Athletes - Larry Bird

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Larry Bird

	Athletes - Larry Bird

Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is a former NBA basketball player. Bird is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in NBA history. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998, and was voted to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996. Drafted sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird played small forward and power forward for the team for his entire 13-year career. He retired as a player from the NBA in 1992. After working as an assistant in the Celtics front office from 1992 to 1997, Bird was the head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. In 2003, he assumed the role of president of basketball operations for the Pacers, a position he still holds.

Early life

Bird was born in West Baden Springs, Indiana, the son of Georgia and Joe Bird. He grew up in both West Baden and the adjacent town French Lick, which earned him the nickname "the Hick from French Lick" in his later basketball career. Financial troubles would plague the Bird family for most of Larry's childhood. In a 1988 interview with Sports Illustrated, Bird recalled how his mother would make do on the family's meager earnings: "If there was a payment to the bank due, and we needed shoes, she'd get the shoes, and then deal with them guys at the bank. I don't mean she wouldn't pay the bank, but the children always came first." Bird sometimes was sent to live with his grandmother due to the family's struggles. Being poor as a child, Bird told Sports Illustrated, "motivates me to this day."

The Bird family's struggle with poverty was compounded by the alcoholism and personal difficulties of Joe Bird. In 1975, after Bird's parents divorced, his father committed suicide.

In spite of his domestic woes, by the time he was a high-school sophomore, Bird had become one of the better basketball players in French Lick. He starred for French Lick/West Baden's high school team, Springs Valley High School, where he left as the school's all-time scoring leader.

Collegiate career

Bird received a basketball scholarship to Indiana University in 1976. At the time, Indiana was one of the premier college basketball programs in the country, coached by esteemed head coach Bobby Knight. However, Bird—homesick and overwhelmed by the size and population of the university—left the school after one month and returned to French Lick. After briefly attending a local community college and working numerous odd jobs around the town (including a stint as a garbage man), Bird enrolled at Indiana State University, where he was coached by Bob King. Bob King suffered a heart attack prior to the 1978-79 season and assistant Bill Hodges was promoted to head coach. Bird led the ISU Sycamores to the NCAA championship game in 1979, his senior season, only to lose to the Michigan State University Spartans, who were led by his future NBA rival, Earvin "Magic" Johnson. The Sycamores finished the season 33-1. That year, Bird won the Naismith and Wooden Awards, given to the year's top male college basketball player. After playing only three years at Indiana State, he left as the fifth-highest scorer in NCAA history.

1978-1981: Early NBA career

The Boston Celtics selected Bird as their first-round draft pick in 1978, even though they were uncertain whether he would play his senior season at Indiana State or enter the NBA. Bird ultimately decided to stay another year at Indiana State, but the Celtics retained their exclusive right to sign him until the 1979 NBA Draft. Shortly before that deadline, Bird agreed to sign with Boston for a USD$650,000 a year contract, making him the highest-paid rookie in the history of the NBA.

Bird's impact on the Celtics was immediate. The Celtics were 32-50 during the 1978-79 season, but with Bird the team improved to 61-21 in the 1979-80 season, winning the league's best record. Bird's collegiate rival, Magic Johnson, also had entered the NBA in 1979, joining the Los Angeles Lakers. In 1979, despite a strong rookie season from Johnson, Bird was named the league's Rookie of the Year and was voted onto the Eastern Conference All-Star team (an honor he would receive for each of his 12 full seasons in the NBA). For the 1979 season, Bird led the Celtics in scoring (21.3 points/game), rebounding (10.4 rebounds/game), steals (143), and minutes played (2,955) and was second in assists (4.5 assists/game) and three-pointers (58). Though Boston would be upset by the more athletic Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference finals that year, the promise of Celtic glory had been renewed through Bird.

Following 1979-80, the Celtics acquired center Robert Parish and the draft rights to power forward Kevin McHale via a trade with the Golden State Warriors. With Bird at small forward, the additions of Parish and McHale gave Boston one of the more formidable frontcourts in the game. The three would anchor the Celtics throughout Bird's career.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Larry Bird ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Larry Bird; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Athletes - Larry Bird

Early life

Collegiate career

1978-1981: Early NBA career

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay