#33 Larry Bird, “Larry Legend,” Small Forward, 1979-1992
Born in West Baden, Indiana in 1956, Larry Bird grew up in the tiny southern Indiana town of French Lick. Bird went off to Indiana University in 1975, but he didn’t stay long, as the self-described “Hick from French Lick” was overwhelmed by the transition from small town to a huge college campus boasting a student population in the tens of thousands. He attended briefly Northwood Institute before moving on to Indiana State University in 1976, where he had an incredible career.
He was Third Team All-American in 1977, First Team All-American in ‘78 and ‘79, Conference Player of the Year in ‘78 and ‘79, and National Player of the Year in 1979. That year, Bird led an undefeated ISU Sycamores team to the National Championship Game against the Michigan State Spartans, who were led by Bird’s future NBA rival, Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Indiana State lost the game, 75 to 64. Magic Johnson led all scorers with 24 points with Bird leading Indiana State with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Still, Bird was unhappy with his performance, having shot 7 of 21 from the field. The game was the most watched basketball game at any level, college or professional, in American history at the time. During his college years, ISU won 83 games and lost just 13, he averaged over 30 points and 13 rebounds per game, and his number “33” was retired by the school.
Bird was actually drafted a year before his college career ended; he was picked sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, but elected to play one more year for ISU. Bird joined the NBA in 1979 as the highest paid rookie in league history at that time. He was an excellent NBA player out of the gate, making the All-Star Game, All-Rookie First Team, and being named Rookie of the Year in ‘79-80. He also helped take the Celtics from a 29 game winner in 1979 to a 61 game winner in 1980. The Celtics made it to the Conference Finals that year but lost to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The team was reinforced the next year with the acquisition of center Robert Parish and rookie power forward Kevin McHale, and the Celtics won the NBA Championship against the Houston Rockets. In 1982, Bird was named MVP of the All-Star Game. In ‘83, the Celtics had a disappointing end to their season, being swept in the second round by the Milwaukee Bucks. Head coach Bill Fitch was fired following the loss, and assistant coach K. C. Jones was promoted to replace him. The Celtics also added the excellent defensive guard Dennis Johnson to their lineup going into ‘83-84.
They were champions again that year, defeating their arch rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, in seven games. It was a rough series, with Bird getting into a shouting match with Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after catching his elbow in game four. Bird scored nearly 28 points per game in that year’s playoffs, and was the NBA Finals MVP, with averages of 27.4 points, 14 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks on 48.4% shooting.
The next year the Celtics made it back to the finals but lost in six games in a re-match with the Lakers. Earlier that season, Bird set a new franchise single game scoring record, dropping 60 points on the Atlanta Hawks. The record he broke was only nine days old; Kevin McHale had just scored 56 against the Detroit Pistons. During the ‘85 off-season, Bird injured his back moving gravel while working on his mother’s driveway back in Indiana. It was the first of a series of back injuries that would eventually end his career.
The Celtics had their greatest season of the ‘80s and perhaps ever in ‘85-86. During the off-season, forward Cedric Maxwell was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for center Bill Walton, who would have a great year coming off the bench for Robert Parish. Maxwell’s departure allowed Kevin McHale to start at power forward, and his career would reach new heights in that role. The Celtics also picked up sharp-shooting point guard Jerry Sichting from the Indiana Pacers, who shot 57 percent from the field, adding depth to a back court that already included Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge. The C’s went 67 and 15 that year, their second best regular season ever, and lost only one home game. The Celtics won the NBA Championship that year, again defeating the Houston Rockets, who now featured a young Hakeem Olajuwon. Bird was again the Finals MVP, averaging 24 points, 9.7 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 2.7 steals on 48.2% shooting.
Following that dream season, the Celtics’ luck began to change. Len Bias, the college superstar forward the Celtics drafted at number two overall in 1986, died two days later of a freak cocaine overdose. In the ‘86-87 season, Bill Walton was only able to play ten games due to injuries. He played twelve more in the playoffs, but on very limited minutes. Kevin McHale broke his foot in March of ‘87 and continued playing, but wasn’t 100 percent.
That year’s Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons included some memorable incidents involving Bird. In game three, he was clothes-lined and tackled to the ground by Pistons center Bill Laimbeer, who had one of the league’s dirtiest reputations. Bird was enraged, throwing punches while on the ground before getting up and chucking the ball directly at Laimbeer’s head. He was avenged by Robert Parish in game five, when the Celtics center hit Laimbeer with his forearms, knocking him to the ground. Laimbeer had been throwing elbows toward Parish’s head and neck, and Robert wasn’t even called for a foul (he was given a one game suspension by the league). For the game’s dramatic conclusion, Bird stole the Pistons’ inbounds pass with the Celtics down by one point with five seconds left, before passing the ball to Dennis Johnson who scored the game-winning layup.
After beating Detroit in seven games, the Celtics lost to probably the greatest Lakers team of the ‘80s in six. ‘87-88 turned out to be the end of an era of Boston dominance of the Eastern Conference. The Celtics made it as far as the Conference Finals, but lost to the Detroit Pistons in six games. It was the first time since 1983 they hadn’t made it to the Finals In ‘88-89, Bird missed nearly the whole season, playing in just the first six games before having surgery to remove bone spurs in both of his feet. He wasn’t back in time for the playoffs, and the aging, Bird-less Celtics were eliminated in the first round, failing to win a playoff series for the first time since 1979.
Bird returned in ‘89-90 and continued to play well through the early ‘90s. Due to continually worsening back problems though, Bird missed 22 games in ‘90-91 and 37 in ‘91-92, which turned out to be his final season. He was still only 35. Even at the end, Bird still averaged over 20 points, nearly ten rebounds, seven assists and one steal per game. He turned out to be not quite done with basketball after the ‘92 season, as he reluctantly joined the 1992 US men’s Olympic team, better known as the ‘Dream Team.’ Generally considered the greatest collection of basketball talent ever assembled, it included the likes of Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, John Stockton, and Larry’s old friend and rival, Magic Johnson. Although he played limited minutes, Bird averaged 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. Team USA cruised to victory, crushing opponent after opponent in eight straight wins, never even needing to call a time out.
Larry Bird currently sits at second all time among Celtics players in steals, behind only Paul Pierce. He’s also third all time in points, assists and blocks, fourth in three pointers made, fifth in minutes played and eighth in games played. His career highs include 29.9 points per game in ‘87-88, 11 rebounds in ‘82-83, 7.6 assists in ‘86-87, two steals in both ‘80-81 and ‘85-86, shooting nearly 53% from the field in ‘87-88, nearly 43% from three in ‘84-85, and shooting a league-leading 93% from the line in ‘89-90. Bird also led the league in free-throw shooting in ‘84, ‘86 and ‘87. Bird was the founding member of the ‘50-40-90 Club,’ shooting 52.5 from the field, 40 percent from three, and 91 percent from the line in ‘86-87. Bird broke the 50-40-90 threshold again the next season. He also served as the Celtics team captain from 1983 until the end of his career.
Aside from his three championships, his career was littered with individual accolades; he was MVP of the League every year from ‘84 to ‘86, averaging 26.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.8 steals on 50.4% shooting across those three seasons. He made All-NBA First Team an incredible nine straight years, from 1980 to ‘88, All-NBA Second Team in 1990, and All-NBA Defensive Second Team in 1982, ’83 and ‘84. He was an All-Star an amazing twelve times in his 13 seasons, only missing out in ‘89 due to season ending surgery. He also won the three-point contest at All-Star Weekend the first three years it was held, from ‘86 to ‘88. Bird’s number “33” was retired by the Boston Celtics in 1993, in a ceremony attended by Magic Johnson, who wore a Celtics t-shirt underneath his Lakers warm-up jacket.
Bird stayed with the Celtics organization for a time, serving as a special assistant to the front office from 1992 to ‘97. In 1996, Bird was named to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. In 1997, he took on the job of head coach of his home state’s Indiana Pacers, being named Coach of the Year and coaching the Eastern Conference All-Star Team, both in 1998. His assistant coach was an old teammate from his Celtics glory days, Rick Carlisle. In 2000, Bird, Reggie Miller, and the Indiana Pacers made it to the NBA Finals, but lost in six games to Bird’s old foes, the Los Angeles Lakers. Having told Indiana he would only coach for three seasons, he retired in 2000. Bird became the Pacers’ president of basketball operations in 2003, a post he held until retiring in 2017, and maintains an advisory role with the team. He was named Executive of the Year in 2012.
Larry Bird is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, with many placing him in the top five. He’s undoubtedly one of the greatest shooters of all time, and along with Bill Russell, one of the greatest Celtics. Larry Bird was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.
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