Larry Joe
Bird is a former NBA basketball player. He was born on
December 7, 1956
in West
Baden Springs, Indiana. He grew up in the neighboring town
of French Lick and was a star high school player. Bird had a
major plus point and that was his height, he was 6 feet tall
as a high school sophomore. He played at guard position for
two years. He became forward as a senior and averaged more
than 30 points per game.
Bird
enrolled at Indiana University, but felt overwhelmed by the
size of the campus and left after only 24 days. He
eventually ended up at Indiana State University. He led the
ISU Sycamores to the NCAA championship game in 1979, but
were defeated by the Michigan State University Spartans,
which was led by Magic Johnson at that time. |
Bird won the Naismith and
Wooden awards, given to the year's top male college
basketball player. Bird, a 6' 9" (206 cm) forward, was
productive virtually at all aspects of the game. On June 8,
1979, Bird was drafted the Boston Celtics for an amount of
$3,250,000 for five years. At that time this contract was
the largest rookie contract in NBA history. He was one of
the league's most accurate shooters, usually finishing among
the top 3-point shooters as well as among the top free-throw
shooters. During his years with the Celtics, Bird became one
of the greatest talents in the NBA. He led the team to three
NBA championships, and won numerous MVP awards. His career
average was 24.3 points per game, with a high of 29.9 points
per game in the 1987-88 season. He also became known as an
excellent passer, averaging 6.4 assists. Bird announced his
withdrawal from the game on August 18, 1992, after helping
the so-called Dream Team win the Olympic gold medal in
Barcelona. In 2003, he returned to the Pacers as President
of Basketball Operations. One of his first moves in his new
capacity was to fire Thomas and hire Carlisle to coach the
team. He is married to Dinah and the couple is blessed with
two kids Connor, 7, and Mariah, 5. |