“In life, Len Bias was basketball’s next great hope, contender for a crown that went instead to Michael Jordan.
“In death, he became a trigger for the war on drugs.
“Bias’ 1986 cocaine overdose helped sparked a panic, stoked by false rumors and a high-stakes political campaign, that culminated in a law that swept thousands of low-level drug offenders — most of them young and black — into prison.
“Thirty years later, America is still reeling from the impact.”