THE mother of an NBA prodigy who died of a drug overdose hours after being drafted has revealed she had a premonition about his death.
Len Bias was selected as the No. 2 overall pick in the 1986 Draft by the Boston Celtics.
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A star for the University of Maryland Terrapins, Bias entered the draft as a consensus first-team All-American.
He stood 6-foot-8 and tipped the scales at 209 pounds, with his wide skill-set drawing comparisons to 1984 No. 1 pick Michael Jordan.
Widely tipped to become an NBA star, he was described by The New York Times as possessing "an extraordinary combination of grace and strength."
Bias was selected by the Celtics who had won a second NBA Championship in three years the previous season.
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But tragedy would strike mere days after he received his green Boston cap on the Felt Forum stage in New York City.
Bias died from a cocaine overdose 48 hours after the draft in an incident that shook basketball to its core.
Len had headed back to his Maryland college campus to celebrate his success, partying with friends late into the night.
His Terrapins team-mate Keith Gatlin told the BBC: "People were just in awe when they saw him because he was just a down-home, regular guy. But his talent was enormous.
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"He didn't know where he was going to go, but he was just excited to play and make basketball his profession.
"He just smiled at the fact now he could do something that he's been doing all his life, but get paid for it.
"[That night] he said 'Look, I'll see you in the morning. I'm going to get ready to see my mom and dad then I'm going to go visit a girl who I haven't seen in a while, so I'll see you in the morning and we'll get some breakfast.'"
Bias suffered a heart attack after taking cocaine in a dorm room later that evening.
He was rushed to a local hospital, but was pronounced dead before his parents could arrive.
In a heartbreaking new interview, his mother Dr. Lonise Bias revealed she had a premonition about a family member dying on the night her son passed.
Talking to the BBC, she explained: "I just had this intuitive feeling that something was going to happen.
"Then I just had this dream and I could feel the pressure on me, that something was going to happen.
"And that happening would be death. But I didn't know who in my family it would be.
"I just knew that death was coming."
Following Len's death and the outpouring of grief in the NBA community, Lonise revealed she was stunned by the reaction of the basketball world.
She continued: "I did not know who Len was.
"I knew that he played basketball, that he was my son, and he was doing well. I didn't know who he was as a man.
"It wasn't until he died that I found out who he was.
"People around the world were grieving over the loss of this man and this was just my son that I love. I didn't know the level of popularity he had until he passed.
"We received flowers from the president and other personal cards from the vice president of the country, from the Senate leaders, Michael Jordan sent flowers, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson's mother called."
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