Larry Bird

[Mr.Espinoza ♔♔♔]

 

 

 

Larry Joe Bird (West Baden, Indiana, December 7, 1956) is a former American basketball player who played 13 seasons in the NBA, all with the Boston Celtics, with which he won three championships: 1981, 1984 and 1986. He is considered by many to be the best forward in the history of the NBA1 2 3 and one of the greatest figures in world basketball.4 5

With a height of 2.08 meters, he played in the forward position and formed, together with Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, one of the best frontcourt6 in the history of the NBA.7 This trio is the second with the most victories of regular season in history (540) 8 behind the one formed by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

Bird was included in the Best Team in the History of the 50th Anniversary of the NBA in 1996.9 as well as in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.10 He also appeared in the best NBA quintet in nine seasons, of which He was the most valuable player for three consecutive years between 1984 and 1986, second in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1988, and third in 1987, which gives an idea of his individual dominance in the NBA during the 1980s.

After retiring in 1992, due to his chronic back problems, he served as coach of the Indiana Pacers for 3 seasons, 11 and from 2003 to 2012 he served as President of Operations related to basketball, which he left at the end of the season .12 He is one of the seven members of the select "Club of 50-40-90" (players who have achieved a 50% or more shooting percentage in field shots, 40% or more in triples and 90% or more in free throws for a whole season), and the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, MVP of the regular season, MVP of the finals, MVP of the All-Star Game, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.

In June 2013, Bird returned to his previous position in the Indiana Pacers as President of Basketball-related Operations.

Biography

Larry Bird in the 1985 playoffs
Bird was born in West Baden Springs, Indiana, and is the son of Georgia Kerns and Claude Joseph "Joe." Bird.14 He grew up on horseback from his hometown and the neighboring town of French Lick, so he earned the nickname "the Hick from French Lick "(the French Lick book). Economic problems shook the Bird family throughout their childhood. In an interview, given to Sports Illustrated in 1988, he recalled how his mother faced these problems: if she had a debt with the bank and we needed shoes, she got the shoes, and then negotiated with the bank types. I don't want to say that he didn't pay his debts, but his children were always the first thing.15 On occasion Larry was sent to live with his grandparents due to family crush. Being poor in childhood is a motivation today, he told the American magazine.15

The difficulties of the Bird family increased due to the alcoholism and personal difficulties of Joe Bird. In 1975, after the divorce was consummated, his father committed suicide with a firearm; Larry, 18, did not shed a tear. 16

Despite domestic misfortunes, in his second year at Springs Valley High School, he became one of the best French Lick players. He left the institute being the top scorer in the history of the center. His portrait hangs at the school, currently located on Larry Bird Boulevard in that town.

Sports career

Monument dedicated to Larry Bird in Boston.
college
The three years he was a university were about to spend at the prestigious University of Indiana, which at that time had the best basketball program in the country, led by the legendary Bobby Knight, but the magnitude of the institution overwhelmed Bird (not it was easy to move from a town with 2,000 inhabitants to a university campus with more than 33,000 students) who returned to his hometown where he worked in various trades, until he finally joined the ranks of the smaller Indiana State University.17

His career was spectacular: he led his team to the NCAA final against the University of Michigan State, where at that time a young man named Magic Johnson shone with his own light.18 At the individual level, he won several awards, such as the prestigious Naismith Award, 19 was chosen Player of the Year by the well-known sports magazine Sporting News, chosen twice as a component of the best national quintet, and averaging 30.3 points (fifth best mark in the history of the NCAA), 13.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

 

Professional
1979-1981: Immediate Impact

Bird got 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in his NBA debut against Houston Rockets on October 12, 1979.
He was chosen by the Boston Celtics in the 1978 NBA Draft in sixth place, in what was a new Red Auerbach master move, taking advantage of his short time at the University of Indiana made him eligible a year before finishing his tour in Indiana State, and drafting it well ahead of the other teams. In return, Auerbach had to wait a year to count on the player, since his attempts to convince him to leave the university were immediately unsuccessful. Bird then signed a contract for $ 650,000 annually, a record number for a rookie. Shortly after, the rules would change so that the teams could not choose players who were not prepared to make the leap to the professional league.

The impact of Larry Bird on the Celtics was immediate: the team, which came from a negative record of 29 wins and 53 losses in the 1978-79,22 season the following year achieved 61 wins and 21 losses, finishing as the team with Best percentage of games won. His great rival at the university, Magic Johnson, went on to professionals that same year with Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he had a tremendous rivalry to win the Rookie prize of the year, which he would eventually receive from Indiana.23 He was also chosen for the All-Star Game of the season (something that would be repeated in his 12 years as a professional). He led the Celtics in scoring (21.3 points per game), rebounds (10.4), number of steals (143) and minutes played (2,955), being second in assists (4.5) and three-point shots ( 58) .24 Although his team was defeated in the Eastern Conference finals by Philadelphia 76ers, it was confirmed that the Boston team had a space reserved for future glory days.

The following year the Celtics would take over the services of center Robert Parish and the third election of the 1980 draft, in a transaction with Golden State Warriors, who in return received the option of the first and the 13th draft election.25 After the Warriors chose Joe Barry Carroll and the Utah Jazz to Darrell Griffith in second place, the Celtics chose Minnesota University power forward Kevin McHale.26 With Bird as a forward, the additions of Parish and McHale they allowed Boston to have one of the best frontcourts in the league. The three would form the basis of some Celtics destined for high levels.