worn No. 30, said: “Though he’s never put on the Celtics’ uniform as a player, in our minds he’s a Celtic.”