Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Birdis an American retired professional basketball player who played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association. Since retiring as a player, he has been a mainstay in the Indiana Pacers organization, currently serving as team president. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish and forward Kevin McHale...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth7 December 1956
CityWest Baden Springs, IN
CountryUnited States of America
I think what it came down to is that our owner wants to win and, in the end, we did this deal because we knew it would make us a better team.
I think enough is enough. I think Ronnie will do fine, but not here.
When I was a kid, I never thought about anything. Never had to think about where I was going to school or what I was going to do. I just lived minute to minute.
Like me, he plays the game to win, ... Because of his intensity and desire to win, Ronnie's a guy I would pay money to watch play.
He's got great length and he's one of the best shooters in the league. He gives us another dimension on the outside and hopefully that opens things up in the middle.
He was clearly frustrated. Ronnie thinks if we lose, we would have won the game if he had the ball every time. The offense bogs down at times, but it's still a great offense. He held the ball a lot of times. Nothing frustrated me more than him not rebounding, but I didn't go out in the public and say anything.
I ain't gonna sit here and blame it all on Ronnie, because other things happened, too. But in the pros, when you don't win, people are disappointed. I see it and I'm disappointed, too.
I admire the kid. Not for what he did, but how he's come back and he's worked and he's done things to improve himself. I look for a great year out of him.
Some guys can lead and some guys can't. I have a lot of trust in Jermaine and I know he wants to be a good leader. But to just throw him in there and say, 'OK, you're our leader,' that's tough, especially when you're injured a lot. You lead by example and not with words, and when you're not out there every day in practice and games, it's hard to lead.
Any time you deal a player, you would like him to go out of the conference. We're looking at the West, but if it's the East, that's how it's going to be. Whether we get a draft choice or a player, we're going to make sure it's the right deal. We've done enough to back Ronnie. We're in a position where we have to protect the franchise now.
I never dreamed that it would be like this. We're very disappointed in the fact that we had the guys here to do it and to get off to the start we did is very frustrating. We've gone downhill since then. But hopefully we're back on the right track and we can move forward.
I like the way we're playing. Not just because we're winning games, but because of the way we're moving the ball. It seems like we're coming together. We'll win a lot of games doing that.
If there's a deal out there where we think we can better our team, we will do it.
I don't know if this is the right wording, but I felt betrayed. We're disappointed. Things happen, maybe it's a good thing. He's a very talented player. I always liked working with him and how he went about things on the basketball court. He's a top-12 player in the league, but we're in a situation where we have to move on.