Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were two of the NBA's leading figures in the 1980s. Bird is also considered one of the best players in NBA history. He spent all 12 years of his professional career with the Boston Celtics at power forward. His nicknames include "The Legend of Bird", "The Basketball Christ", "Big Bird" and "Tarzan of the Apes". Chinese name: Larry Bird Foreign name: Larry Joe Bird Alias: Big Bird Nationality: United States Birthplace: West Baden, Ind. Date of Birth: December 7, 1956 Graduated from: Indiana State Height: 2.06 meters Weight: 100 kilograms Athletics: Basketball No.: 33 Draft: Boston Celtics ( 1978, 6th) Larry Bird is the most famous basketball player in the world. Larry Bird Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, NBA Hall of Fame (1998) Inducted into the NBA's All-Time Top 50 Players (1996) 3 NBA Championships (1981, 1984, 1986) 2 NBA Finals MVPs (1984, 1986) 3 NBA Regular Season MVPs (1984-86) 9 NBA First Teams (1984-86) NBA First Team (1980-88) 1 NBA Second Team (1990) 3 NBA Defensive Second Teams (1982-84) NBA Rookie of the Year (1980) 3 NBA Three-Point Contest Champions (1986-88) 12 All-Star Team selections (1980-88, 1990-92) 1 NBA All-Star Game MVP (1982) 1-time Olympic Basketball Champion (1992) Bird's Basketball Experience During his 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics, from the 79-80 season through the 91-92 season, Bird performed in every aspect of his game on the court Larry Bird When it came to perfection-whether as a scorer, a passer, a rebounder, a defender, a team player, or a key player. Bird was always so confident, and as we all know, the man would often waltz to the opponents' bench before a big game and tell them he was going to score 40 points in the game, and no one dared to take that as a joke. Bird was such a lethal shooter that he used to close his eyes when practicing his three-point shot to get the effect. In Bird's era, perhaps only Magic Johnson did a little bit better than him at passing the ball. Magic is Bird's greatest enemy, but also a lifelong friend, these two superstars in the 80's **** with the staging of the black and white competition has become an indelible classic of the NBA. Bird is the embodiment of Celtics honor, he is a set of grace, confidence, hard-working players, like under pressure to meet the challenge, while helping teammates to do their best. Like Bob Cousy, Bill Cousins, and the rest of the Celtics. Cousy, Bill Russell, John Kennedy. Russell, John Havlicek and Dave Havlicek. Havlicek and Dave Cowens. Like his predecessors, Bird has a selfless team spirit running through him, and is more concerned with helping his teammates and the team perform at their best than he is with individual glory. And compared with those former legendary superstars, Bird in the Boston Garden court is more good at mobilizing the emotions of the fans, and thus control the game. As a key to the Celtics' rebuilding efforts, Bird helped the club emerge from the poor record and sluggish market of the late 1970s. The team was perfected under his Larry Bird leadership,*** winning 3 NBA championships and 10 Atlantic Division titles. Along with his 3 rings, Bird also collected numerous personal honors. He is the third player ever in the NBA to win three consecutive regular season MVP awards, and the first non-center player to be so honored. He was named to the All-Star team 12 times, was twice the Finals MVP, was named to the NBA First Team nine times, and was a four-time league free throw king. Bird was a stubborn perfectionist when it came to basketball, something that Boston fans and many followers of orthodox basketball idolized. His uncanny vision on the court, often making incredible 35ft+ long range shots against opposing defenses, endeared him to fans. "Larry Bird. Bird changed the tastes and philosophies of an entire generation of basketball fans who appreciated the NBA." When Bird won the gold medal in basketball at the Barcelona Olympics with the Dream Team in 1992 and had to opt out due to a back injury, league president David Stern had this to say about him. Stern spoke so highly of him. Bird's legend began in a small town called French Lick, where he was born, bordering the corn fields of Indiana, where the family lived a simple life.The town of French Lick*** has a population of 2,059, and every time there is a home boys' basketball game at the local Springs Valley High School, the majority of the town's population go to the game to cheer on a blond kid named Larry Bird. A blonde guy named Larry Bird. Although Byrd had to sit out most of the season due to an ankle injury during his sophomore year at Springs Valley, he was still a rising star on everyone's radar. As Springs Valley went 19-2, young Larry became a minor local celebrity. Although the Byrd family could not yet afford their own automobile, fans in town were happy to give them a ride. In Byrd's graduation year, he set a new school scoring record. When attending the school's last home game, about 4,000 fans showed up to support him. Larry Bird Bird then found it much more difficult to adjust to college life, initially choosing Indiana University, a basketball school with legendary NCAA head coach Bobby Knight, but leaving after only two days. He then returned to his hometown of Northwood Specialized College, but soon left again, and eventually made his way to Indiana State and stayed there until graduation. Byrd's first home game at Indiana State had a crowd of about 3,100, and just as he had done at Springs Valley High School, Byrd turned the team around on his own. In the first tournament he played after joining the Figs (the name of the Indiana State University basketball team), Larry got amazing numbers of 30+ points and 10+ rebounds per game. As a result of his stellar performance, the team's ticket sales tripled throughout the season, and television stations replaced commercials with Larry's in-game highlights. And many students skipped class early to get in line for tickets. "Larry Bird Basketball" was the most popular sport in Terre Haute (Indiana State University's city). In his final year of college, Bird led the Figs to a 33-game winning streak in the NCAA until they were confronted by a 6-6 Johnson team, led by a Magic Bird, in the championship game. Johnson, a 6-9 point guard, led the Michigan State University varsity basketball team. It was one of the most recognizable Final Fours in NCAA history and one of the most watched college basketball games in the 25 years that followed. Although the Figs ultimately lost the Final Four, Byrd won the Naismith Award for College Basketball Player of the Year as well as the John Wooden Award, and he is also the 5th highest scoring player in NCAA history. In the years they had Bird, the Figs produced an impressive 81-13 record. The Boston Celtics drafted Bird with the sixth overall pick back in 1978, and at the time, they believed that Bird was fully equipped to play in the NBA, so they strongly urged him to forgo his final year of college and go straight to professional basketball. Bird refused, but it was worth it to wait one more year. 77-78 Celtics had a record of 32 wins and 50 losses, the worst since 1949, and the 78-79 season saw the Celtics set a new low of 29 wins and 53 losses as Bird delayed joining the NBA for a year to finish his studies. But with Bird's arrival in Boston in 1979, the greatest turnaround in NBA league history was marked. In the following 79-80 season, the Celtics won exactly 32 more games and regained the division title with a record of 61 wins and 21 losses. In a total of ***82 Larry Bird games, Big Bird Bird in scoring (21 points per game), rebounds (10.4 per game), breaks (143), playing time (2,955 minutes) are topped the team, while in the assists (4.5 per game) and 3-pointers (58) in the two data on the team second. Bird was named Rookie of the Season and made his first All-Star team, despite the fact that Magic Johnson, who entered the NBA in the same year, also had a spectacular season, helping the Lakers win the championship. During the following off-season, the Boston Celtics acquired center Robert Parish and sixth man Kevin McHale in what is considered one of the best value trades in NBA history, and they, along with Bird and Cedric Maxwell, formed a superb front line that finally brought the Celtics to the 80-81 championship. The Eastern Conference Finals with the Philadelphia 76ers is an all-time classic, with the Celtics first trailing 1:3, then on the precipice of actually winning three sets in a row to come back and win. In the Finals, the Celtics beat Moses Malone's Houston Rockets 4-2. Malone-led Houston Rockets. In his second year in the NBA, Bird also led the team in scoring (21.2 points per game), rebounding (10.9), blocked shots (161), and minutes played (3,239). Bird's skills not only drew throngs of fans to the Boston Garden to see him play, it was equally packed when he played on the road. Together with Magic, he saved an already dismal NBA market and helped the league realize its new slogan: The Incredible NBA Show. In just two seasons, fans, coaches, and players know what the name Bird means: big numbers and clutch performances. The focus and composure he exemplified in the game made him hard to beat, and the elite shooting skills he developed from a young age helped him be invincible on offense. No other shooter in that era was as good and consistent as Bird. From the 1981-82 season, Bird was named to the NBA's second defensive team for three consecutive seasons, even though he looked a little slow and wasn't the best one-on-one defender. But with superb anticipation and jamming made him an excellent defender. His insight into the game allowed him to always act a beat ahead of his opponents. Bird was voted regular season MVP for three consecutive years starting with the 1983-84 season, the third person in NBA history to win the award after Russell and Chamberlain. In the 1984 Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Bird and the Celtics ended up winning the decisive Game 7. It was also the first time he and the Magic had met in the playoffs since the 1979 NCAA Final Four. Bird scored 34 points in Game 5 to help the Celtics win 121-103, and 20 points and 12 rebounds in the pivotal Game 7 to help his team win 111-102. With an average of 27.4 points and 14 rebounds in the seven games of the Finals, Bird deserved to be the Finals MVP. In the 1984-85 season, Bird's scoring average reached a new high of 28.7 points per game, which was second in the league, and was the second-highest scoring season of Bird's entire career. This was the second highest scoring season of Bird's entire career, with a personal record of 60 points in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. Bird also finished the season second in the league in three-point shooting at 131-of-56 for a 42.7 percent clip. Due to Bird's elbow and finger injuries, the Celtics lost to the Lakers 2-4 in the Finals that year, but Bird still received his second regular season MVP trophy at the end of the season. The following season, the Celtics won their 16th championship in franchise history, and Bird reached the pinnacle of his career. Individual honors he received during the year included: regular season MVP, Finals MVP, Sports Personality of the Year, and Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. He ranked among the league leaders in three-point field goal and free throw percentage, in addition to all other personal statistics. He even traveled to the All-Star Weekend three-point shooting contest to perform a miraculous shooting stunt to get his first three-point shooting contest title. Under Bird's leadership, the Celtics had the best record in franchise history with 67 wins and 15 losses. In the Finals, Bird averaged 24.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 9.5 assists, a quasi-triple-double performance once again to help the team beat the Houston Rockets 4:2, including the crucial sixth game, Bird scored 29 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, there is no doubt that he became the Finals MVP for the second time. In the 1986-87 season, Bird's performance was equally stunning. He became the first player in NBA history to shoot over 50% (actually 52.5%) from the field and over 90% (actually 91.0%) from the free throw line in a single season. And the season after that, he proved in classic Bird fashion that it was no flash in the pan - shooting 52.7% from the field and 91.6% from the free throw line to break another record. Meanwhile, he's maintained his personal numbers of 28+ points + 9+ rebounds + 6+ assists per game over those two seasons. As we know, Bird was a crafty defensive player, and one of his most famous performances came in Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons, when the Celtics were down by one point, 106-107, with five seconds left in the game and Detroit had the serve. Bird predicted that Thomas's sideline ball to be sent to Ranbir, grabbed the ball before Ranbir shot to break the ball and quickly distributed to teammates Dennis Johnson, by the latter shot whistling ball to turn defeat into victory. After this battle, the Celtics eventually beat the Pistons in seven games to become the Eastern Conference champions and enter the Finals for the fourth consecutive time. Larry Bird At this point in his career, Bird was already a 30-year-old veteran, with aggravating back and foot injuries preventing him from winning his fourth championship ring. But he still put on superhuman performances from time to time. In the 1987-88 season, Bird became the first player in Celtics history to score 40+ points and rebound 20+ in a single game, with 42 points and 20 rebounds in a game against the Indiana Pacers. His 29.9 scoring average that year was also a career high. During the season, Bird also achieved the feat of winning three consecutive three-point contests, a record only later reached by Craig Hodges of the Chicago Bulls (1990-92). In that year's Eastern Conference semifinal against the Atlanta Hawks, Bird and the Hawks' Dominique Wilkins had a classic fourth-quarter scoring duel, with Bird scoring 20 points in the final quarter to give the Celtics the win - even though he was still suffering from severe bronchitis. In the 88-89 season, Bird played only six games due to surgery to remove a heel spur. The following season, Bird made 71 consecutive free throws, the third-highest mark in NBA history. Bird missed another 22 games in the 90-91 season due to back neuralgia, an ailment that ultimately forced Bird to opt for retirement in 1992. In Game 5 of the first round of the 90-91 playoffs against the Indiana Pacers, Bird fell hard in the second quarter resulting in injuries to his face and back. But he returned to the court in the third quarter to help the Celtics eventually win 124-121. Doctors operated on his back at the end of the season, but it didn't seem to do much good. The 1991-92 season was Bird's last, as he missed 37 games with a back injury. In a nationally televised game against the Portland Trail Blazers in March, Bird was Mr. Key - he scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, scoring the Celtics' final nine points, including a game-changing three with two seconds left in the game! After two overtimes, Boston ended up winning 152-148. Bird finished the game with 49 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists and four steals. "Whenever Bird is on the floor, it's possible to make a miracle." So said Drexler, the superstar of the Portland Trail Blazers, to the Boston Express after the game. If there was one glaringly cheap mistake in Bird's career, it was in Game 4 of the playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers in his final season, when Bird missed a common layup in overtime, which led to a 112-114 loss for the Celtics. And the Cleveland Cavaliers ended up eliminating the Celtics by a final score of 4-3. In three of the four games the Celtics lost, Bird was unable to play because of a back injury. Now is the time for Bird to say retirement, but before that he also want to end a wish, that is, to join the 1992 U.S. Dream Team, won the gold medal in the Barcelona Olympic Games basketball, for its professional player career to draw a perfect conclusion. When the 1992-93 season began to approach, Bird made the final decision, August 18 he officially announced his retirement to the media. In 897 games over 13 seasons, Bird*** scored 21,791 points, 8,974 rebounds, 5,695 assists, and averaged 24.3 rebounds, 10.0 assists, and 6.3 ppg. He shot 49.6% from the field and 88.6% from the free-throw line for his career. Bird then chose to work as a management official in the Celtics ballclub, where his duties centered on evaluating players' abilities and performance. In fact, he spent the vast majority of his five years of retirement on the golf courses of Florida. He sometimes attended business events or made cameo appearances in movies, such as Michael Jordan's "Slam Dunk". Nonetheless, Bird's life began to grow stale due to the lack of competition, and the desire to return to a more challenging role in the NBA grew. When the Celtics bottomed out in the 1996-97 season, Bird had hoped to be the coaching candidate to reorganize the team. But when the Celtics named Rick Pitino as their new president and head coach, Bird knew he had few options left in Boston, so he decided to resign and return home to Indiana for another career. On May 12, 1997, Bird was named head coach of the Indiana Pacers, and even though he had never coached a game before, no one doubted Bird's commanding presence. Larry "Big Bird" Bird No matter which generation you look at, there is one player who can truly be considered a superstar, and that person is Larry Bird. In his 13 seasons with the Celtics, Bird was the most versatile player in the game, a scorer, a passer, a rebounder, a defensive specialist, a team player, and so on, and I'm afraid that he deserves all the accolades he can get, as well as Mr. Key. Bird had the heart of a giant, so confident that he could tell his opponents before the game and then take 40 points off their heads as easily as a waltz. In particular, his 3-point shot, which he made with his eyes closed in practice, made him the death killer that teams feared. He was the embodiment of "Celtic Pride", he was elegant and confident, and he played hard. He forced himself to be like Cousy, Russell, and Havlicek, the dynasty stars of the Cardinal era, and eventually made himself the best player like them. Larry Bird Bird for the Celtics to create the honor of people **** know, with Parrish, McHale formed the "Three Musketeers". Bird and Magic saved the NBA market, and the league gave them a new slogan: "The Unbelievable NBA Show". "Big Bird" Bird had already terrorized his foes after two seasons, and his pinpoint accuracy made him the greatest shooter in the NBA. Bird's comments: "Everything I think about every day, this guy has it all," Pacers president Donnie Walsh said of Bird. "I want our high school, college and professional basketball careers here to **** together and complement each other, and Bird is such an icon. I have every confidence that he will be a great head coach. " "He has a mesmerizing charisma and when he speaks, you are transported into his world without even realizing it. That's a must for a manager." "I'm still new to this as a coach, but I feel like I'm capable of doing the job well." Bird had this to say to the media "I have enough experience and knowledge about basketball that I will lead the guys to do what is right and necessary to win games." In Bird's three years as a head coach, he has had some great success with his teams. In his first season, the Pacers, with Reggie Miller as their main scoring machine, achieved the best regular season record in team history with 58 wins and 24 losses, and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they battled for seven sets before finally falling to the defending champions, the Chicago Bulls, led by Jordan, in a 3:4 upset. Bird himself was honored as the NBA's best coach that year. 98-99 season, the Pacers once again killed the Eastern Conference Finals, this time losing to the New York Knicks. 99-2000 season, Bird led the Pacers to make a comeback, and in the Eastern Conference Finals, finally crushed the Knicks in 6 games, avenging the loss. Although in the finals defeated OK led the Los Angeles Lakers, but Bird to the Pacers brought great changes can be said to have seen ****. After the loss in the finals, Bird resigned as head coach, and after a three-year break, Bird came back as president of the Pacers' basketball department. He fired head coach Isaiah Thomas at the start of his tenure. Thomas and replaced him with his assistant Rick Carlisle, who was the Pacers' head coach at the time. Bird's anecdotes Bird's anecdotes Bird with the Pacers when they retired seven or eight years, but his daily training is always looking for Reggie Miller and then in the Pacers "God's left hand" Chris Mullin than the three-point bet of fifty dollars, betting on a year they froze is not his opponent. Said Bird's three anecdotes a lot, once, the Celtics coach pointed to the center circle, said who if there to shoot a three-point shot into the whole team tomorrow, a day off, Bird to take a ball and walked over, asked is here, the coach just nodded his head, Bird lifted his hand on the shot. The whole team gets the day off. Another time, Bird pointed to a spot outside the three-point line during a game and told the guy on the other side of the line that I'd make a game-winning shot from there. A little while later, he made the winning shot right there. The most famous, of course, is the three-point contest. Bird told the guys in the locker room who were also in the three-point contest, rather dismissively, that you're playing for second place again, and no one dared contradict him! Bird went on to win three consecutive three-point contests, starting with All-Star Weekend. In 1985, Celtics vs. Jazz, Bird scored 30 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 9 steals. In the third quarter, Bird went off the court early rest, the record seat found that the distance from the "quadruple double" close to the eye, and made a reminder! Coach Jones also asked Bird with concern whether he still wanted to play to complete another breakthrough in history! But Bird, in the spirit of the professional player's resilience, said lightly: "Thank you! I want to rest today!" Edit Regular Season Average Stat Sheet Season Team Appearance Field Goal Percentage Three-Point Percentage Free Throw Percentage Rebounds Assists Steals Caps Turnovers Fouls Points 1979-80 Boston 82 36.0 .474 .406 .836 10.4 4.5 1.7 0.6 3.21 3.40 21.3 1980-81 Boston 82 39.5 .478 .270 .863 10.9 5.5 2.0 0.8 3.52 2.90 21.2 1981-82 Boston 77 38.0 .503 .212 .863 10.9 5.8 1.9 0.9 3.30 3.20 22.9 1982-83 Boston 79 37.7 .504 .286 .840 11.0 5.8 1.9 0.9 3.04 2.50 23.6 1983-84 Boston 79 38.3 .492 .247 .888 10.1 6.6 1.8 0.9 3.00 2.50 24.2 1984-85 Boston 80 39.5 .522 .427 .882 10.5 6.6 1.6 1.2 3.10 2.60 28.7 1985-86 Boston 82 38.0 .496 .423 .896 9.8 6.8 2.0 0.6 3.24 2.20 25.8 1986-87 Boston 74 40.6 .525 .400 .910 9.2 7.6 1.8 1.0 3.24 2.50 28.1 1987-88 Boston 76 39.0 .527 .414 .916 9.3 6.1 1.6 0.8 2.80 2.10 29.9 1988-89 Boston 6 31.5 .471 .000 .947 6.2 4.8 1.0 0.8 1.83 3.00 19.3 1989-90 Boston 75 39.3 .473 .333 .930 9.5 7.5 1.4 0.8 3.24 2.30 24.3 1990-91 Boston 60 38.0 .454 .389 .891 8.5 7.2 1.8 1.0 3.12 2.00 19.4 1991-92 Boston 45 36.9 .466 .406 .926 9.6 6.8 0.9 0.7 2.78 1.80 20.2 Career 897 38.4 . 496 .376 .886 10.0 6.3 1.7 0.8 3.14 2.50 24.3 All-Star Game 10 28.7 .423 .231 .844 7.9 4.1 2.3 0.3 3.10 2.80 13.4