The Top 11 Ranked. Larry Bird's Wife Dinah Mattingly. What if former IU football coach Clyde Smith hadnt resigned after an open and undercover campaign to oust him? I heard this story once and I believe it is true. Bird was often checked by Magic Johnson in Michigan State's 2-3 matchup zone in theepic clash of two all-time greats. (Larry Legend; The Hick from French Lick), Draft: Boston Celtics, 1st round (6th pick, 6th overall), 1978 NBA draft, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:03AM. When the Celtics named Rick Pitino as the franchises new president and coach, Bird knew any role for him in Boston would be a limited one. Springs Valley went 19-2 and young Larry became a local celebrity. In his first season, the Pacers with Reggie Miller as their main weapon were defeated by the defending-champion Chicago Bulls and Jordan in a tough seven-game conference finals series. The Sycamores went 81-13 during Bird's three-year career. Among Birds contemporaries, perhaps only Earvin Magic Johnson was considered a better passer and was a player who he would inextricably be linked with forever. Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. Larry Bird has helped define the way a generation of basketball fans has come to view and appreciate the NBA, said Commissioner David J. Stern when Bird retired due to a painful back condition in 1992, after capturing a gold medal with the original Dream Team at the Olympics in Barcelona. Like Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, John Havlicek and Dave Cowens, the low-key Bird never forced the spotlight upon himself, but rather was a player who brought out the best in the players around him. * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). The Whole Bird thing reminds me of that old country song"I overlooked and orchid while searching for a rose"! Bird literally despised him for the way he treated him at Indiana, and he has never been shy to remind people of the opposite trajectories of their respective careers. The guy had absolutely nothing. "He's a great passer and an excellent rebounder. He has tallied 1,556 steals, as well as 755 blocks and 5,695 dimes. 'Coach, I'm dead,' moaned Bird. Best Known For: Basketball icon . By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Born: December 7, 1956 in West Baden, Indiana us College: Indiana State University High School: Springs Valley in French Lick, Indiana He wasnt named to the Associated Press six-player All-State first team or nine-player second team, despite averaging 30 points and 20 rebounds, once putting up 55 points in a game for Springs Valley High School and 34 rebounds in another. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Enter your information to receive emails about offers, promotions from NCAA.com and our partners. Find out more. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. His Mom and Dad divorced while Bird was in HS, His dad shot and killed himself a year later. . Benson would do things like figure out which side of the court Bird was warming up on, for instance, then come over and take the ball away from him and order Bird off to the other end of the floor. Kent Benson returned for his senior year, as did forward Wayne Radford for his junior season, but gone were May, Abernethy, Quinn Buckner, Bobby Wilkerson and Jim Crews. It looked almost like a straight uppercut. The massive strike zone should have given pitchers a field day, but they soon realized Bird wasnt there to goof around. Bird's stats are about as crazy as one would expect one the greatest players of all time to be if they played in a mid-major conference. Career NBA statistics; Points: Rebounds: Assists: Stats at Basketball-Reference.com: . Then he left the local junior college, Northwood Institute. When talking about per game stats, Bird sports an average of 6.8 assists as well as 9.6 boards. Larry Bird's best teammates included Robert Parish, Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson. IU peaked at No. That was excellent. The experience shook Bird. All rights reserved. 19 Minnesota showed the teams potential. Larry Bird was 1 of the NBA's most clutch players ever, amassing 3 MVPs while leading the Celtics to 5 Finals and 3 titles in the 1980s. Larry Bird's career NBA stats. src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=674090812743125&ev=PageView&noscript=1"/>. Larry Bird redshirted (sat out) his freshman year, and therefore, like Maravich, Robertson, and Hayes, his totals were also achieved in only three . An obsessive perfectionist, Bird was idolized by Celtic fans and basketball purists of all allegiances. If I could, I'd like to play with him forever.". Bird was named the 1978-79 College Player of the Year and left Indiana State as the fifth-highest scorer in NCAA history. He averaged better than 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Sycamores during his first campaign. Bird recalls in his Book "Drive"--which he wrote late in his playing career-- how he never missed an opportunity to take it to Benson during their NBA days. Boston survived a memorable Eastern Conference finals against Philadelphia in which the Celtics bounced back from a 3-1 deficit and posted come-from-behind victories in each of the last three games, then took the title over Moses Malone and the Houston Rockets in a six-game NBA Finals. College: Indiana State (1976-1979) NBA draft: 1978 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall: . All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. The 75 Hoosiers were loaded. The Celtics, however, fell to the Pistons in the conference finals. Larry Joe Bird Larry Bird was a co-star of one of the greatest college basketball national championship games ever Bird vs. Magic, when the undefeated Indiana State Sycamores took on the co-Big Ten champion Michigan State Spartans in the 1979 championship. Its also fair to speculate that the south wall of Assembly Hall might be a little more crowded if Larry Bird had never transferred from IU. Despite joking that he hoped he could get the Xs and Os right in the huddle, and that he didnt draw up any plays with himself in them, Bird approached his new role with typical aww-shucks aplomb. Bird missed 22 games in 1990-91 because of a compressed nerve root in his back, a condition that eventually forced his retirement. Larry Bird's wife, Dinah Mattingly, is his high school sweetheart who got engaged and married the former NBA legend in 1989. The Celtics won the physical, bitter series in seven games and advanced to the NBA Finals for the fourth consecutive year, meeting the Lakers for the third time. On a grander scale, however, college basketball may have needed Birds run with Indiana State to really make March Madness the spectacle it is today. It was Bird's first experience with Knight in a gym setting. Birth date: December 7, 1956. No shit! The following year was Birds last. Layed him out cold. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. The high school senior was drawing interest from top programs across the country, especially after he added six inches and 50 pounds in roughly two years, but he was focused on the in-state schools recruiting him. Here are some of Larry Bird's notable career achievements and statistics: Three-time NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986) Two-time NBA Finals MVP (1984, 1986) . Talking trash to Larry Bird rarely ever ended well, as former NBA player Rodney Rogers found out the hard way. A brutal sucker punch in the OVC tournament stopped the game in its tracks. As a senior at Springs Valley High School, Bird averaged nearly 31 points and 21 rebounds per game. Maybe in ways that we cant totally appreciate, measure or describe, the NCAA tournament might just be five percent less today if Bird never winds up in Terre Haute. 0:05. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.Growing up in French Lick, Indiana, he was a local basketball star. Knight could only shake his head at what he had lost. Season-ticket sales tripled. In the last 7 years, I've been covering everything related to the career and job seeking world. We talked Hoosiers with our buddy at Hoopla. Do you have a blog? He was there to prove a point. College Basketball Scores. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Get to know more about the C's legend below: Here are some of Larry Bird's notable career achievements and statistics: Bird received a scholarship to play for the Indiana Hoosiers in 1974, but he dropped out after only one month at Indiana University. The Hoosiers were still very good, winning national titles in 1976 and 1981, and maybe Bird gives the Hoosiers another in 1975 or 1978, making that three chips in a six- or seven-year span. Playing in all 82 contests, Bird led the team in scoring (21.3 ppg), rebounding (10.4 rpg), steals (143), and minutes played (2,955) and was second in assists (4.5 apg) and 3-pointers (58). At Indiana State here is what Bird did: 1976-77..aveged 32.8 ppg, 1977-78..averaged 30 ppg and 1978-79 ..28.6 ppggiving him a 3 years career average at indiana State of 30.3 ppg. Fans were filling not only Boston Garden, which sold out the final 541 games of Birds career, but arenas all over the country to witness Birds exploits. On Aug. 18, 1992 he announced his retirement as a player. Learn more and register, International Stats at Basketball-Reference.com, College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. That came in spite of Bird playing with a fracture in his left thumb in the Final Four after getting hurt against Arkansas. As per reports, Bird made around $24 million over the course of his career. But there were plenty more heroics yet to come. Larry Bird played in the NCAA tournament just once, in 1979, but he made the most of it. Born in 1956, in the state of Indiana, this player is known as the biggest reason behind why the Boston Celtics were led to the NBA championship in 1981, 1984, and 1986. See our ethics statement. With Larry Bird, the 77 Hoosiers are probably a 20-win team and closer to their preseason No. But mostly he was bored. 1 in Birds senior year that is, until a Michigan State team featuring a 6-foot-9 guard named Earvin Magic Johnson knocked them off in the 1979 NCAA Championship Game, one of the most widely watched showdowns in basketball history. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. "By noon, Bird appeared at a press conference, a rarity in his scheme of things. ", The New York Times' Dave Anderson: "[Bill] Hodges likes to say that his primary contribution to the Sycamores this season has been 'not messing up Larry Bird. Bird helped rebuild a Celtics franchise that had been suffering from sub-standard play and poor attendance in the late 1970s. Bird finished runner-up to Moses Malone for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, as he would the following year. Bird always held a chip on his shoulder over that, even decades later. He did some commercials and appeared in a few films, including Michael JordansSpace Jam. With five seconds remaining and the Celtics trailing 107-106, Bird stole an Isiah Thomas inbounds pass and fed Dennis Johnson, whose layup gave Boston the win. He earned the Rookie of the Year honours and also led a mediocre team . Birth Country: United States. The 1977 Hoosiers were led by senior center Benson (19.8 ppg, 10.5 rpg) and freshman guard Mike Woodson (18.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg), while just up the road, Bird was averaging 32.8 points on 54 percent shooting, along with 13.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.8 steals per night in his first season with Indiana State. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. According to The New York Times, Hodges once said his primary contribution during Indiana States national runner-up season was not messing up Larry Bird.. Larry Bird, in full Larry Joe Bird, (born December 7, 1956, West Baden, Indiana, U.S.), American basketball player who led the Boston Celtics to three National Basketball Association (NBA) championships (1981, 1984, and 1986) and is considered one of the greatest pure shooters of all time. Having collected 7,217 defensive boards and 1,757 on the offensive end, Bird has accounted for 8,974 rebounds in total in his career. Anytime you have Bird on the floor, anything can happen, Portlands Clyde Drexler told theBoston Heraldafter the game. They both finished their college playing careers in the spring of 1979. Career information head-to-head including championships won, season and playoff stats, honors and awards and more. Birds legend was born in the tiny town of French Lick, snuggled in Indianas corn country, where his family led a spartan life. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Basketball Reference Database. Larry Bird was originally in the recruiting class of 1974. What if Larry Bird hadnt transferred from IU? In 2003, he joined the Pacers front office as the teams president of basketball operations and worked side-by-side with Walsh to rebuild Indiana into a contender. Other notable performances by Bird include his career-high 49 points against Wichita State in February 1979, scoring 29 points in the first half against Butler in December 1978, just 10 months after he dropped 47 on the Bulldogs on the road. UCLA beat Montana by just three points in its second tournament game, proving the Bruins were a resilient, but mortal, champion. AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. 13, but spent most of the season outside of the AP poll. Larry Bird was originally in the recruiting class of 1974. Or write about sports? Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. Lost to most people in the basketball statistics for the Springs Valley team that year, however, was a short piece in a Bedford newspaper that noted, "The freshman free-throw trophy was presented to Larry Bird. Larry Bird was born on as Larry Joe Bird to parents: Georgia and Claude Joseph "Joe" Bird, a veteran of the Korean War.He attended Springs Valley High School. Larry Joe Bird (Larry Legend, The Hick from French Lick) Bats Left, Throws Left; Height 6' 9", Weight 220 lb. Odds & lines subject to change. Despite being 6 feet 9 inches and 206 centimeters tall, he weighs just roughly 220 pounds and 100 kilograms. The following comes from The Tampa Bay Times: His best NCAA tournament game came in the Final Four against DePaul, when he scored 35 points with 16 rebounds and nine assists (all were NCAA tournament highs for him) while shooting 16-of-19 from the field. Bird, the Coach of the Year in 1997-98, resigned as Pacers coach after Indianas Finals appearance. But his arrogant attitude is hardly a big surprise to those who know about Benson. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. 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His back was also hurting, but Bird came back in the third period to help lift the Celtics to an emotional 124-121 victory. Gambling problem? In addition to his three championship rings, Bird piled up an awesome collection of personal achievements. Mark Bird's college team, where he became one of the school's best all-time players. Started collecting garbage upon his return to French Lick. Join our linker program. Join our linker program. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:03AM. Celtics Wire. It would have been easy for the story to end here, with a healthy round of shit-talking and little else. This blog is forever grateful for the meme template that sweet, sweet banner gave us. Mike Hayes, a Kentucky Wesleyan player, recounted the game, vividly remembering Birds bizarre, ungainly swing. The next season, 1974-75, is where two of the greatest What ifs in IU basketball collide: What if Bird had stayed and what if Scott May, the teams second-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, hadnt broken his arm against Purdue in late February? Ballinger had proof. Bird had actually nailed the jumper from the corner. Indiana State went 81-13 during the three seasons in which Larry Bird played for the Sycamores. Do you have a sports website? As it turned out it created one of the greatest rivalries in sports between Magic and Bird. For one day, Bird got to prove he wasnt just a basketball player icing up in the locker room; he was a star at anything he wanted to try. Birds status as an Indiana sports legend was cemented by the spring of 1979. His career averages were 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in 897 regular season games. Only a few photos exist from the game, but seeing it live would have been legendary. 1 ranking. When Bird elected to return to Indiana State for one more year, the Celtics dipped to 29-53. View Comments. Check out the top highlights and plays from Larry Bird's storied NBA career. He became only the third player (and the first non-center) to win three consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player Awards. Warn noted that Bird played baseball with the same energy he brought to the court: He plays the game just as he does basketball, with every ounce he has. Find out more. At one point, Kentucky was the first school to do the heavy recruiting, according to The Heralds Jerry Birge.

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