7.13.2010

2 comments:

Lex said...

The Class of 1986

Here’s a look at the top 10 picks of the ’86 NBA draft:

1. Brad Daugherty, C
2. Len Bias, F (Boston Celtics): Two days after the draft, he died of a heart attack as the result of a drug overdose.
3. Chris Washburn, C (Golden State Warriors): Played only 72 games over two seasons. Banned from the NBA after failing a third drug test in 1989.
4. Chuck Person, SF/G (Indiana Pacers): “The Rifleman” won Rookie of the Year and played 13 seasons in the league, highlighted by his six-season stint with the Pacers. Ranked in the NBA’s top-40 of all-time 3-point shooters.
5. Kenny Walker, F (New York Knicks): Averaged 7.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in five seasons with the Knicks. Career highlight might be his victory at the All-Star dunk contest in 1989. Was out of the NBA after playing with the Washington Bullets in 1994-95.
6. William Bedford, C (Phoenix Suns): Drug use derailed his career, which lasted only six seasons in the league. He averaged 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds with the Suns, Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs. Bedford is currently in prison serving a 10-year sentence for a drug-related offense.
7. Roy Tarpley, C/PF (Dallas Mavericks): Made the All-Rookie team and was Sixth Man of the Year in 1988, but became another draft casualty of drugs. Tarpley was kicked out of the league in 1991 for violating the NBA’s substance abuse policy. He was reinstated in 1994, but was banned the following year for alcohol use.

Lex said...

Chris Washburn can’t argue with the labels. In the nearly quarter-century since he left the NBA, Washburn has slept on the floors of crack houses and eaten from trash bins. He’s served time in the penitentiary and squandered the money he did make – all in search of his next high. His greatest victory never came on the court, but after a dozen stays in rehab centers. Somehow, Chris Washburn is alive and, he promises, clean.