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Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed the Hick from French Lick and Larry Legend, Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
He is the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.
Growing up in French Lick, Indiana, Bird was a local basketball star. Highly recruited, he initially signed to play college basketball for coach Bob Knight of the Indiana Hoosiers. However, Bird dropped out after one month and returned to French Lick and attended a local college. The next year, he attended Indiana State University, ultimately playing three years for the Sycamores.
Selected by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft after his second year at Indiana State, Bird elected to stay in college and returned for the 1978-79 season. He then led his team to an undefeated regular season. The season finished with a national championship game match-up of Indiana State against Michigan State and featured a highly anticipated match-up of Bird against Michigan State great Magic Johnson, thus beginning a career-long rivalry that the two shared for over a decade. Michigan State won, ending the Sycamores' undefeated streak.
Bird entered the NBA for the 1979-80 season, where he made an immediate impact, starting at power forward and leading the Celtics to a 32-win improvement over the previous season before being eliminated from the playoffs in the conference finals. Bird played for the Celtics during his entire professional career (13 seasons), leading them to five NBA finals appearances and three NBA championships. Bird played most of his career with forward Kevin McHale and center Robert Parish, considered by some to be the greatest front court in NBA history.
Bird was a 12-time NBA All-Star, won two NBA Finals MVP awards and received the NBA Most Valuable Player Award three consecutive times (1984-1986), making him the only forward in league history to do so.
Bird was also a member of the gold medal-winning 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team, known as the Dream Team. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame twice as a player -first in 1998 as an individual, and again in 2010 as a member of the Dream Team. Bird was voted onto the NBA's 50 Greatest Players in NBA History list in 1996, and subsequently the 75th Anniversary Team list in 2021.
A versatile player at both forward positions, Bird could play both inside and outside, being one of the first players in the league to take advantage of the newly adopted three-point line. He was rated the greatest NBA small forward of all time by Fox Sports in 2016.
After retiring as a player, Bird served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. He was named NBA Coach of the Year for the 1997-98 season and later led the Pacers to a berth in the 2000 NBA Finals.
In 2003, Bird was named president of basketball operations for the Pacers, holding the position until retiring in 2012. He was named NBA Executive of the Year for the 2012 season. Bird returned to the Pacers as president of basketball operations in 2013, and remained in that role until 2017. Bird continued with the Pacers as an advisor until July 2022, then after nearly a year's break returned to the organization in the role of consultant.
More information: NBA
Bird was born December 7, 1956, in West Baden Springs, Indiana, to Georgia Marie (née Kerns; 1930–1996) and Claude Joseph "Joe" Bird (1926-1975), a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. His parents were of Irish, Scottish and Native American descent. Bird has four brothers and a sister.
On August 18, 1992, Bird announced his retirement from the NBA. Following Bird's departure, the Celtics promptly retired his jersey number 33.
Bird has been described as one of the greatest basketball players and greatest shooters of all time. He was selected to 12 NBA All-Star teams. Bird won three NBA championships (in 1981, 1984, and 1986) with the Celtics and won two NBA Finals MVP Awards. He won three consecutive regular season MVP awards; as of 2020, the only other players to accomplish this feat are Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.
Bird was also a four-time regular season MVP runner-up in 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1988. He is also remembered as one of the foremost clutch performers in the history of the NBA; Bird was known for his excellent play in high-stakes, high-pressure situations.
In October 2021, as part of the NBA's 75th Anniversary, Bird was honoured as one of the 75 greatest players of all time, by being named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team. To commemorate the NBA's 75th Anniversary, The Athletic ranked their top 75 players of all time, and named Bird as the seventh greatest player in NBA history.
Bird scored 24.3 points per game in his career on a .496 field goal percentage, an .886 free throw percentage, and a .376 percentage on three-point shots. Bird had an average of 10.0 rebounds per game for his career and 6.3 assists.
Bird was the first player in NBA history to shoot 50% or better on field goals, 40% on three-pointers, and 90% on free-throws in a single NBA season while achieving the league minimum for makes in each category. He accomplished this feat twice. Bird won NBA three-point-shooting contests in three consecutive years. He sometimes practiced shooting three-point shots with his eyes closed.
Bird is also remembered as an excellent passer and defender. While he was relatively slow, Bird displayed a knack for anticipating the moves of his opponent, making Bird a strong team defender. He had 1,556 career steals. In recognition of his defensive abilities, Bird was named to three All-Defensive Second Teams.
More information: NBA
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.
Larry Bird
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