Background

Larry Bird was born on Pearl Harbor Day, on December 7 in 1956, the fourth of six children of Joe and Georgia Bird. His birthplace, West Baden, Indiana, is a small village just outside the slightly larger town of French Lick. His mother worked two jobs to support Larry and his five siblings.

Larry had a troubled childhood. The divorce of his parents affected him to such an extent that he decided to leave his home. He did many odd jobs to support his finances.

Education

Larry was always interested in sports and played various sports. By the time he reached high school, he was concentrating on basketball alone. One day, he finally realized that he can excel in basketball and hence practiced hard in an attempt to fine-tune his skills.

Larry joined the Springs Valley High School basketball team. He then emerged as a valuable player to the team. With an average of 31 points and 21 rebounds, his skills and determination soon made him the star player.

Bird received a scholarship to play college basketball for the Indiana University Hoosiers in 1974. He lasted only twenty-four days at Indiana University. He was overwhelmed by the size and impersonality of the school, so he quickly returned to French Lick and entered junior college there.

Career

While at Indiana State University, he had little confidence in his scholastic abilities, but felt that he could help the struggling Sycamores win some respect. By that time he had added two more inches in height and was weighing in at 220 pounds; to quote New Yorker correspondent Herbert Warren Wind, he was "an altogether different commodity—a comparatively big man who could challenge the seven-footers at rebounding and in other phases of the game, because he was well built, had exceptional coordination for a man his size, and knew how to utilize the advantages his height gave him." Bird had to sit out his first season at Indiana State, and without him the Sycamores went 13-12. In 1976-77, his first year on the team, the same Sycamores earned a 25-3 record—their best in almost thirty years. The following summer Bird played for the United States team that won the basketball gold medal at the World University Games in Sophia, Bulgaria.

During his Indiana State years, Bird became "the most publicized college player in the country," to quote Wind. Even then Bird showed his penchant for team play and for sharing the glory both on and off the field. Still, he averaged thirty points per game through his junior year and led the Sycamores to the quarterfinals in the 1978 National Invitational Tournament. He was drafted by the Celtics in 1978. At that point he had the option of playing professional ball right away, but instead he chose to stay in school, finish his degree, and be a Sycamore one more season. In his senior year the Sycamores won thirty-three straight games—a collegiate record for a single season—and advanced to the NCAA championships against a formidable Michigan State team led by Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Michigan State won the game which marked the first of many encounters between Bird and Johnson, but Bird walked away with player of the year trophies from the Associated Press, United Press International, and the National Association of Coaches.

Negotiations began with the Celtics for Bird's professional services. Already known for his unwillingness to cooperate with the press, Bird offered no comment as his agent demanded a record salary. The contract signed on June 8, 1979 gave Bird $650,000 per year for five years, a total of $3,250,000. This sum was unheard of for an untested rookie in any sport, and the Boston fans made no secrets of their expectations for their new headliner. Bird did not disappoint. He made the NBA All-Star team his first year, played in every regular season Celtics game, and led the team to a first place finish in its league. Even though the Celtics lost the Eastern Conference finals to the Philadelphia 76ers, Bird was named Rookie of the Year and finished third in the Most Valuable Player balloting.

Those who had predicted that Bird could never turn the dismal Boston franchise around had to eat their words. After Bird's debut, the team became a regular championship contender with wins in 1981, 1984, and 1986. "There hasn't been a Celtics game at the Boston Garden in years that hasn't been sold out," writes Wind. "Most observers attribute this long run of sold-out games to Bird's astonishing virtuosity and the leading role he has played in making the Celtics once again a spirited, exciting team, which has been in contention for the championship just about every year." The excitement of Bird's play has only been enhanced by his long-standing rivalry with Magic Johnson, the mainstay of the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, Johnson's Lakers are the only team that have bumped the Celtics from the championship, beating them in 1985 and 1987. Time magazine contributor Tom Callahan concludes that even when the Celtics were bested by the Lakers, "somehow they [were] able to retrieve their preeminence in the next instant."

Few would list Larry Bird among the flashiest or most spectacular individual players in the NBA. He is not particularly fast on the court, nor is he a remarkable jumper. Bird has achieved greatness the old-fashioned way: by being consistent, by contributing not as a grand-standing superstar but as a team player, and by attacking every game with every ounce of effort. "The hours that Bird devotes to his job are astonishing," Deford notes. "From himself on the court he seeks only consistency and considers that the true mark of excellence." Years and years of practice and play have made Bird an expert on the shifting patterns of the game and even on the behavior of the ball when it hits the backboard. As Wind puts it, "he just knows where he should go, he beats other players to that spot, and his timing in going up for the ball is exceptional." Indeed, when "spectacular" is used to describe Bird's play, it is often in reference to passing and to diving for out-of-bounds balls. Wind concludes that Bird has showed "how imaginative and enthralling a well-played basketball game can be."

Perhaps not surprisingly, Bird has been dogged over the years by suggestions that he has been singled out for praise more because he is white than because he is good—that his superstardom is predicated on the general scarcity of great white players in the NBA. Deford is one of many who has sought to dispel this myth. "Larry Bird is not a Great White Hope," Deford claims. "Anybody who thinks that misses the point of Larry Bird. Little white boys today would much prefer to grow up to be Michael Jordan or Dominique Wilkins, for however clever and hardworking, they're also truly spectacular players. They can fly. But when kids imitate Larry Bird, mostly what they do, so humdrum, is reach down and rub their hands on the bottom of their sneakers…. He seems merely the sum of little bits—a bit more clever than you and me, a bit more dedicated, a bit better on his shooting touch…. In Bird's case, he probably has worked as hard as anyone in the ever has in sport, and he does possess an incredible sixth sense, but that has no more to do with his race than it does with his Social Security number." Wind too suggests that Bird's race has little to do with his stardom. "I do not believe that it is the underlying reason Bird and the Celtics have set attendance records at home and on the road," the critic writes. "As I see it, the explanation is that Bird's arresting over-all concept of basketball and his sturdy execution of it have made the Celtics game tremendously exciting to watch."

Always somewhat injury-prone, Bird missed much of the 1988-89 season after major surgery on both heels. He continued to battle back problems and other injuries throughout the next few seasons, but retired from the Celtics after an illustrious 13-year career. He played his last game of basketball as a member of the U.S. Olympic Dream Team at the 1992 games in Barcelona.

After retiring as a player, Bird worked for the Celtics Front Office as a Special Assistant. Many thought he would replace M.L. Carr as coach, but the position was awarded to Rick Pitino. As a result, Bird returned to his home state to succeed Larry Brown as coach of the Indiana Pacers for the 1997-1998 season.

Achievements

• 

  He is a legend in the NBA scene as he holds many records and brilliant career stats.
  
  In 1999, Bird ranked No. 30 in ESPN's SportsCentury's 50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th century. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998 (and was inducted again in 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team").
  
  Bird is the only man to be named an MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year in the NBA.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Drive: The Story of My Life
  • When the Game Was Ours
  • Bird Watching: On Playing and Coaching the Game I Love

Views

Quotations: "Push yourself again and again. Don't give an inch until the final buzzer sounds."

"As far as playing, I didn't care who guarded me - red, yellow, black. I just didn't want a white guy guarding me, because it's disrespect to my game."

"When it gets down to it, basketball is basketball."

"The best player I ever played with was Dennis Johnson."

"When I was a kid, I never thought about anything. Never had to think about where I was going to school or what I was going to do. I just lived minute to minute."

"What's better? Dogs or broomsticks? I mean will the world really ever know?"

"The best players will play. That's the way it will always be."

"I used to love the feeling of running, of running too far. It made my skin tingle."

"Once you are labeled 'the best' you want to stay up there, and you can't do it by loafing around."

"Leadership is diving for a loose ball, getting the crowd involved, getting other players involved. It's being able to take it as well as dish it out. That's the only way you're going to get respect from the players."

Personality

On many occasions he was seen getting involved in a verbal spat on the court with players and coaches of the opposition teams. He has also been blamed for constantly insulting others and for using cuss words on court.

His verbal brawl with the coach of ‘Chicago Bulls’, Doug Collins, during a game made the headlines.

Physical Characteristics: His height is 6 ft 9 in (2. 06 m).

Quotes from others about the person

• "Each Bird game is a rich tapestry of fundamentals," writes Mike Lupica in the New York Daily News. "He keeps the ball alive, he is the middleman on the fast break, he boxes out, he posts his man every chance he gets. He moves to the right place on defense, he blocks shots, he picks, he rolls. He dives after loose balls and makes perfect outlet passes. And four or five times down the court, he makes one of those plays that take your breath away."
  
  Deford notes: "Among those who know Bird well, the same catalog of qualities is cited again and again-honest, loyal, steadfast, dependable-his existence shaped by the contradictory, almost mystical ability to be the, yet always to contribute to those around him."
  
  New Yorker correspondent Herbert Warren Wind concludes that Bird is the kind of man who derives one pleasure from life: "pride in playing good, sound, imaginative basketball. He hates to see his team lose if it can possibly win. He has almost unlimited determination. .. . A man has to love a game deeply to work so hard to play it well day after day and night after night."
  
  Sports Illustrated contributor Frank Deford has called him "the greatest basketball player in the history of humankind," and few observers would argue the point.

Interests

• He is a wine connoisseur.

Connections

Bird married Dinah Mattingly in 1989. They have two adopted children, Conner and Mariah. Bird also has a biological daughter, Corrie, from his first marriage to high school classmate Janet Condra. He has four brothers, Mike, Mark, Jeff, and Eddie, and a sister, Linda. Eddie also played basketball at Indiana State from 1986 to 1990 and today is the city park superintendent at Terre Haute.

Spouse:

Dinah Mattingly

adopted son:

Conner Bird

adopted daughter:

Mariah Bird

Son:

Corrie Bird

ex-wife:

Janet Condra

Brother:

Mike

Brother:

Mark

Brother:

Jeff

Brother:

Eddie

Friend:

Earvin Johnson Jr.

References

• Larry Bird: The Boy From French Lick
• Larry Bird: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Greatest Forwards (Basketball Biography Books)
• Larry Bird: An Indiana Legend
• Bird On Basketball: How-to Strategies From The Great Celtics Champion
• Larry Bird: Hall of Fame Basketball Superstar (Hall of Fame Sports Greats)
• Larry Bird (Basketball Hall of Famers)
• Bird: The Making of an American Sports Legend