Larry Bird

Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former NBA basketball player, widely considered one of the greatest players to ever play, and one of the best clutch performers in the history of sports. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird played small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons. He retired as a player from the NBA in 1992. Bird was voted to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996 and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.

After working as an assistant in the Celtics front office from 1992 to 1997, Bird served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1998 to 2000. In 2003, he assumed the role of president of basketball operations for the Pacers, which he currently still holds.

Biography
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."[3] 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. His picture hangs in the school, which is located on what is now Larry Bird Boulevard in French Lick.

Collegiate career
Bird received a basketball scholarship to Indiana University in 1974. At the time, Indiana was one of the premier college basketball programs in the country, led 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 job with the French Lick Street Department—which did much more than just pick up garbage), Bird enrolled at Indiana State University, where he was coached by Bob King. 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. Bird finished his collegiate career with averages of 30.3 PPG, 13.3 RPG, and 4.6 APG.

1978–1981: Early NBA career
The Boston Celtics selected Bird 6th overall in the 1978 NBA Draft, even though they were not certain whether he would enter the NBA or remain at Indiana State to play his senior season. Bird ultimately decided on the latter, but the Celtics retained their exclusive right to sign him until the 1979 NBA Draft. Shortly before that deadline, Bird agreed to sign with the Celtics for a USD$650,000 a year contract, making him the highest-paid rookie in the history of the NBA.

Larry Bird's impact on the Celtics was immediate. The Celtics were 29–53 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 that season, the Celtics acquired center Robert Parish and the 3rd pick in the 1980 NBA Draft via a trade with the Golden State Warriors (in exchange for the 1st and 13th picks in the draft). After the Warriors took Joe Barry Carroll with the 1st pick and the Utah Jazz took Darrell Griffith with the 2nd pick, the Celtics selected University of Minnesota power forward Kevin McHale. 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.

In Bird's first few seasons with the Celtics, his and their immediate rivals were Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers, with whom they would battle each year in the Eastern Conference finals.

In the 1980–81 season, Bird led the Celtics past the 76ers to the NBA Finals, where they defeated the Houston Rockets in six games. It would be the first of three championships for Bird's career, as well as the first of his five Finals appearances.

1982–1987: MVPs, championships and the rivalry
The additions of Bird and Johnson rejuvenated the NBA, which had suffered from low attendance and minimal television interest through much of the 1970s. Immediately upon their entry into the league, the two players became virtually annual presences in the NBA Finals; Bird's Celtics won the NBA title in 1981, while Johnson's Lakers captured the championship in 1980 and 1982. Bird and Johnson first dueled in the 1979 NCAA title game; as professional basketball players, they would face off numerous times during the 1980's, including the NBA Finals of 1984, 1985 and 1987. Lakers vs. Celtics, and specifically Bird vs. Magic, quickly became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of professional sports.

In 1984, the Celtics defeated the Lakers in a seven-game Finals, winning game seven 111–102. Bird averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds a game during the series, earning the award of Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). Bird was also named the league regular season MVP for that year. In 1985, however, the Lakers avenged the loss, defeating the Celtics in game 6 of the Finals in Boston Garden. That year, the NBA again named Bird the league MVP.

Boston would have another great season the next year, with help from another Hall of Famer, Bill Walton. Walton had been refused by the Lakers, and as a last chance, called Celtics' president and general manager Red Auerbach. Auerbach was going to refuse him, but Bird—who happened to be in Auerbach's office at the time of Walton's call—urged him to sign Walton, saying that if Walton (who had been plagued for years by foot injuries) felt he was healthy enough to play, it was all Bird needed to hear.

With Walton as a good back-up to Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, the Celtics would return to the finals in 1986, albeit not against Johnson and the Lakers, who lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Houston Rockets. The 1986 Celtic team, which finished the regular season 67–15 and defeated the Rockets in six games, is generally considered to be the best of Bird's career. Bird again was named the Finals' MVP for that year, averaging 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists per game for the series. He also won his third consecutive league MVP award.

In 1987, the Celtics made their last Finals appearance of Bird's career, fighting through difficult series against the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons but as they reached the NBA Finals they were no match for a powerful Lakers team which had won 65 games during the season. The Celtics ended up losing to the Lakers in six games.

The Celtics would fall short in 1988 losing to the Pistons in 6 games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Between themselves, Bird and Johnson captured eight NBA championships during the 1980s, with Magic getting five and Bird three. During the 1980s, either Boston or Los Angeles appeared in every NBA Finals.

Throughout the 1980s, contests between the Celtics and the Lakers—both during the regular season and in the Finals—attracted enormous television audiences. The historical rift between the teams, who faced each other several times in championship series of the 1960s, fueled fan interest in the rivalry.

Not since Boston's Bill Russell squared off against the Lakers' Wilt Chamberlain had professional basketball enjoyed such a marquee matchup. The apparent contrast between the two players and their respective teams seemed scripted for television: Bird, the introverted small-town hero with the blue-collar work ethic, fit perfectly with the throwback, hard-nosed style of the Celtics, while the stylish, gregarious Johnson ran the Lakers' fast-paced "Showtime" offense amidst the bright lights and celebrities of Los Angeles.

A 1984 Converse commercial for its "Weapon" line of basketball shoes (endorsed by both Bird and Johnson) reflected the perceived dichotomy between the two players. In the commercial, Bird is practicing alone on a rural basketball court when Johnson pulls up in a sleek limousine and challenges him to a one-on-one match.

Despite the intensity of their rivalry, Bird and Johnson became friends off the court. Their friendship blossomed when the two players worked together to film a 1984 Converse commercial, which depicted them as archenemies. Johnson appeared at Bird's retirement ceremony on February 4, 1993 and emotionally described Bird as a "friend forever."

1988–1992: The twilight years
In 1988, the Celtics failed to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in four years, losing to the Pistons in six games during the Eastern Conference Finals. Bird started the 1988–89 season with Boston, but ended his season after six games to have bone spurs surgically removed from both of his heels. He returned to the Celtics in 1989, but debilitating back problems and an aging Celtic roster prevented him from regaining his mid-1980's form.

Nonetheless, through the final years of his career, Bird maintained his status as one of the premier players in the game. He averaged over 20 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists a game in his last three seasons with the Celtics, and shot better than 45% from the field in each. Bird led the Celtics to playoff appearances in each of those three seasons.

Bird's body, however, continued to break down. He had been bothered by back problems for years, and his back became progressively worse. He missed 22 games during 1990–1991 season due to a compressed nerve root in his back, a condition that would eventually lead to his retirement. He had off-season surgery to remove a disc from his back, but his back problems continued and he missed 37 games during the 1991–1992 season. In the 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers Bird missed 4 of 7 games in the series due to his back.

In the summer of 1992, Bird joined Johnson, Michael Jordan and other NBA stars to play for the United States basketball team in that year's Olympics. It was the first time in America's Olympic history that the country sent professional basketball players to compete. The "Dream Team" easily won the men's basketball gold medal.

Following his Olympic experience, on August 18, 1992, Bird announced his retirement as an NBA player. He finished his career with averages of more than 24 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists per game, while shooting 49.6% from the field, 88.6% from the free throw line and 37.6% from three-point range. Following Bird's departure, the Celtics promptly retired his jersey number "33".

Player profile
Once every generation or so, a player comes along who can truly be called a superstar. Larry Bird was such a player. — introductory line of Bird's nba.com biography

Larry Bird was a versatile wing man who played the power forward and small forward positions. He is considered as one of the greatest cornermen of all time, proven by his ten All-Star callups. The versatile, sharpshooting Bird made his name for stepping up his game in critical situations, credited with a long list of dominating games, buzzer beaters and clutch defensive plays (see section below). He won two NBA Finals MVP and four regular-season MVP awards. His competitiveness was also visible in his trademark trash talk.

Bird scored 24.3 points per game in his career on a high .496 field goal average, a stellar .886 free throw average (9th best all-time) and shooting .376 from beyond the arc. Bird was also a good rebounder (10.0 rebounds career average) and an excellent playmaker (6.3 assists career average). His multidimensional game made him a legitimate triple-double threat; Bird currently ranks fifth all-time in triple-doubles with 59, not including the 10 he recorded in the playoffs.

On his own half of the hardwood, Bird was a capable defender, proven by his three All-Defensive Second Team callups. He was not known for his ability to shut down opponents, but rather play the passing lanes and jumping in to steal the ball (1,556 career steals, 27th all-time) [5]. Bird's all-around game is also testified by the fact that his lifetime PER rating is 23.5, 16th all-time.

Bird was also known for being an excellent teammate and leading by example. In his nba.com page, he is stated as the "Embodiment of 'Celtics Pride.' (...), a classy, confident, hardworking player who thrived on pressure and inspired teammates to excel (...) (Bird) brought out the best in the players around him."

Remarkable about his career is the fact that Bird was arguably one of the less physically gifted players in the NBA. However, he compensated for this lack by showing an immaculate work ethic. In Magic Johnson's biography My Life, Johnson makes fun about Bird's mediocre athletic talent, slow feet and minuscule vertical leap (all traits Magic himself possessed), but immediately adds Bird was the only player he truly feared. Johnson recalls that Bird would work out fanatically, always imagining his perennial nemesis Michael Cooper was playing against him, and states that despite all his talent, Bird's greatest asset was his will to get better.

Memorable moments
Above all, Bird is remembered as one of the foremost clutch performers in the history of the NBA. Few players before or since Bird have performed as brilliantly in critical moments of games. The following is merely a sample of the notable clutch efforts of Bird's career:

In Game 7 of the 1981 Eastern Conference finals against the rival Philadelphia 76ers, Boston and Philadelphia were tied 89-89 when Bird sank a fast-break mid-range pull-up bank shot, a very difficult shot to execute under intense pressure. That basket won Boston the game and the series and they would go on to win the NBA championship in the Finals. In the late stages of the game Bird also had two key steals, two free throws made, a rebound, and a blocked shot.
In the series-clinching Game 6 of the 1986 Finals, Bird recorded a triple-double of 29 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists.

In Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons, with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and Boston trailing the Pistons 107-106, Bird stole an inbound pass from Isiah Thomas that was intended for Bill Laimbeer. With the clock ticking down and with his momentum carrying him out of bounds, Bird turned and fired the ball to teammate Dennis Johnson, who converted a layup with 1 second left to win the game for Boston. The dramatic play saved the series for the Celtics, who, had they lost Game 5, would have had to win Game 6 in Detroit (where they were winless in the series) to force a decisive seventh game. Instead, after losing in Detroit, Boston won Game 7 and advanced to the Finals.

In Game 4 of the 1987 Finals against the Lakers, Bird fought off defender James Worthy, got the ball, turned and hit a three-point shot with less than a minute remaining to give the Celtics the lead. Magic Johnson would regain the lead for the Lakers with a clutch shot of his own, but Bird had one final chance to win the game. With only a few seconds remaining, he received the ball behind the three-point line and fired again. The shot was on line, but glanced off the rim and missed as time expired.

In a game in Washington against the Bullets in 1987, the Celtics trailed the Bullets by 3 points with 6 seconds remaining in regulation. A three-pointer by Bird had been waved off because their coach, K. C. Jones, had already called a timeout. Bird then successfully made another three-pointer to send the game into overtime.

When the Celtics trailed by two points near the end of the first overtime, Bird was fouled and converted both free throws. With 2 seconds remaining in the second overtime the Celtics trailed by one. Bird sank a buzzer-beating runner to win the game, 140-139.
In the 1988 All-Star Weekend Three Point Contest, Bird--the winner of the event in both years since its creation in 1986--faced Seattle SuperSonics guard Dale Ellis in the final round of the competition. Ellis went first and scored 15 points. Bird started slowly, then ran off a series of made baskets, needing to hit his final three shots to beat Ellis, which he did.

After Bird shot the last ball in the rack, he raised his arm and index finger as the ball was halfway to the rim, and walked away. The shot went in, winning the competition 17-15 and earning Bird's third-straight shootout title.

In Game 7 of the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, Bird shot 9 of 10 from the floor in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 points in that quarter alone and lifting the Celtics to a narrow series-clinching victory over Atlanta. Bird outdueled the Hawks' Dominique Wilkins, who scored 47 points in that game. Bird had previously guaranteed to reporters that Boston would not lose the game; his fourth-quarter performance delivered his promise.

On March 31, 1991, the Boston Celtics fought hard with the Chicago Bulls in their last meeting of the season, which went into double overtime. Bird almost won the game for his team at the end of regulation when his 30-foot 3-point shot just missed after getting a high bounce on top of the rim. In the second overtime period, Bird scored 9 points on 4 of 5 shooting from the field and helped the Celtics beat the Bulls, 135-132. Many called this particular game Bird's finest performance against Michael Jordan, considering that it came at a time when Bird's physical durability had eroded (Bird was suffering from debilitating back problems).

In the second quarter of game 5 of the Celtics' 1991 first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, Bird lost the ball and dove after it, crashing face-first onto the Boston Garden floor. A hushed Garden crowd watched as Bird was escorted to the locker room, then erupted in the third quarter as Bird dramatically came up the ramp to the court and rejoined his teammates. Despite a concussion and a resultant severe headache, Bird scored 32 points on 12 for 19 shooting, leading Boston to victory for the game and the series.

In the last seconds of his a nationally-televised regular season game with the Portland Trail Blazers in March 1992, Bird saved the Celtics as his desperation one-handed three-point shot went in and sent the game into overtime. Bird tallied 49 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists and 4 steals for his 59th and final career triple-double in what many fans called his last great game in the NBA. The Celtics won in double overtime over the Blazers, 152-148. Bird's 49 points stands as the NBA record for most points scored while registering a triple-double.

Michael Jordan, who may have supplanted Bird as the league's most feared clutch player through his heroics with the Chicago Bulls, once was asked who he would want to take a shot with the game on the line, other than himself. Before the question could be finished, Jordan quickly responded, "Larry Bird."[Sports Illustrated, June 21, 2005]

Memorable games
On March 30, 1983, Bird scored 53 points against the Indiana Pacers to set the Celtic record for highest scoring output in a game by an individual player (the previous record belonged to Sam Jones who scored 51 points against the Detroit Pistons on October 29, 1965). Bird would also set the franchise record for most points scored in a quarter with 24 points in the third quarter which has since been equaled by Todd Day against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 22, 1995.

On November 9, 1984, Bird was ejected along with Julius Erving in the third quarter after an on court scuffle. At the point of both ejections, Bird had outscored Erving 42 to 6.

On February 18, 1985, Bird registered a triple double (30 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) in only three quarters of play against the Utah Jazz. Despite being only one steal shy of recording a quadruple-double, Bird sat out the fourth quarter. After the game, Bird commented "I already did enough damage. Why go for it if we're up by 30?" The Celtics led the Jazz 90–66 after the third quarter and won the game 110–94.

On March 12, 1985, Bird scored 60 points against the Atlanta Hawks to reclaim the record for highest scoring output in a game by a Celtic. This feat occurred just nine days after teammate, Kevin McHale, broke Bird's previous record by scoring 56 points against the Detroit Pistons.

On April 1, 1987, Bird registered a triple double (17 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) by halftime against the Washington Bullets. He would finish the game with 30 points, 17 rebounds, and 15 assists prompting then-Bullets coach Kevin Loughery to say "He's playing in his own league. Maybe it's a league other guys can't get to."

On November 11, 1987, Bird completed the first 40 point–20 rebound game in Celtics history against the Indiana Pacers.

On November 10, 1989, Bird scored 50 points against the Atlanta Hawks to register his fourth and final 50 point game in his career. Bird's four career 50 point games stand as the record for most 50 point games by a Celtic.

Bird would register three 40 point triple double games throughout his career. The first occurred on February 14, 1986 in an overtime win against the Portland Trailblazers. He would finish that game with 47 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists. The second occurrence was on December 13, 1989 in a win over the Seattle Supersonics (40 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists).

The last occurrence was in a double overtime win against the Portland Trailblazers on March 15, 1992 where Bird finished with 49 points (the record for most points scored while recording a triple double), 14 rebounds, and 12 assists. Throughout his career, Bird recorded 69 triple doubles (59 in the regular season and 10 in the postseason) which stands behind Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, and Jason Kidd for 5th most all-time.

Larry Bird. (2007, January 11). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:13, January 12, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Larry_Bird&oldid=99992895

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