| Wilt Chamberlain was the first NBA player to score more than 30,000 cumulative points over his career, and the first and only player to score 100 points in a single game. Boston Celtics 1979-80 Roster and Stats. Located in the southwest portion of Indiana, West Baden and nearby French Lick were the cities where Bird turned himself from a young boy into a basketball phenom. He is an Olympic gold medalist, a three time NBA champ and a three time NBA Most Valuable Player. If you make a request through He chose to return to Indiana State for one more year and led the Sycamores to the NCAA championship game against the Michigan State Spartans, a team led by another future NBA superstar, Ervin "Magic" Johnson. American college basketball coach John Wooden won a record 10 national championships over a 12-year span at UCLA. National media outlets paid homage to Bird for his stellar career by awarding him seven separate national player of the year awards, including the prestigious Naismith and Wooden awards. The franchise drafted Bird sixth overall in 1978 without having assurances that he would forego his final two seasons at Indiana State. WarnerMedia Privacy Center | Prior to Bird's second year, the Celtics acquired center Robert Parrish from the Golden State Warriors and drafted Kevin McHale. After five seasons in that role, he was offered the head coaching position with the Indiana Pacers in 1997. When asked by ESPN about the comparisons to Bird, Doncic was only too keen to play it down. On this day in Boston Celtics history, legendary Celtics forward Larry Bird won the 1988 AT&T Shootout at Chicago Stadium, part of that yearâs All-Star game festivities held in the Illinois city. He returned home to French Lick for a year before enrolling at Indiana State University, which is about one-quarter of the size of Indiana University. Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade had a blast on Twitter after watching a throwback story of Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird⦠Following his junior year, Bird was selected with the sixth overall pick in the NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. After leading the Pacers to the NBA Finals in 2000, he stepped down as head coach. Fox Business Host Larry Kudlow Yells 'Bullsh*t!' Oddly enough, all of those awards were reeled in while the Boston Celtics already owned Bird’s professional rights. Bird wound up returning to school for his junior season, but the Celtics retained his rights for one year. He rose from a difficult family life in Indiana to being one of the greats alongside Michael Jordan and Birdâs long time friendly rival, Magic Johnson. He did exactly that at Indiana State, and the rest is history. His success in the NBA began immediately. Bird's basketball prowess earned him an athletic scholarship to Indiana University, where he was to play for legendary coach Bob Knight. Bird averaged 21.3 PPG and 10.4 RPG during his rookie season, helping to lead the Celtics to a 61-21 record in 1979-80. "More, more games to go. © 2021 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. Larry Joe Bird (Larry Legend, The Hick from French Lick, Kodak, The Great White Hope) Position: Small Forward and Power Forward Shoots: Right 6-9, 220lb (206cm, 99kg) . Basketball icon Larry Bird won three MVP awards and three NBA championships during his 13-year career with the Boston Celtics. He was named the NBA’s Executive of the Year that season, becoming the first person to ever win an NBA MVP award, an NBA Coach of the Year award and an NBA Executive of the Year award. Indiana State lost to Magic Johnson and the Michigan State Spartans in the title game, dropping the Sycamores’ record to 33-1, but that certainly does not diminish Bird’s or his team’s accomplishments. He attended Spring Valley High School and experienced successs from the very beginning. Underscoring his place in the game's history, he was named one of the NBA's Top 50 players in 1996, and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. Bird slowly rebuilt the Pacers into a contender and the team won 42 games during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 NBA season. Michael Jordan giving it to Larry Bird in 'The Last Dance' is A-plus trash talk. The Boston Celtics were a force during the 80s. Height: 6'9" Weight: 220 LBS Birth: 12/07/56 College: INDIANA STATE '79 Signing with the Celtics for a then-record $650,000 a year, Bird justified his salary right out of the gate, averaging 21.3 points per game and claiming Rookie of the Year honors for the 1979-80 NBA season. Former Celtic Cedric Maxwell told the New York Times' Marc Stein that Doncic was "Larry Bird ⦠Bobby Knight and the heralded Indiana Hoosiers won the recruiting war for Bird as the 6-foot-9 star moved from high school to college. Bird was born on December 7, 1956, in West Baden Springs, Indiana, and raised in the nearby town of French Lick, where he excelled at basketball at an early age. The two adopted a son and daughter, Conner and Mariah. Bird’s legend began long before he arrived in Boston. He finished his career with sterling averages of 24.6 points and 10 rebounds per game. Accessibility and Closed Caption | Larry Bird. Larry Kudlow spent his first day at Fox Business swearing at Vice President Kamala Harris after she said there was "no national strategy or plan for vaccinations." Bird accepted that offer and went on to become the NBA’s Coach of the Year in 1998. Born August 1, 1955 in Greenville, Ohio, Larry was the son of Carl A. Francis of Union City, Ohio, and the late Anna Marie (Barton) Francis. NBA Privacy Center | If you make a request through the WarnerMedia Privacy Center, If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! He ⦠âHeâs like sagging off a little bit. Basketball star Derrick Rose became the youngest MVP in NBA history in 2011. He also finished with an average of 10.0 RPG during his career, helping him to reach the rare accomplishment of averaging a double-double for an entire career. We strive for accuracy and fairness. He grew up in this village which is nearby to a town named French Lick. At the time, he was also the fifth-highest scorer in NCAA history. âItâll be a long time so you canât compare me to Larry Bird. Totals: 80-for-249 (.321). That work ethic helped him become the school’s all-time leading scorer. That announcement came shortly after he participated in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics as part of the famous gold-medal winning Dream Team. It was the first time the two star players would face each other in a head-to-head battle, and it began a friendship and rivalry that would span both players' careers. Fitting that Larry Bird would hit the first 3-pointer in an NBA All-Star game. Posted by headboard banger on 2/12/21 at 1:20 pm to Fun Bunch That was a cool story He struggled with debilitating back problems during the latter part of his career and those issues were the main reason why he announced his retirement on Aug. 18, 1992. âYou canât compare me to Larry Bird because of the things he has done,â he said, speaking to ESPN. âBird, Bird this, did you see the pass that Bird made?â, I canât see it, but Iâm just trying to imagine it. âLuka is better than Larry was at that age,â Maxwell said of Doncic, who turns 22 on Sunday. Larry Bird, Michael Jordan Show Mindset Is the Key to Slam Dunk Investing Find out how mindset helped some of the greatest athletes achieve success. Following Bird’s successful 2011-12 season with the Pacers, he decided to step away from the organization and enjoy retirement. Privacy Act, please use the links below to visit each company’s privacy center. Carlisle isn't the only ex-Bird teammate to align Doncic with the Celtic great. 30 on ESPN SportsCentury's Top 50 athletes of the 20th century, with only five other basketball players ranked higher. Perhaps most impressive of his accomplishments, Bird racked up an astounding 69 triple-doubles during his career. The Celtics and Lakers dominated, with one team or the other, or both, appearing in every NBA championship throughout the decade. There are many Celtics Legends, but there is only one man whose nickname actually is Legend. Bird began the next chapter of his life as a front-office special assistant for the Celtics, a post he held for five years. The wife of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson served as first lady from 1963 to 1969. Bird, Johnson, Michael Jordan and other NBA stars formed the American men's basketball team, which would become known as the "Dream Team." He was named the most valuable player of the N.B.A. Larry Bird starred at Indiana State University before joining the NBA's Boston Celtics in 1979. When his family disintegrated, Larryâs father, Claude Joseph âJoeâ Bird, moved to French Lick in order to find a job. Larry Bird might be the most well-known Celtics player of all time, and his incredible career led to him being dubbed with an iconic nickname: Larry Legend. However, Bird quickly realized that the atmosphere at Indiana University was not for him. While Maxwell and Bird werenât teammates until Larry was 23-years old as a rookie in the NBA, Maxwell said Doncic, at 21 and turning 22 on February 28th, is better than Bird was at this age. It ainât bragging if you can do it. Larry Bird is a true basketball legend from the golden age of the sport. Bird returned to the Pacers in 2003 as president of basketball operations. They had some of the best players in the league, boasting the likes of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish to name a few. No portion of NBA.com may be duplicated, redistributed or manipulated in any form. At the same time, he doesnât ⦠Despite the praise, Doncic doesn't believe he deserves to be in the same conversation as Bird quite yet. Bird won the NBA Championship in 1981 and 1984 donning the No.33, but Doncic was keen to avoid such comparisons. Larry Bird starred at Indiana State University before joining the NBA's Boston Celtics in 1979. https://www.biography.com/athlete/larry-bird. When I got the newspaper the next morning and saw Larryâs picture, I said damn!â Just as Dwyane Wade retweeted this video, LeBron James also reacted by saying â Similar to Larry Bird, Luka Doncic isnât the most athletic player on the court, but heâs capable of creating for his teammates. 13) âYou Canât Shootâ â Larry Bird vs Ron Harper âYou know Larry Bird never playing no great defence,â said Ron Harper. Those skills led to him winning three consecutive MVP awards from 1984 to 1986. He led the Pacers to the playoffs in all three of his seasons as a head coach, including a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2000 NBA Finals. Although Bird’s career ended early, he was able to fill his basketball void by becoming an executive in the NBA for the majority of the next 20 years. First round draft choice, as a junior eligible, (the sixth pick overall) in 1978... retired after the 1990-91 season. ... Jordan, unable to contain himself, didnât stop there, letting Larry Legend have some more as he walked away. Johnson and the Spartans triumphed, but Larry Bird left Indiana State that year with the USBWA College Player of the Year Award, the Naismith Award and the Wooden Award. The Celtics reached the playoffs in every one of Bird's 13 seasons, although he missed most of the 1988-89 season due to injury, and added titles in 1984 and 1986. The school was put on the map thanks to Bird’s presence. His concentration and composure were unrivaled as well, and he established himself as one of the most unshakable and driven players in the NBA. UNION CITY â Larry J. Francis, age 65, of Union City, Ohio, passed away Tuesday, February 16, 2021, peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones. He was born on Dec. 7, 1956 in West Baden, Ind. He was briefly married to first wife Janet Condra from 1975-76 and has a daughter with her named Corrie. Bird has been married to Dinah Mattingly since 1989. Bird was already known after two years in the league for consistent, clutch scoring and tenacious defense, which seemed especially uncanny as he was not particularly fast on his feet; instead, Bird developed a reputation for not merely responding to his opponents' moves but anticipating how they would unfold ahead of time. His collegiate career may have gotten off to a rocky start, but all the man needed to do was find his niche. He also loved his dachshunds. Itâs a reminder that while not all ⦠Michael Jordan is a former American basketball player who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships and won the Most Valuable Player Award five times. Born: December 7, 1956 in West Baden, Indiana us College: Indiana State University High School: Springs Valley in ⦠For three consecutive years, from 1984 to 1986, Bird was named the NBA's MVP, and in 1990, he hit a milestone by reaching 20,000 career points. Larry Bird might be the most well-known Celtics player of all time, and his incredible career led to him being dubbed with an iconic nickname: Larry Legend. Manage Preferences, Season Ticket Wait List - presented by Amex, 2020-21 Second Half Printable Schedule (.pdf), Donate to Boston Celtics United for Social Justice, 3/4 Putnam Postgame Report: Staying The Course, Keys to the Game: Celtics 132, Raptors 125, Pregame Post-Ups: C’s Look to Avoid Trap Game vs. Depleted Raptors, Boston's Winning Stretch Driven by Urgency, Togetherness, JBL Sounds of the Celtics: I Know What I'm Capable Of, Season Ticket Wait List - presented by AMEX. He lifted the basketball program to the 1979 NCAA championship game despite the fact that the Sycamores had never reached the NCAA tournament prior to Bird’s arrival. However, by then his formerly relentless attack on the court had been slowed by a bad back. Earvin "Magic" Johnson dominated the court as one of the world's best basketball players for more than a decade. Hailed as the greatest winner in sports, Basketball Hall of Fame center Bill Russell led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented 11 championships in 13 seasons. By JD King Feb 20, 2021, 6:00am EST Share this story. He averaged 27.4 PPG and 14.0 RPG during the 1984 Finals victory over the Los Angeles Lakers and 24.0 PPG, 9.7 RPG and 9.5 APG during the 1986 victory over the Houston Rockets.