The early nineteen eighties. We're filled with connick basketball stars. Magic johnson larry bird and kareem abdul-jabbar are just a few legends. That played during this era celebrity players. Thrilled fans with their incredible skills on the court but some behavior was not worth celebrating on august twentieth. Nineteen eighty the la times reported on multiple accounts of cocaine abuse by nba athletes. The general manager of the utah jazz even speculated that there wasn't a single team in the league that didn't have a drug problem new york knicks star. Micheal ray. Richardson had five. Documented stays at rehabilitation clinics new jersey nets. Forward bernard king had been arrested for cocaine. Possession has had hawks guard eddie johnson. Some estimates claimed seventy five percent of all. Nba players drugs. These habits culminated in the death of shooting guard. Terry furlough furlough died in a fatal car accident. In nineteen eighty an autopsy found ballum and cocaine in his blood. Substance abuse also made players vulnerable to all sorts of criminal activity f. b. i. File suggest that during the nineteen eighty one eighty two season at least three new york knicks players were indebted one of the largest drug dealers on the east coast. These debts lead the knicks to participate in point shaving or intentionally missing shots in order to get a particular score this way. Their drug dealer could place a bet on that score and because of the players cooperation he was guaranteed to win. It was the players way of paying him. Back drugs also wreaked havoc on the players. Mental and physical health stimulants like cocaine can increase in violent behavior. And in this era many players had an extremely physical style of play