Bear Stearns

Despite having no previous coaching experience, Bird led the Pacers to three straight Eastern Conference finals appearances and one trip to the NBA Finals in 2000. In 1997, Bird accepted the position of coach of the Indiana Pacers. The Celtics employed Bird as a special assistant in the team's front office from 1992 until 1997. Following Bird's departure, the Celtics promptly retired his number, '33'.

For his career, Bird shot 49.6 percent from the field, 88.6 percent from the free throw line and 37.6 percent from three-point range. He finished his career with averages of more than 24 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists per game. Following his Olympic experience, on August 18, 1992, Bird announced his retirement as an NBA player. The "Dream Team" easily won the men's basketball gold medal.

It was the first time in America's Olympic history that the country sent professional basketball players to compete. In the summer of 1992, Bird joined Johnson, Michael Jordan and other NBA stars to play for the United States basketball team in that year's Olympics. Bird led the Celtics to playoff appearances in each of those three seasons. He averaged over 20 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists a game in his last three seasons with the Celtics, and shot better than 45 percent from the field in each.

Nonetheless, through the final years of his career, Bird maintained his status as one of the premier players in the game. He returned to the Celtics in 1989, but debilitating back problems and an aging Celtic roster prevented him from regaining his mid-1980's form. Bird started the 1988-89 season with Boston, but ended his season after six games to have bone spurs surgically removed from both of his heels. In 1988, the Celtics failed to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in four years, losing to the Pistons in six games during the Eastern Conference Finals.

Johnson appeared at Bird's retirement ceremony in 1992 and emotionally described Bird as a "friend forever.". Somewhat ironically, their relationship blossomed when the two players worked together to film the 1984 Converse commercial, which depicted them as archenemies. Despite the intensity of their rivalry, Bird and Johnson became friends off the court. In fact, their playing styles were not that dissimilar; both relied on knowledge of the game more than pure athletic ability.

In the commercial, Bird is practicing alone on a rural basketball court when Johnson pulls up in a sleek limousine and challenges him to a one-on-one match. A 1984 Converse commercial for its "Weapon" line of basketball shoes (endorsed by both Bird and Johnson) reflected the perceived dichotomy between the two players. The apparent contrast between the two players and their respective teams seemed scripted for television: Bird, the introverted small-town hero with the blue-collar work ethic, fit perfectly with the throwback, hard-nosed style of the Celtics, while the stylish, gregarious Johnson ran the Lakers' fast-paced "Showtime" offense amidst the bright lights and celebrities of Los Angeles. Not since Boston's Bill Russell squared off against the Lakers' Wilt Chamberlain had professional basketball enjoyed such a marquee matchup.

The historical rift between the teams, who faced each other several times in championship series of the 1960s, fueled fan interest in the rivalry. Throughout the 1980s, contests between the Celtics and the Lakers--both during the regular season and in the Finals--attracted enormous television audiences. During the 1980s, either Boston or Los Angeles appeared in every NBA Finals. Between themselves, Bird and Johnson captured eight NBA championships during the 1980s, with Magic getting five and Bird three.

Johnson's Lakers would ultimately win the Finals again in 1988. In 1987, the Celtics made their last Finals appearance of Bird's career, fighting through difficult series against the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons before losing to the Lakers in six games. He also won his third consecutive league MVP award. Bird again was named the Finals' MVP for that year, averaging 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists per game for the series.

The 1986 Celtic team, which finished the regular season 67-15 and defeated the Rockets in six games, is generally considered to be the best of Bird's career. Boston would return to the Finals in 1986, albeit not against Johnson and the Lakers, who lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Houston Rockets. That year, the NBA again named Bird the league MVP. In 1985, however, the Lakers avenged the loss, defeating the Celtics in game 6 of the Finals in Boston Garden.

Bird was also named the league regular season MVP for that year. Bird averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds a game during the series, earning the award of Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). In 1984, the Celtics defeated the Lakers in a seven-game Finals, winning game seven 111-102. Magic, quickly became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of professional sports.

Celtics, and specifically Bird vs. Lakers vs. Bird and Johnson first dueled in the 1979 NCAA title game; as professional basketball players, they would face off numerous times during the 1980's, including the NBA Finals of 1984, 1985 and 1987. Immediately upon their entry into the league, the two players became virtually annual presences in the NBA Finals; Bird's Celtics won the NBA title in 1981, while Johnson's Lakers captured the championship in 1980 and 1982.

The additions of Bird and Johnson rejuvenated the NBA, which had suffered from low attendance and minimal television interest through much of the 1970s. It would be the first of three championships for Bird's career, as well as the first of his five Finals appearances. In the 1980-81 season, Bird led the Celtics past the 76ers to the NBA Finals, where they defeated the Houston Rockets in six games. In Bird's first few seasons with the Celtics, his and their immediate rivals were Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers, with whom they would battle each year in the Eastern Conference finals.

The three would anchor the Celtics throughout Bird's career. With Bird at small forward, the additions of Parish and McHale gave Boston one of the more formidable frontcourts in the game. Following the 1979-80 season, the Celtics acquired center Robert Parish and the draft rights to power forward Kevin McHale via a trade with the Golden State Warriors. For the 1979 season, Bird led the Celtics in scoring (21.3 points/game), rebounding (10.4 rebounds/game), steals (143), and minutes played (2,955) and was second in assists (4.5 assists/game) and three-pointers (58).

Despite a strong rookie season from Johnson, Bird was named the league's 1979 Rookie of the Year and was voted onto the Eastern Conference All-Star team (an honor he would receive for each of his 12 full seasons in the NBA). Bird's collegiate rival, Magic Johnson, also had entered the NBA in 1979, joining the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics were 32-50 during the 1978-79 season, but with Bird the team improved to 61-21 in 1979-80, winning the league's Atlantic Division. Bird's impact on the Celtics was immediate.

Shortly before that deadline, Bird agreed to sign with Boston for a USD$650,000 a year contract, making him the highest-paid rookie in the history of the NBA. Bird ultimately decided to stay another year at Indiana State, but the Celtics retained their exclusive right to sign him until the 1979 NBA Draft. The Boston Celtics selected Bird as their first-round draft pick in 1978, even though they were uncertain whether he would play his senior season at Indiana State or enter the NBA. After playing only three years at Indiana State, he left as the fifth-highest scorer in NCAA history.

That year, Bird won the Naismith and Wooden Awards, given to the year's top male college basketball player. He carried 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, Magic Johnson. After briefly attending a local community college and working numerous odd jobs around the town (including a stint as a garbage man), Bird enrolled at Indiana State University, where he was coached by Bob King. However, Bird--homesick, short on money and overwhelmed by the size and population of the university--left the school after one month and returned to French Lick.

At the time, Indiana was one of the premier college basketball programs in the country, coached by esteemed head coach Bobby Knight. Bird received a basketball scholarship with Indiana University in 1975. He starred for the area high school team, Springs Valley High School, where he left as the school's all-time scoring leader. 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.

In 1975, after Bird's parents divorced, his father committed suicide. The Bird family's struggle with poverty was compounded by the alcoholism and personal difficulties of Joe Bird. Being poor as a child, Bird told Sports Illustrated, "motivates me to this day."[2]. I don't mean she wouldn't pay the bank, but the children always came first."[1] Bird sometimes was sent to live with his grandmother due to the family's struggles.

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. Financial troubles would plague the Bird family for most of Larry's childhood. He grew up in both West Baden and the adjacent town French Lick. Bird was born in West Baden Springs, Indiana, the son of Georgia and Joe Bird.

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

Drafted sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird played small forward for the team for his entire 13-year career. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998, and was voted to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996. Bird is generally considered to be one of the best players in NBA history. Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is a former NBA basketball player.

The shot went in, winning the competition 17-15 and capturing Bird's third-straight shootout title. Bird raises his arm in anticipation after firing the winning shot of the 1988 Three Point Contest . After Bird shot the last ball in the rack, he raised his arm and index finger as the ball was halfway to the rim, and walked away. He did so. Bird started slowly, then ran off a series of makes, needing to hit his final three shots to beat Ellis.

Ellis went first and scored 15 points. In the 1988 All-Star Game Three Point Contest, Bird--the winner of the event in both years since its creation in 1986--faced Seattle Supersonics guard Dale Ellis in the final round of the competition. Despite a concussion and a resultant severe headache, Bird scored 32 points on 12 for 19 shooting, leading Boston to victory for the game and the series. A hushed Garden crowd watched as Bird was escorted to the locker room, then erupted in the third quarter as Bird dramatically came up the ramp to the court and rejoined his teammates.

In the second quarter of game 5 of the Celtics' 1991 first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, Bird slipped and fell, crashing face-first onto the Boston Garden floor. Bird had previously guaranteed to reporters that Boston would not lose the game; his fourth-quarter performance delivered his promise. Bird outdueled the Hawks' Dominique Wilkins, who scored 47 points in that game. In game 7 of the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, Bird shot 9 of 10 in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 points in that quarter alone and lifting the Celtics to a narrow series-clinching victory over Atlanta.

The shot was on line, but glanced off the rim and missed as time expired. With only a few seconds remaining, he recieved the ball behind the three-point line and fired again. Magic Johnson would regain the lead for the Lakers with a clutch shot of his own, but Bird had one final chance to win the game. In game 4 of the 1987 Finals against the Lakers, Bird fought off defender James Worthy, got the ball, turned and hit a three-point shot with less than a minute remaining to give the Celtics the lead.

Instead, after losing in Detroit, Boston won game 7 and advanced to the Finals. The dramatic play--known simply to Boston fans as "The Steal"--saved the series for the Celtics, who, had they lost game 5, would have had to win game 6 in Detroit (where they were winless in the series) to force a decisive seventh game. With the clock ticking down and with his momentum carrying him out of bounds, Bird turned and fired the ball to teammate Dennis Johnson, who converted a layup with 2 seconds left to win the game for Boston. In game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons, with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and Boston trailing the Pistons 107-106, Bird stole an inbound pass from Isiah Thomas intended for Bill Laimbeer.

In the clinching game 6 of the 1986 Finals, Bird recorded a triple-double (the basketball term for double-digit numbers in three categories) of 29 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. In the late stages of this game 7 Bird also had two key steals, two free throws made, a rebound, and blocked a shot. That basket won Boston the game and the series and they would go on to win the NBA championship in the Finals. In game 7 of the 1981 Eastern Conference finals against the rival Philadelphia 76ers, Boston was behind by one in the last minute when Bird sank a fast-break mid-range pull-up bank shot, a very difficult shot to execute under intense pressure.