Two days after being selected by the Boston Celtics with the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft, Bias died from cardiac arrhythmia induced by a cocaine overdose.

By his senior year, scouts from various National Basketball Association teams viewed Bias as the most complete forward in the class of 1986.

Celtics scout Ed Badger called Bias an "explosive and exciting kind of player" and compared him to Michael Jordan.

[7] On June 17, 1986, Bias was selected by the Boston Celtics as the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft, which was held in New York City at Madison Square Garden.

Red Auerbach, the Celtics' president and general manager, had dealt guard Gerald Henderson and cash to the Seattle SuperSonics for the pick in 1984.

[citation needed] On June 18, Bias and his father flew to Boston for an NBA club draft acceptance and product endorsement signing ceremony with the Celtics' coaches and management.

[9] After additional attempts to revive him at Leland Memorial Hospital in Riverdale, Maryland, Bias was pronounced dead at 8:55 a.m. of a cardiac arrhythmia related to usage of cocaine.

[18] More than 11,000 people attended a June 23 memorial service at the Cole Field House, the university recreation and student center where Bias played for the Terrapins.

Bias's Maryland teammates Terry Long and David Gregg were charged with possession of cocaine and obstruction of justice.

The killing followed a dispute in the parking lot of Prince George's Plaza, a Hyattsville shopping mall just a few miles from the University of Maryland.

[27] A few weeks after Bias's death, committees in the United States House of Representatives began writing anti-drug legislation.

The law provides a mandatory minimum prison term of 20 years and a maximum life sentence, along with a fine of up to $2 million, for cases of drug distribution that lead to the death or serious injury of a person.

The grand jury presiding over the Bias case issued a final report on February 26, 1987, criticizing the University of Maryland's athletic department, admissions office and campus police.