Larry+Bird

Larry Bird High School: Larry Bird was born in West Baden, Indiana in December of 1956. He went to high school in the town of French Lick which is also where his parents, Joe and Georgia, raised him. Larry attended Springs Valley High School where he played basketball and became the school's all-time leading scorer.

College: Larry Bird earned an athletic scholarship at the University of Indiana, but he later resigned from the school. He then enrolled at Indiana State University and in 1979 he led the Sycamores to the NCAA championship against Earvin Johnson and the Michigan State Spartans. After Larry's senior year he left college as the fifth highest scorer in NCAA basketball history.

NBA Career: In 1979, Larry Bird was drafted to the Boston Celtics and in his first season he was awarded NBA Rookie of the Year, averaging 21.3 points per game. Adding Larry to the Celtics helped them improve their record by 32 games from the previous year. Also, they made the playoffs, but lost to the Philadelphia 76ers.

In 1981 the Boston Celtics, led by Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale, and Robert Parish, won the NBA finals against the Houston Rockets. In 1983 Bird and the Celtics won the championship against Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers. Larry won both the Finals MVP and the regular season MVP that year. In 1985 Bird one MVP again, but unfortunately lost to Magic Johnson and the Lakers in the Finals. The Celtics then acquired Bill Walton and won the Finals the next season with Bird being the Finals MVP and the regular season MVP for the third time straight. The following season Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics lost to Magic and the Lakers once again in the NBA Finals.

Larry Bird averaged 29.9 points per game in the 1987-1988 season. He missed most of the next season because of a need for a bone-spur operation, and the next season was slowed down by back problems. This led to retirement for Larry Bird in August of 1992. The Boston Celtics retired his number, 33, in 1992. Bird was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. After Retirement: Larry Bird has been featured in 3 movies and a very popular Super Bowl commercial with Michael Jordan after retiring in 1992. Bird also worked as a front office special assistant for the Boston Celtics for 5 years, and coached the Indiana Pacers from 1997-2000. As the head coach of the Pacers he was Eastern Conference champion and won the NBA Coach of the Year award for the 1998 season. Since 2003 he has served as President of Basketball Operations.   ---Larry Bird at Springs Valley High School. Larry Bird at Indiana State University.-Larry Bird in the NBA with the Boston Celtics.

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Larry Bird's Super Bowl ad with Michael Jordan

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