White Heat: The 1987 Phoenix Suns Cocaine Scandal

don't do drugs if you're doing it stop it get some help the NBA and narcotics have a sorted past most of which the league would be happy to sweep under the rug Zach Randolph was arrested on a drug possession charge popular stories most know are those like Len Bas the college Prodigy who was drafted at second overall in 86 to the Celtics and had a heart attack on draft night allar L bias confirms the worst suspicions he died of heart failure because he used cocaine or the fact that the Los Angeles Times estimated that 40 to 75% of players during the 70s and early 80s used cocaine not to mention an estimated 1 out of 10 smoked or freebased the drug these figures were actually leaked by then Hawks GM Stan Caston but quotes from other teams highlight the issue although maybe diminish the fractions a little bit Casten was actually the youngest GM in Pro Sports at the time getting the job in 1979 at just 27 years old taking the title formerly held by then Suns GM Jerry Colangelo Utah Jazz GM Frank leaden was quoted as saying there's not a team in the league you can confidently say does not have a drug problem every team could benefit from a rehab program I had two cases out of 11 players last year when we need a place to send these people drugs in the NBA do not mix if you want to get involved in drugs you will not be involved with the NBA the NBA Drug Act was put forward in ' 83 in an attempt to curb the behavior and get things back on track behind the scenes the NBA program against drug abuse is by far the toughest in all the professional sports tainted by drug scandals David Stern also took over as commissioner in 84 with a hard-nose approach to any drug offense within the league but as we'll soon find out few rules and laws weren't enough to deter a special group of players six current and former NBA players would be indicted on charges of conspiracy to traffic narcotics in April 1987 and another five players were named in the indictment without charges what did these players all have in common they all played for the Phoenix Suns it's time to take a look at the single biggest drug bust in Pro Sports history in the chaos that was the 86 87 Phoenix [Music] Suns they were led by longtime Sons veteran guard Walter Davis Larry Nance and Jay humph that a young and recently drafted Jeff hornek on the bench who was still a few years from getting a proper role on offense the season started in a feel-good fashion seeing the very first first NBA game played on indigenous territory with the Suns taking on the Mavericks on October 9th in kot's Moi Village Arizona a Hy reservation about 4 hours out from Phoenix they played in front of a 3300 standing room only crowd and by all reports the players were touched and thought it was a beautiful experience secondy year Fringe player Nick Vanos sent emphatic blocks to the crowd and hung around to sign autographs after veteran Alvin Adams spoke to all who would listen to him about the Hopi and Navajo culture while on the team bus back to Flagstaff well everyone except rookie son Center William Bedford from Memphis State who put his foot in his mouth with this quote I thought it was going to be in a town not in an open area with just one building going on to say I thought I played fair but I think I'll have a better time playing in front of Americans well Bedford was wrong about that one after six seasons in the NBA he only averaged 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game a little bit lower than his 14.8 rebound showing in Kiko's movie he also missed the full 8889 season because of substance abuse Bedford played 3 years at Memphis State and was involved in a scandal involving numerous NCAA violations resulting in a 2-year probation for the school and the return of $1 million of prize money it all started when he crashed to J uire loan to him by a booster the same booster who gambled with the Memphis State head coach Dana gray Kirk at a local Country Club this garnered the attention of federal authorities who launched a gambling and point shaving investigation at the school without turning anything up an interesting tidbit that will certainly come back into play later Bedford entered the draft early because of the investigation and was taken six overall in 1986 by the suns suns would start that season with 13-year veteran head coach John mcloyd one of the longest 10year coaches in the NBA at the time and a stalwart in Arizona despite Jon still to this day having the most wins in Sun's head coach history that season got off to a rough start at 22 and [Music] 34 and that Suns team was about as streaky as you could get in the First full month of basketball they went on a four-game losing streak a three-game winning streak foro on another three-game losing streak to close up the month that win streak included a 30o walloping over a strong 76ers team and Future Phoenix son Charles Barkley that Philadelphia team would go on to finish second in the East it's almost as if their erratic play could be attributed to some outside Factor but by December 10th 1986 they had clawed their way back to 10 and 10 [Music] elsewhere around the league drug use continued to be a common news item Houston Rockets players Mitchell Wiggins and LS Lloyd received a lifetime ban on January 13th 1987 after they both failed urine tests and neglected to turn themselves in beforehand later that month on January 29th Golden State rookie Chris wasburn admitted to cocaine use and asked to be checked into a rehab center the NBA implemented a caveat that admitting to your own usage would prevent a lifetime ban the Suns organization were no strangers to issues with drugs and about a year ago their star guard Walter Davis sent ripples across the league when similarly he checked himself into rehab for cocaine and alcohol abuse here are the MBA incidents related to cocaine that occurred between that window as you can see the league was busy [Music] it was the morning of December 12th 1985 at the Hyatt Hotel in Oakland California Davis has just scored a career high last night against the warriors with 43 points in a 123 113 win but was in a mood far from jubilant Oakland was Notorious for their cocaine traffickers in the80s and the warriors were plagued with cases like Bernard King Michael Ray Richardson and John Lucas there's a shooting war in Oakland the deadly battle for Turf between drug dealers police and citizens as newspapers at the time quoted the Oakland Hyatt was seen as the best place in the league to score drugs so struggling players routinely fell off the wagon during their Golden State trip and now we bring you back to February 1987 the Suns started the month at 19 and 27 and they had the sixth worst record in the league they were rot with injuries including their veteran starting center James Edwards Edwards went out in late November with an Achilles injury eventually requiring surgery that past December with 8 to 12 weeks of recovery expected Edwards found himself sidelined for the foreseeable future but still attending team meetings and functions the injured Edwards was known to be a regular at a few Phoenix nightclubs with a group of Select Sons players they went so often that it was reported that James and two other NBA players were seen at a club named Malarkey 2 days before home game against the Milwaukee Bucks on February 21st 1987 according to a testimony by the bartender Charles Keenan Edwards claimed to the nightclub manager James J Jordan that the game would not exceed 226 points this got complicated when further claims suggest that the two other NBA players were members of the opposing bucks Jack sikma and Paul meski betting on your own NBA game now that's one thing adding to the fact that you're aiming for a loss and the under even more reviled conspiring with members of the other team to do so it was practically unheard of when later pressed about the outing they admitted going there to shoot the breeze and briefly speaking with James Edwards but only kept the conversation to his Achilles injury Sigma said he had no knowledge of anything unusual going on that night a report from the Mesa Tribune alleged that meski was given a $100 worth of cocaine from manager James J Jordan things grew stranger when bucks player mesy admitted to previously knowing the manager of Malarkey's James J Jordan and said the two had golfed in Hawaii together previously for a Spokane Washington born player who was drafted to the Rockets never played in Phoenix forming a tight bond with an Arizona nightclub owner seems odd meski said he had met Jordan during the off season and that he went into Jordan's office to look over pictures from the trip which raises the Curious question who else was on that trip oh and the Suns would lose that game by the way and what a coincidence the total points in the game would only finish out to 222 below 226 like Edwards predicted and reportedly thousands of people in the know would bet February was a tough month for that Suns team they would follow up their bucks loss by sliding into a season and low five-game losing streak to be fair two of those recent losses included tight contest with the showtime Lakers but some nights they seemed to be just off it's hard to be sure if it was a matter of mid-season fatigue lack of Talent OR offc Court extracurriculars cutting into their Harmony I suspect that GM Jerry Colangelo knew that his longtime coach of 14 Seasons had lost control of the room in more ways than one whatever was going on behind the scenes on Friday February 27th 1987 coach John mcloyd was let go with Colangelo saying the time has come for a change maybe he meant that in more ways than one he was replaced with Dick Van Arsdale a former son's player that was taken in the expansion draft of 68 and at the time was the Suns color commentator for TV and radio funny enough Van Arsdale would replace the same coach who brought him to the finals in 76 but only one problem he had never coached before in his life those 26 games would be the only ones he coached in his career and the original son returned behind the scenes after season's end ENC Court performance was the last of their worries unbeknownst to any members of the Suns or general public the Maricopa County Police had already begun a gambling and rocketeering investigation in February involving two Central parties the nightclub Malarkey and the Phoenix Suns it was alleged that NBA officials wanted to test the offending players immediately but the County Police refused saying it would interfere with the investigation on March 3rd America Copa County grand jury indicted five men on racketeering and bookmaking charges including Charles Keenan teren Patrick Kelly and Ramone viz both from Avanti a restaurant that some players from the Suns frequented the additional two were James J Jordan the manager of malarkey and Joseph A banado the son's photographer the accounts given by Kenan and Kelly would be exactly what authorities needed to begin swooping down and bring the first Phoenix players into custody it is suspected that the first Phoenix Sun brought in was the one police knew had previous ties to cocaine usage and had the most info about local dealers whether they knew it or not Davis was one infraction away from a lifetime ban from the NBA and certainly had the most to lose in that locker room it was reported that when Davis entered police custody he became immediately compliant Colangelo may have taken the heat off his team a bit bit by taking the spotlight himself collecting a fine during the last part of the season for forcing his home announcer to highlight the disparity and fouls in a game versus the Lakers saying the sons have eight fouls the Lakers have none being the same person that famously choked a ref mid game after Earl stom said he could take him it's not too surprising here's Jerry recounting the incident himself to the table he grabbed his water and he's looking right at me and he says I can take you and when he said that I leap across the table and grabbed him by the neck by the time April 8 came around just 10 days before season's end the Arizona Republic would release an earth shattering report on rumors of an ongoing drug investigation within the NBA and the Phoenix Suns including a tidbit about requesting videotape of the Sun's Game for evaluation another note said that the Arizona da had already turned over information to the NBA implicating some members of the Suns Colangelo wasn't in Phoenix at the time and stressed he couldn't comment any further curiously enough he was in the same place that meski from the Bucks met James J Jordan from Malarkey Hawaii a report filtered out on April 10th that seemed to pour more gas on the fire the Arizona Republic said that Phoenix police had acquired search warrants to seize several score sheets from the sons offices the game tape that NBA officials were requesting was from February 21st when the Suns played the Bucks and they lost the report claimed that three active players were the primary subject of the investigation but wouldn't name who the last thread that seemed to connect nearly everything together was the apparent center of the probe a gambling ring in Oakland California a familiar place for a lot of the players who [Music] indulged despite an active police investigation going on the team would actually go 14 and 12 the rest of the year and miss the playoffs by just a single game they were still erratic as ever and closed off the year with both a seven game losing streak and a seven game winning streak on April 17th and a day before the last game of the season the Maricopa County Attorney's Office officially announced indictments against 13 individuals in a cocaine trafficking investigation as the sporting World turned their attention to Phoenix you could sense the House of Cards finally falling down of the 13 people named three were active Suns players James Edwards Jay humph and Grant gondik two former players Garfield herd and Mike Bratz were also charged to round out the final eight a slew of sons Associated persons were named at varying level of charges most notably the team's photographer and William bedford's roommate the final pieces of the puzzle were when and Kim leiser Two Brothers From New River Arizona who are named as the primary cocaine dealer to the Suns for the last decade the leisur were directly named in indictments as providing drugs to Don bus Johnny High Alvin Scott Curtis Perry and Walter Davis they even sold drugs to the son's very first draft pick from' 69 Neil walk it's almost as if win Leisure was also one of the original Sons a few names that seem to be glaring omissions in the indictments were Walter Davis William Bedford and former Suns player Johnny High yes that was his real name it is assumed that these three individuals received immunity for testifying unbelievably bench riding rookie Grant gondik and Jay Humphrey would play the next day 121 106 win against the LA Clippers despite the charges hanging over their heads Bedford was out with an injury so he was an nonissue Davis was suspended by the league and reacted to the news by checking himself into a rehab center a mandatory step from the league the season ended with a lot of questions still on the table the three active Suns players were awaiting drug tests from the league a failure would mean a lifetime ban for all three not to mention the pending charges that all 13 members of the indictment faced it was no surprise to any when the three of them passed the test since they had known about the investigation for almost 3 weeks at that point Edwards heard Humphrey and gondra all pled innocent on April 30th and awaited deliberation from the courts former son's guard Mike Bratz was in California at the time and required extradition to be tried in Arizona Bratz would probably get off the lightest of any of them after being found innocent by local California courts he would remain in California for the entire summer whether they were caught up in the indictments of the other 12 or just inept Bratz would get off scott free for half of his charges when prosecutors in Phoenix failed to file the required paperwork and the final two charges were dismissed after a confusing 6 months the Scandal was even dubbed Walter gate by the media focusing on the sun star Walter Davis who was cemented firmly in the middle of the investigation when pressed by the media about the potential immunity granted for testifying Davis seemed forlorn and relayed that he had no choice going on to say that if he knew what would happen to his friends and teammates he would never have done so the web of players implicated by Davis and his initial confession was staggering whether it was directly or indirectly it included players from the Suns bucks Rockets Celtics and SuperSonics 17 former and current NBA players the case of the prosecution began to crumble away as the Press leak details of their case key witness and former son Alvin Scott recanted a statement about Garfield herd providing the supply now saying that Davis INF facted the only actual evidence against Walter Davis was a channel 12 interview with kpnx TV where he admits to using cocaine but at this point he had immunity even further it was revealed that the prosecution lawyers collected evidence by wiring bartender Charles Keenan with a hidden microphone in a conversation with Malarkey's manager James J Jordan the conversation revealed Jordan admitting the fact he had supplied Davis with cocaine and placed a bet on the February 21st game against the Bucks given the fact that this was conducted by the attorney's office without the involvement of law enforcement and involved the key witness tapes were inadmissible in court all of these individuals charged would essentially Coast free because of the botched aspects of the investigation Kevin Mayweather was charged with obstructing a criminal investigation for attempting to lie to officers about his roommate's whereabouts William Bedford as it turns out Kevin was also the son of one of bedford's Agents will Merryweather Grant gondik would be invited back to Camp that next year but his career trajectory was never the same despite being a second round pick and initially projected for a minor role he actually played in 64 games that year and showed some value as a reserve guard gondra was cut from the team in the 87 training camp in response to his chances on landing on another NBA roster he said no team wants to touch me Grant was facing three charges in total and pled guilty to interfering with a criminal investigation in exchange for a plea bargain deal to reduce his sentence to 3 years of probation 1987 was tough for gondik the same month he faced a grand jury for three charges his brother Glenn and six-year NBA veteran made headlines with an attempted suicide attempt using a handgun after his wife announced she was divorcing him Grant would only play another 27 games in the NBA for the LA Clippers next season failing to earn a permanent role he would ride his career into the sunset in Europe with a few notable stops in France her was Grant making a big three against cesa Moscow in a EUR League [Music] playoff his last flash in the headlines was in 2009 for a second indictment where he was part of a mortgage fraud scheme from 2004 to 2005 for almost $12 million in funds gondik passed away in 2021 but his daughter Kaiser and former WNBA player has taken over headlines recently for her legal battles with boyfriend Kevin Porter Jr tragedy seemed to Shadow the Suns for the rest of 1987 former Suns player and one of the key Witnesses in the indictment was Johnny High who tragically crashed his car while under the influence on June 21st 1987 and passed away shortly after and it didn't stop there on August 16th Sun Center Nick Vanos and his girlfriend Carolyn Cohen were traveling to Detroit when the unthinkable happened their Northwest Airlines flight from Phoenix somewhere over Denver crashed and all passengers aboard would perish Thanos was one of the few players not implicated in the Scandal and actually started 12 of the last 15 games of the [Music] season the timing of the Scandal couldn't have been worse for Phoenix fans the end of the season began to Spur rumors that Phoenix was at risk for relocation to another city owner Richard block was part of the NBA expansion committee but there's an ongoing narrative that Phoenix was a problem franchise they might have been right in the 12th hour Jerry Colangelo decided to put forward a massive 44.5 million doll bid then a record high for the NBA the sale finalized on October 16th just days before the October 19th stock crash known as Black Monday had the deal not been completed prior clango doubts it would have been completed at all and that the trouble franchise would have relocated the rest of the implicated players would fizzle out with no real Fanfare Walter Davis managed to slightly Salvage his reputation but never reached the scoring Heights he saw before the Scandal Edwards and humph both entered a drug program for a plea bargain Bedford and Edwards were also shipped off to no place other than Detroit You could argue that a major reason why the media began to paint that era as the bad boy Pistons was these two here's Edward slapping Neely during the Eastern Conference Finals Edwards would finish his career a three-time NBA champion and one of the Lesser known names that jumped from the bad boy Pistons to the Jordan Bulls here's Edwards getting into another fight with Liddell Eckles with Steve Kerr attempting to hold him back Bedford would win a title in 1990 but his career was marred by substance abuse issues that seemed to follow him everywhere after Phoenix he missed the entire 8889 season after another drug infraction during which the Pistons won a championship his reputation would essentially push him out of the league and after his NBA career finished in 93 things continued to go downhill he was arrested twice between 96 and 97 for drug possession during 2001 he was caught transporting 25 lbs of marijuana in Michigan following this charge he would collect another two charges for intent to distribute cocaine was handed down a 10-year sentence in prison eventually being released in November 2011 he had a interview with flad TV in July 2023 where he talked about his troubles and what ultimately led to his arrest the son's drug scandal would both signify the height of the NBA's problems with cocaine and its eventual fall the aftermath would send shock waves through the league and it seemed like every player had to answer for it here is Larry Nance from the Suns addressing it in the preseason preview video sent out to fans get this problem behind us um you know be one of the first teams that get rid of this this problem and never let it happen here again the drugs attention and decline seem to coincide with sporting World shifting to other things across the league like a lanky shooting guard on the Chicago Bulls don't do drugs if you're doing it stop it get some [Music] help R smok smok I was in love with the word [Music] I was in love with the work I was in love with the [Music] work

Channel: Stupid Beyond Belief

Views: 258,628

Keywords: 87 Suns, 1987 phoenix suns, 1986 - 1987 phoenix suns, phoenix suns cocaine, suns cocaine scandal, walter davis scandal, nba cocaine scandal, nba cocaine scandal phoenix suns, nick vanos, johnny high, alvin adams, sports and cocaine story, nba cocaine documentary, phoenix suns cocaine doc, 87 Cocaine scandal nba, drug and sports, 30 for 30, espn drugs doc, real sport stories, garfield heard, mike bratz, dick van arsdale, william bedford, james edwards, grant gondrezick

Id: i935lHhVTHA

Length: 25min 40sec (1540 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 26 2024