The great Boston Celtic Larry Bird turns 56 today.

Ten Notes On Larry Legend

1. Larry Bird was born on this day in 1956. He grew up poor in the towns of West Baden and French Lick. He got the nickname “The Hick From French Lick” Bird says growing up poor motivates him to this day. When Larry was 18 his father Joe committed suicide. Bird got a scholarship from Indiana -and coach Bob Knight. Knight was overwhelmed and dropped out of school after 24 days. You have to wonder-how many championships would Indiana have won with Larry Bird there for 4 years. This was at a time when Bobby Knight was in his prime as a coach.

2. Two of my favourite Larry Bird stories are [and I tell them every year to the girls team I coach, trying to show them what dedication is, and getting great at anything requires work} 1- When Larry was in high school he would get up well before school and go to the gym and shoot basketball in the gym before anyone came in. The janitor had to get there early to let him in. Finally they just gave Larry a key so he could just let himself in. 2- When Larry was with the Celtics in an interview he was asked once “What do you do when you are not playing basketball?” Bird “Play basketball”

3. Larry Bird after quitting Indiana returned home and worked for a time with the street department in French Lick, he picked up garbage, cut grass, repaired roads. After a year of this he decided to enroll at nearby Indiana State and play for coach Bob King. Larry Bird would put Indiana State on the map. Before Larry, Indiana State had never played in an NCAA Tournament game. In 1979 Bird carried Indiana State to an undefeated regular season. There were a lot of non-believers. They didn’t play in a top notch conference . But they were for real, they went to the NCAA Finals that year and Larry and Magic played in the  game that changed college basketball forever. Indiana State was just outmanned by Magic and Michigan State losing the finals. They finished 33-1 on the season. The loss haunts Bird to this day. Bird didn’t have a great final game. He had hurt his hand in the semi-finals and his shooting was off. Still a great season and a great career. In his senior season he was NCAA Player of the Year and finished his three year career as the fifth leading scorer in NCAA history.

4. The Boston Celtics drafted Bird with the 6th pick in the 1978 draft, they drafted him when it was uncertain if he would come back to Indiana State for another year or not. He decided to return to Indiana State but the Celtics retained his rights for a year. I remember when someone asked Celtics President Red Auerbach why did you draft a guy who won’t be playing for you for a year, Red replied “A year goes by pretty fast” It proved to be a great move for the Celtics.

5. Even though Larry was such a great college player there were still those who wondered how he would go in the pro game. He was a step slow they said. Well you name the greatest players in the game and all of them were a step slow. Red Auerbach knew a basketball player when he saw one. Larry Bird was a basketball player. He always impressed me as being a guy of say average -above average intelligence but on the basketball court he was a genius, a Mozart.

6. I used to love NBA basketball. I watched the NBA from the early 1970’s until the early 199o’s. I was a Boston Celtics fan. I still want the Celtics to do well even though I don’t watch the NBA anymore. I was delighted when Larry went to Boston. It didn’t take long for Bird to prove that he belonged in the NBA. The Celtics went from 29 wins the year before Larry Legend to 61 with him his rookie season. Bird beat Magic out for Rookie of the Year. Larry and Magic brought joy to the game of basketball. Those guys sure were having fun out there.

7. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson saved the NBA. I have always as a Celtic fan HATED the Los Angeles Lakers but I have to say I could never hate Magic. Larry and Magic. The 1980’s were Larry and Magic in the NBA.

8. Larry would lead the Celtics to three World Championships. He was MVP 3 times. He averaged 24.3 points per game in his career, 6.3 assists a game and 10 rebounds a game. He played with the Celtics from 1979-92. Larry Bird was all out all the time. His diving for every loose ball didn’t help his bad back. He finished up his career on the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

9. I think the greatest NBA team I’ve ever seen was the 1986 Boston Celtics. Larry, Kevin McHale and The Chief Robert Parrish in the frontcourt, DJ Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge in the backcourt. The 6th man was a rejuvinated Bill Walton. What a team. They went 67-15 and won the NBA Title that season. The big IF after this is-they draft Len Bias. I have no idea how many more championships they would have had had Bias not gotten involved with drugs and died of an overdose. 1986 would be the final Celtic Championship for a couple decades.

10. Larry Bird is my all time favourite basketball player that I’ve ever watched play. The only basketball player that I am a bigger fan of is #6 Bill Russell, the greatest winner in American Sports History. If I could have had the career of any athlete ever it would have been Bill Russell’s. 2 out of 3 years he won the NCAA Championship, Olympic Gold, 11 of 13 years with the Celtics they win the NBA Title.  After Larry and Magic left the NBA the league to me wasn’t the same, I lost interest.  I think the last full NBA Game I watched was Jordan’s last championship game victory with the Bulls. I read today in the USA Today a story about Kevin Durant one of the greats of today and how he patterns how he plays the game from Larry Bird.