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Bird Swings

Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former NBA basketball player, widely considered one of the greatest all around players, and perhaps the most clutch. more...

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Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird played small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons. He retired as a player from the NBA in 1992. Bird was voted to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996 and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.

After working as an assistant in the Celtics front office from 1992 to 1997, Bird served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1998 to 2000. In 2003, he assumed the role of president of basketball operations for the Pacers, a position he still holds.

Biography

Early life

Bird was born in West Baden Springs, Indiana, the son of Georgia and Josiah Bird. He grew up in both West Baden and the adjacent town French Lick, which earned him the nickname "the Hick from French Lick" in his later basketball career. Financial troubles would plague the Bird family for most of Larry's childhood. In a 1988 interview with Sports Illustrated, Bird recalled how his mother would make do on the family's meager earnings: "If there was a payment to the bank due, and we needed shoes, she'd get the shoes, and then deal with them guys at the bank. I don't mean she wouldn't pay the bank, but the children always came first." Bird sometimes was sent to live with his grandmother due to the family's struggles. Being poor as a child, Bird told Sports Illustrated, "motivates me to this day."

The Bird family's struggle with poverty was compounded by the alcoholism and personal difficulties of Joe Bird. In 1975, after Bird's parents divorced, his father committed suicide.

In spite of his domestic woes, by the time he was a high-school sophomore, Bird had become one of the better basketball players in French Lick. He starred for French Lick/West Baden's high school team, Springs Valley High School, where he left as the school's all-time scoring leader. His picture still hangs in the school to this day.

Collegiate career

Bird received a basketball scholarship to Indiana University in 1974. At the time, Indiana was one of the premier college basketball programs in the country, led by esteemed head coach Bobby Knight. However, Bird—homesick and overwhelmed by the size and population of the university—left the school after one month and returned to French Lick. After briefly attending a local community college and working numerous odd jobs around the town (including a job with the French Lick Street Department - which did much more than just pick up garbage), Bird enrolled at Indiana State University, where he was coached by Bob King. King suffered a heart attack prior to the 1978-79 season and assistant Bill Hodges was promoted to head coach. Bird led the ISU Sycamores to the NCAA championship game in 1979, his senior season, only to lose to the Michigan State University Spartans, who were led by his future NBA rival, Earvin "Magic" Johnson. The Sycamores finished the season 33-1. That year, Bird won the Naismith and Wooden Awards, given to the year's top male college basketball player. After playing only three years at Indiana State, he left as the fifth-highest scorer in NCAA history. Bird finished his collegiate career with averages of 30.3 PPG, 13.3 RPG, and 4.6 APG.