I have all the confidence in the world that Ill be able to handle these guys and do the things that are necessary to win games.. Larry Bird was 1 of the NBA's most clutch players ever, amassing 3 MVPs while leading the Celtics to 5 Finals and 3 titles in the 1980s. Year Event GP MIN PTS FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3PT% FTM FTA FT% TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF Place; 1992: Olympic Games . Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Larry Joe Bird After 897 games Bird retired with 21,791 points (24.3 ppg), 8,974 rebounds (10.0 rpg) and 5,695 assists (6.3 apg). 19 Minnesota showed the teams potential. Check out the detailed 1977-78 Indiana State Sycamores Roster and Stats for College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com He was selected to play in 12 All-Star games. Taking a look at the numbers behind Nikola Jokic's historic season for the Nuggets. While Indiana State coach Bill Hodges was frustrated with the style of defense, according to the Philadelphia Daily News, Bird wasn't concerned about his lack of shots. * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). Larry used BB to escape from his family problems! Learn more and register, International Stats at Basketball-Reference.com, College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. The 1979-80 Celtics improved by 32 games to 61-21 and returned to the top of their division. Larry Bird was a standout in Boston and one of the NBAs most iconic players ever. He was also called Kodak by his first NBA coach, Bill Fitch, . They teamed with Bird and veteran Cedric Maxwell in a frontcourt that carried the Celtics to the championship in 1981. 1 ranking. On a grander scale, however, college basketball may have needed Birds run with Indiana State to really make March Madness the spectacle it is today. ", The Evening Sun's Bill Tanton: "At the beginning of the season, Indiana State was picked third or fourth in its own conference. Bird was 20, 21 and 22 years old when he eventually played college ball for Indiana State. Carr was his best teammate. He has tallied 1,556 steals, as well as 755 blocks and 5,695 dimes. Larry Bird averages for the NBA season and Playoffs, including points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and other categories, year by year and career numbers. Get to know more about the C's legend below: Here are some of Larry Bird's notable career achievements and statistics: Bird received a scholarship to play for the Indiana Hoosiers in 1974, but he dropped out after only one month at Indiana University. There is no question about his eligibility.. Larry Bird's college career. Odds & lines subject to change. So it is a moot point. Bird recalls in his Book "Drive"--which he wrote late in his playing career-- how he never missed an opportunity to take it to Benson during their NBA days. He was remarking to one of the players before the game that he just wanted to do well; he didnt want to let the team down.. Join our linker program. When Bird maximized his potential at Indiana State in the 1978-79 season, he took a Sycamores team that had a first-year head coach and was picked to finish third or fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference in 1979 and carried it all the way to the national championship game with an undefeated record and the countrys No. Do you have a sports website? Bird scored a team-high 19 points for the Sycamores in the 1979 national championship game but it wasn't his most efficient performance as he was just 7-of-21 from the field and 5-for-8 from the free-throw line. Even though he had never coached a game in his life, the Pacers had no qualms about turning over the reins to Bird. Play Index. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Maybe Bird wouldve spent the summer of 1975 celebrating the first of back-to-back national titles at IU, rather than playing for Hancock Construction, a state-champion AAU team sponsored by the mayor of Mitchell, Indiana, which was the only team capable of knocking off the mighty Indiana All-Stars in an exhibition. Boston survived a memorable Eastern Conference finals against Philadelphia in which the Celtics bounced back from a 3-1 deficit and posted come-from-behind victories in each of the last three games, then took the title over Moses Malone and the Houston Rockets in a six-game NBA Finals. Born: Dec 7, 1956 (66 years old) . French Lick had a population of 2,059, most of whom came out to watch Springs Valley High Schools home games in a state that takes its schoolboy basketball very seriously. He is a graduate of Indiana University. He was seemingly able to get almost any shot he wanted whether it was 30 seconds after the tip or with as much time left on the clock . NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLCs Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network, *Translations are limited to select pages, NBA Legends: Profiling the league's greats, Ex-NBA player Morrow facing assault charges, Durant passes 'Big O' for 13th in career points, NBA Fantasy: Under-the-radar additions for playoffs, Magic's Isaac (torn adductor) out for rest of season, Triple-double win streak shows Jokic dominance, NBA DFS Picks: Yahoo plays and strategy for March 3. Bird signed autographs for fans in attendance and Kentucky Wesleyan players before walking off the field that day. Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Basketball Reference Database. Then he left the local junior college, Northwood Institute. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. Gambling problem? As freshman and junior varsity statistics do not count toward official NCAA records, three playersPete Maravich, Oscar Robertson and Elvin Hayesonly had three seasons to compile their totals. As a senior, Bird became the schools all-time scoring champion and about 4,000 people attended his final home game. It wasnt until 1983-84, however, that the Celtics returned to the NBA Finals. Adding Bird to that IU team is almost an embarrassment of riches, giving the sports last undefeated champion a player who was named one of the top 15 players ever in the NCAA tournament during the 75 Years of March Madness Celebration in 2013. Other notable performances by Bird include his career-high 49 points against Wichita State in February 1979, scoring 29 points in the first half against Butler in December 1978, just 10 months after he dropped 47 on the Bulldogs on the road. Indiana State coach Bill Hodges, by the way, wasnt just in his first year as Indiana States head coach. Larry Bird. As the 1992-93 NBA season approached, Bird decided he could not continue. TV stations showed film clips of Bird instead of commercials. He averaged better than 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Sycamores during his first campaign. We present them here for purely educational purposes. 5 ranking than their final record that was just one game above .500, having not cracked the AP poll after December 20. Indiana womens basketball Q&A: HooplaWyatt on the Big Ten Tournament. Here are some of Larry Bird's notable career achievements and statistics: Three-time NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986) Two-time NBA Finals MVP (1984, 1986) . Nearly 30 years ago, then-college basketball star Jamal Mashburn saw Larry Bird in a hotel prior to a week of scrimmages between The Dream Team and some of the country's top college players. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Bird poured in 20 points in the final period to outdo his counterpart and lead the Celtics to victory even though he had bronchial pneumonia. Their coach, Bill Hodges, is in his first year, the first rookie ever to take an undefeated team to the tournament final. Larry Bird, AKA "Larry Legend," was selected by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 NBA Draft. Hes very intense. Warn noted that Bird played baseball with the same energy he brought to the court: He plays the game just as he does basketball, with every ounce he has. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. 1 in Birds senior year that is, until a Michigan State team featuring a 6-foot-9 guard named Earvin Magic Johnson knocked them off in the 1979 NCAA Championship Game, one of the most widely watched showdowns in basketball history. For 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics, from 1979-80 through 1991-92, Bird personified hustle, consistency and excellence in all areas of play as a scorer, a passer, a rebounder, a defender, a team player, and, perhaps above all, as a clutch performer. Boston won, 152-148, in double overtime. Complete NBA coaching record for Larry Bird, including regular season and postseason games. Bird also cites an instance during an off season open gym, soon after he arrived on campus, during a period of "no contact" between the players and coaches. Despite being 6 feet 9 inches and 206 centimeters tall, he weighs just roughly 220 pounds and 100 kilograms. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. During his career he shot .496 from the floor and .886 from the free-throw line, retiring as the fifth all-time free-throw shooter behind Mark Price, Rick Barry, Calvin Murphy and Scott Skiles. Larry Bird was born on as Larry Joe Bird to parents: Georgia and Claude Joseph "Joe" Bird, a veteran of the Korean War.He attended Springs Valley High School. He was there to prove a point. The 16th-leading scorer of all-time in NCAA mens basketball history scored 2,850 points in just three seasons an incredible 30.3 career scoring average after enrolling at Indiana University in the fall of 1974. Mark Bird's college team, where he became one of the school's best all-time players. A crafty defensive player, Birds most famous steal came in Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against Detroit. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. He initially enrolled at Indiana University in 1974 but dropped out before the season began. They both finished their college playing careers in the spring of 1979. An undefeated IU team with a healthy Scott May or Larry Bird, let alone both, wouldve made for a compelling matchup with Woodens final UCLA team. January 19, 2023 3:00 am ET. He left campus not long after that and literally hithhiked home. Surgery to remove bone spurs from both heels limited Bird to only six games in 1988-89. Bird was one of the best scorers in the country, a big forward who led the way for the Sycamores from the Missouri Valley Conference to the biggest national stage. Knight could only shake his head at what he had lost. McHale just destroyed him. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 4:50AM. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. View Comments. He was unflappable and virtually unstoppable. Springs Valley went 19-2 and young Larry became a local celebrity. Even if we dont rewrite Mays season-ending injury in this post, could Larry Bird have gone from being snubbed by the 15-player AP All-State Team one spring to a March Madness hero the next? Bird literally despised him for the way he treated him at Indiana, and he has never been shy to remind people of the opposite trajectories of their respective careers. Note: at Spring Valley HS in his senior year., Bird averaged 31 ppg, 21rebounds per game and 4 assists). College at Indiana State. . Loved to watch him play. Russell Westbrook is being left wide open on offense, and hes still hurting the Clippers. "All that shooting off the side of a barn turned into Bird becoming a high school star. On February 6, 1988, Larry Bird won his 3rd consecutive 3-point Contest while still wearing his warm-up jacket. Does the most recognized team in Hoosier history double or even, gasp, triple, its national championship haul with Bird in Bloomington in the mid-to-late 70s? He was a 12-time All-Star, a two-time NBA Finals MVP and a nine-time member of the All-NBA First Team. One newspaper in Indiana vaguely described the reason as personal dissatisfaction. He then enrolled at Northwood Institute, a two-year school with roughly 200 students in West Baden, Indiana, near his hometown of French Lick. My goal is to . Jobbade sedan i Celtics frn 1992 till 1997 och coachade sedan Indiana Pacers frn 1997 till 2000. He wasnt named to the Associated Press six-player All-State first team or nine-player second team, despite averaging 30 points and 20 rebounds, once putting up 55 points in a game for Springs Valley High School and 34 rebounds in another. He averaged 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 897 regular-season games. Larry Bird's book is incredible. With five seconds remaining and the Celtics trailing 107-106, Bird stole an Isiah Thomas inbounds pass and fed Dennis Johnson, whose layup gave Boston the win. Having collected 7,217 defensive boards and 1,757 on the offensive end, Bird has accounted for 8,974 rebounds in total in his career. He was the heart and soul of the 1980s Celtics, leading them to three NBA championships while earning a reputation as one of the greatest players in league history. Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Playing in all 82 contests, Bird led the team in scoring (21.3 ppg), rebounding (10.4 rpg), steals (143), and minutes played (2,955) and was second in assists (4.5 apg) and 3-pointers (58). We present them here for purely educational purposes. Larry Bird was originally in the recruiting class of 1974. 31.8 - HOF Larry Bird - Indiana State - 30.3 . 1,400 points): 30.3 points, 16th all-time on the NCAA career scoring list: 2,850 points, Tied for 23rd all-time in career double-doubles: 68 double-doubles, Tied for 24th all-time in points in a season: 973 points (1979), Tied for 24th all-time in consecutive double-doubles in a season: 16 double-doubles (1979). "He's 6-9, was the nation's second leading scorer and that's not all," wrote The Evening Sun's Bill Tanton. What if IU hired Jerry Tarkanian instead of Bob Knight, What if IU had solved Syracuses zone in 2013. Michael Jordan has compiled 41,011 minutes and has participated . See our ethics statement. Looks like Bradley's coach on 2/10/79 tried to give Bird the same treatment . In 1975, he enrolled at Indiana State. He also owns Larry Birds Boston Connection, a hotel/restaurant in Terre Haute that also serves as a museum for many of his trophies and awards. And then there is a lesser known Bird, the college baseball .