Larry Bird

Larry Bird
	Bird during the 1985 NBA Playoffs
Indiana Pacers
Position	Consultant
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	December 7, 1956 (age 67); West Baden Springs, Indiana, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school	Springs Valley; (French Lick, Indiana)
College	Indiana State (1976–1979)
NBA draft	1978: 1st round, 6th overall pick
	Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career	1979–1992
Position	Small forward / power forward
Number	33
Coaching career	1997–2000
Career history
As player:
1979–1992	Boston Celtics
As coach:
1997–2000	Indiana Pacers
Career highlights and awards
	As player: 3× NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986); 2× NBA Finals MVP (1984, 1986); 3× NBA Most Valuable Player (1984–1986); 12× NBA All-Star (1980–1988, 1990–1992); NBA All-Star Game MVP (1982); 9× All-NBA First Team (1980–1988); All-NBA Second Team (1990); 3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1982–1984); NBA Rookie of the Year (1980); NBA All-Rookie Team (1980); 3× NBA Three-Point Contest champion (1986–1988); 2× 50–40–90 club (1987, 1988); AP Athlete of the Year (1986); NBA Lifetime Achievement Award (2019); NBA anniversary team (50th, 75th); No. 33 retired by Boston Celtics; National college player of the year (1979); 2× Consensus first-team All-American (1978, 1979); Third-team All-American – NABC, UPI (1977); 2× MVC Player of the Year (1978, 1979); No. 33 retired by Indiana State Sycamores; As coach: NBA Coach of the Year (1998); NBA All-Star Game head coach (1998); As executive: NBA Executive of the Year (2012);
Career NBA playing statistics
Points	21,791 (24.3 ppg)
Rebounds	8,974 (10.0 rpg)
Assists	5,695 (6.3 apg)
	Stats at NBA.com
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Career coaching record
NBA	147–67 (.687)
	Basketball Hall of Fame as player
	College Basketball Hall of Fame; Inducted in 2006
Men's basketball
Representing the United States
World University Games
FIBA Americas Championship
Olympic Games

Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He is the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.^[1]

Growing up in French Lick, Indiana, he was a local basketball star. Highly recruited, he initially signed to play college basketball for coach Bob Knight of the Indiana Hoosiers, but Bird dropped out after one month and returned to French Lick and attended a local college. The next year he attended Indiana State University, ultimately playing three years for the Sycamores. Selected by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft after his second year at Indiana State, Bird elected to stay in college and returned for the 1978–79 season. He then led his team to an undefeated regular season. The season finished with a national championship game match-up of Indiana State against Michigan State and featured a highly anticipated match-up of Bird against Michigan State great Magic Johnson, thus beginning a career-long rivalry that the two shared for over a decade. Michigan State won, ending the Sycamores' undefeated streak.

Bird entered the NBA for the 1979–80 season, where he made an immediate impact, starting at power forward and leading the Celtics to a 32-win improvement over the previous season before being eliminated from the playoffs in the conference finals. He played for the Celtics during his entire professional career (13 seasons), leading them to five NBA finals appearances and three NBA championships. He played most of his career with forward Kevin McHale and center Robert Parish, considered by some to be the greatest front court in NBA history.^[2] Bird was a 12-time NBA All-Star, won two NBA Finals MVP awards and received the NBA Most Valuable Player Award three consecutive times (1984–1986), making him the only forward in league history to do so. Bird was also a member of the gold medal-winning 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team, known as the "Dream Team". He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame twice as a player—first in 1998 as an individual, and again in 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team". He was voted onto the NBA's 50 Greatest Players in NBA History list in 1996, and subsequently the 75th Anniversary Team list in 2021.^[3]

A versatile player at both forward positions, he could play both inside and outside, being one of the first players in the league to take advantage of the newly adopted three-point line. Bird was rated the greatest NBA small forward of all time by Fox Sports in 2016.^[4] After retiring as a player, Bird served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. He was named NBA Coach of the Year for the 1997–98 season and later led the Pacers to a berth in the 2000 NBA Finals. In 2003, Bird was named president of basketball operations for the Pacers, holding the position until retiring in 2012.^[5] He was named NBA Executive of the Year for the 2012 season. Bird returned to the Pacers as president of basketball operations in 2013,^[6] and remained in that role until 2017.^[7] Bird continued with the Pacers as an advisor until July 2022, then after nearly a year's break returned to the organization in the role of consultant.^[8]

^ "Pacers' Bird named NBA's top exec". Sports Illustrated. May 16, 2012. Archived from the original on May 19, 2012. Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird was voted the NBA's Executive of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the first person to win that award, plus the MVP and Coach of the Year honors.
^ B, Mike. "Big Threes Beyond the Boston Celtics & Miami Heat: 50 Best Trios in NBA History". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on November 2, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
^ "NBA 75th Anniversary Team announced". NBA.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
^ Fox Sports: Top 10 small forwards in NBA history Archived March 29, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Fox Sports, October 20, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
^ "Sports Essentials". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016.
^ "Bird Returns". Indiana Pacers. June 26, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
^ "Larry Bird resigns as Indiana Pacers president for second time". The Denver Post. May 1, 2017. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
^ "Larry Bird returns to help Pacers. Fans have opinions on that, some nice, some not so nice". IndyStar.com. June 1, 2023. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023.

[triple_award-1] "Pacers' Bird named NBA's top exec". Sports Illustrated. May 16, 2012. Archived from the original on May 19, 2012. Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird was voted the NBA's Executive of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the first person to win that award, plus the MVP and Coach of the Year honors.

[2] B, Mike. "Big Threes Beyond the Boston Celtics & Miami Heat: 50 Best Trios in NBA History". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on November 2, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.

[ReferenceA-3] "NBA 75th Anniversary Team announced". NBA.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2021.

[4] Fox Sports: Top 10 small forwards in NBA history Archived March 29, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Fox Sports, October 20, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2020.

[5] "Sports Essentials". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016.

[return-6] "Bird Returns". Indiana Pacers. June 26, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2015.

[7] "Larry Bird resigns as Indiana Pacers president for second time". The Denver Post. May 1, 2017. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.

[indystar.com-8] "Larry Bird returns to help Pacers. Fans have opinions on that, some nice, some not so nice". IndyStar.com. June 1, 2023. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023.

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