Larry Bird

Larry was born December 7 1956 in West Baden Springs Indiana. He was the fourth of six kids. He had four brothers and one sister. Life was not easy for him as a child. His parents got separated because of his fathers drinking addiction. One day he was at school in French Lick his father killed himself. But his life wasn't all bad; the bad things that did happen made him determined he also had five more siblings to play basketball with, which made him ready for going against other kids. By his senior year he was averaging 30 points and 20 rebounds. Larry Bird even went against Edgewood in high school. Edgewood lost but we did not have a future MVP on our team.

Many colleges wanted Larry Bird like Indiana University (IU) Indiana State University (ISU) University of Kentucky (UK). Larry Bird decided to go to IU. But he did not like Bob Knight and was overwhelmed by the size of the campus. Larry Bird could have been on the 1976 undefeated team that got the basketball National Championship. He decided to go to ISU instead. He became dominant in college winning Naismith Player of the Year and USBWA Player of the year and got more like, Sporting news, AP, and UPI Player of the Year. When he got drafted by the Boston Celtics he wanted to finish his senior year. The Celtics would still get him but have to wait another year.

In 1980 Larry Bird went to the Celtics. He got Rookie of the and averaged 21.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 4,5 assists. He became one of the best Celtics players of all time. Also in the NBA one of the biggest player rivalries, Magic vs Bird. They were rivals but had respect for each other. Once Magic said, “Larry, you told me one lie. You said there will be another Larry Bird. Larry, there will never, ever be another Larry Bird.” He won 3 MVPs and 2 finals MVPs. He won the championship 3 times too. When Larry Bird retired he went back to Indiana to coach the Pacers. He won coach of the year there.