Larry Bird
Larry Legend from French Lick. Larry Bird won three straight MVPs, three titles and the first three-point contests, then did what no one else has: MVP, top coach and top executive.
Bird on the attack: Steven Carter from Northern New England, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
Small town, huge game
Larry Bird grew up in French Lick, a small town in southern Indiana, and played his college ball at Indiana State. In 1979 he led the unheralded Sycamores to the national title game, where they lost to Magic Johnson's Michigan State. It was the most watched college game up to that time, and it launched a rivalry that would carry the pro game through the 1980s.
Boston had drafted Bird a year earlier. He joined the Celtics for the 1979-80 season and won Rookie of the Year.
The Celtics machine
With Kevin McHale and Robert Parish beside him, Bird turned Boston back into a power. The Celtics won titles in 1981, 1984 and 1986, often meeting Magic's Lakers along the way.
From 1984 to 1986 Bird won three straight MVP awards, a feat only a handful of players have managed. He passed like a point guard, rebounded like a forward and talked trash like nobody else.
His battles with Magic Johnson were the heartbeat of the decade. Boston and Los Angeles met in the Finals three times in the 1980s, with the Celtics winning in 1984 and the Lakers in 1985 and 1987. Off the court the two became close friends, a story they told together years later.
Mr. Three-Point Contest
When the league added a three-point shootout to All-Star weekend in 1986, Bird won the first three. The story goes that he walked into the locker room and asked the other shooters which of them was going to finish second. True or not, the tale fits him perfectly.
In 1987 and 1988 he also made at least 50 percent of his shots, 40 percent of his threes and 90 percent of his free throws, the elite 50-40-90 club.
Three careers in one
Back injuries ended his playing days in 1992, right after he won gold with the Dream Team. He came back as coach of the Indiana Pacers and was named Coach of the Year in 1998, then later ran the team's front office and won Executive of the Year in 2012. No one else has won MVP, Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year.
The league's salary rule that lets teams re-sign their own players over the cap is still nicknamed the Bird exception.
Facts on this page were checked against these sources.
- Bird on the attack: Steven Carter from Northern New England, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Bird at Indiana State: Unknown, Public domain
- Parish, Bird and the mayor of Boston: City of Boston Archives from West Roxbury, United States, CC BY 2.0
Text written by Fly Baller.
.jpg){kind=link}