One Man Holds This Title! Who You Ask???????
Mr. Chris Washburn
It's the NBA's tragic draft. Len Bias, drafted No. 2 overall by the Boston Celtics in 1986, died the next day of a drug overdose. Seven-footer Chris Washburn, drafted just behind Bias at No. 3 by the Golden State Warriors, was drummed from the league three years later for repeat drug offenses. At least Washburn had time to make good on his career. He played two seasons for the Warriors before he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, where he was making $480,000 a year in 1988-89.
Instead of winding down a pro career, Washburn is out of basketball. He was banned from the NBA in June 1989 following three positive drug tests.
"He had skills, he could score close to the basket, but then he got himself out of shape," says Stan Kasten, president of the Hawks since 1986. "He was very immature for his age, which made the transition to the pros more difficult."
Despite repeated attempts, Washburn could only be reached briefly while visiting his mother in Hickory, N.C. He said he's "in the mortgage business" in Dallas.
Many thought basketball would be Washburn's business. But he couldn't get over the hurdle of his off-court problems.
"He never was as good as his reputation," Bob Gibbons says. The recruiting analyst lives 20 miles from Washburn's hometown and watched him grow into an All-USA player and one of the top high school recruits in the country.
"I watched him at camps, and he never took anything serious.
"Potentially, he had everything. Size and skill. He just didn't have the work ethic."
Washburn was caught stealing a stereo at North Carolina State and given 46 hours in jail, a six-year suspended sentence and five years of probation.
"The State people got after me because (N.C. State coach) Jim Valvano said on a radio program 'Chris Washburn is going to make our program,' " Gibbons says. "I said on another radio program, 'Chris Washburn is going to break their program.' "
Personal Fouls, the best-selling book by Peter Golenbock, detailed academic abuse at N.C. State under Valvano, some of which centered on Washburn, who played two years for the coach.
In the book, one of Washburn's teammates recalls, "Chris never went to school. He'd come to some classes, but he was never there enough times to pass. But 'V' gets you through school if he wants to. I believe that ever since Chris got to State, I would be surprised if he ever passed a class. And he still managed to play."
