FEBRUARY 14th, 1985
THAT DAY....................................BOSTON beats UTAH, and Larry BIRD, the small forward of the celtics 30pts, 10asts, 12rbs, 9 stls in 3 quarters, refuses to come back to play the 4th even if he could have done an historic QUADRUPLE DOUBLE.
Larry Joe Bird is a former American professional basketball. He has been described as one of the greatest basketball players and greatest shooters of all time. He’s arguably the best small forward of all time. Bird was part of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included , Robert Parish and Kevin Mchale.
Bird received a scholarship to play college basketball for the Indiana University Hoosiers in 1974. he dropped out of school After a month. He came from a small town named french lick and the campus, was just too big for him. He returned to French Lick, worked municipal jobs for a year before enrolling at Indiana State University in 1975. He helped his high school to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history with a 33-0 record where they played the 1979 championship game against Earvin johnson’ Michigan State. It was the first time the two star players would face each other in a head-to-head battle, and it began a friendship and rivalry that would span both players' careers.
Bird was selected 6th by the Boston Celtics in the 1978 NBA draft and immediately transformed the Celtics into a title contender, helping them improve their win total by 32 games from the year before he was drafted . He averaged 21.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.7 steals per game for the season. Bird was named MVP of the 1983–84 season with averages of 24.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.8 steals per game.[23] Avenging their loss from the year, the celtics beat the Bucks, and advance to the Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Boston won the series in seven. Bird was named Finals MVP behind 27.4 points, 14 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.
In the summer of 1985, Larry injured his back shoveling crushed rock to create a driveway at his mother's house. At least partially as a result of this, he experienced back problems for the remainder of his career.
The following year, which saw Boston win its 16th championship, Bird He was NBA MVP, Finals MVP, He led the league in three-pointers made (82) and in free throw percentage (.896), an unheard-of accomplishment for a forward. He placed in the top 10 in three other categories. He even won the first-ever three-point shooting competition at the NBA All-Star Weekend. The Celtics finished the 1985-86 season with a 67-15 record; their best under Bird. In the NBA Finals against Houston, Bird nearly averaged a triple-double (24.0 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 9.5 apg). In the decisive Game 6 Bird tallied 29 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. He earned a second Finals MVP Award. Bird, Wilt and Russell are the only players in NBA history to three-peat. The next year He became the first player ever to shoot 50-40-90.
Bird in 1987 advanced to the NBA Finals for the fourth consecutive year, meeting the Lakers for the third time. But Los Angeles won the series in six games. Bird, now 30 years old and with worsening back condition and foot problems as well, would not win a fourth championship ring. But his legend goes way beyond stats. The fear he created for his opponents was the real measure of his greatness.
He had an unlimited confidence in himself and backed up every single thing he said.
There thousands of stories about him. Reggie Miller, In his book, talks about the time he made an effort to distract Larry Bird, who was shooting free throws down the stretch. Bird told Miller, “Rook, I am the best fucking shooter in the league. In the league, understand? And you’re up here trying to fucking tell me something?” And, of course, Larry made both.
An other time against the Dallas Mavericks, Bird walked over to mavericks bench after a timeout and told them "I’m gonna stand right here. I’m not going to move. They’ll pass me the ball, and the next sound you hear will be the ball hitting the bottom of the net.” And that is exactly what happened.
Larry Bird was scared of no oneDuring his years with the Detroit Pistons, Rodman recalls a time when Bird made four straight baskets on him and walked over to Pistons head coach Chuck Daly. “Who’s guarding me, Chuck? Is anyone guarding me? You better get someone on me or I’m gonna go for 60.” , Larry continued the trash talk. Rodman recalls, “I would be all over him, trying to deny him the ball, and all Larry was doing was yelling at his teammates, 'I’m open! Hurry up before they notice nobody is guarding me!'” After knocking down another jumper on Rodman, Bird went over to Daly again, saying, “Coach, you better get this guy out and send in somebody who’s going to D me up because it's too easy when I’m wide open like this.”
Larry was so great that one day he challenged himself to played the majority of the game against Portland left-handed. Bill Walton remembers this time when Bird he said, 'Tomorrow night’s the last game of the trip, I’m going to play this one left-handed, at least through three quarters.'”the Celtics forward ended up with 47 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.
Stats can’t describe the level of dominance of great players. Mr Bird didn’t care about records as much as winning.
On February 18th, 1985, as Boston beat the Utah Jazz, 110-94, at Salt Lake City, Larry Bird was about to realize one of the most difficult accomplishments in basketball. He recorded a statline of 30 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 9 steals in only three quarters - a single steal away from a quadruple double! When asked if he wanted to re-enter in the fourth quarter, he refused. We got to remember the context: At the time, the only quadruple-double officially recorded was by Nate Thurmond of the Chicago Bulls, who had 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots in a 120-115 overtime victory over Atlanta on Oct. 18, 1974. When informed of his opportunity, Bird chose not to go back into the game after being taken out in the third quarter. He just said I already did enough damage. Why go for it if we're up by 30?"" and sat out. He totaled 33 minutes. The small forward also had nine steals, so it wouldn't have been too difficult for him to record a quadruple double and join the exclusive fraternity.
Larry was the best player in an era with tough competition. The Eastern Conference saw teams like the Philadelphia 76ers with Dr. J, Bobby Jones, Andrew Toney, Maurice Cheeks and Moses Malone. The Milwaukee Bucks brought Sidney Moncrief, Bob Lanier and Marques Johnson. The soon-to-be title-winning Detroit Pistons, who started to come into their own in 1985, were building their team. And what about Dominique Wilkins and his Atlanta Hawks or the New York Knicks led by Bernard King….AND los angeles lakers with Kareem abdul jabbar, Magic, Worthy, Byron scott etc…
Larry Bird made everybody around him better and in the playoffs was as clutch as any player who ever lived. Pat Riley once said, if I want to win games, I will choose MJ to shoot the ball, but if my life is on the line, I will choose Bird to shoot the ball. Jordan once said, aside from him, he wll choose Bird to take the last shot. Larry Bird all the way
When the game was on the line everyone knew who it was going to and when it was in his hands there was nobody that could stop him from taking and making that shot.
To know more about the subject:
10 fascinating facts about Larry Bird". Archived from the original on May 7, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
Reggie Miller, Gene Wojciechowski I love being the enemy 1995
Kevin McHale shares a classic Larry Bird trash talk story". USA Today. May 1, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
Parquet, Professor (October 30, 2014). "How Larry Bird won the first 3 All-Star shootouts". CelticsBlog. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
The 50-40-90 Club Could Be Expanding". OpenCourt-Basketball. January 2, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
Who's The Best Small Forward Of All Time: Larry Bird Or LeBron James?". CBS Boston. June 22, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
Professor Parquet (January 7, 2015). "The story of how rookie phenom Larry Bird led the NBA's greatest turnaround season – CelticsBlog". CelticsBlog. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
Deford, Frank (March 21, 1988). "Boston's Larry Bird, in what may be his finest season, gets Red Auerbach's vote—over Bill Russell—as the best ever". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
Goss, Nicholas. "Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and the 10 Best Closers in NBA History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
Ranking 10 Most Clutch Players in NBA History". Orlando Magic. February 7, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
