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've always been interested in jobs in the NBA. But I've been in this for 20 years and it might be time to do something else.
As far as playing, I didn't care who guarded me - red, yellow, black. I just didn't want a white guy guarding me, because it's disrespect to my game.
Once you are labeled 'the best' you want to stay up there, and you can't do it by loafing around.
I can see why fans don't like to watch pro basketball. I don't, either. It's not exciting.
I just shoot until I feel good.
Who in their right mind wouldn't listen to what Larry Bird tells them? He knows what it takes to be a successful player, and he's letting us do the things to have the success.
I mean, the greatest athletes in the world are African-American.
It makes me sick when I see a guy just stare at a loose ball and watch it go out of bounds.
It's been a journey, the NBA. It's taken me a lot farther than I ever expected.
The best players will play. That's the way it will always be.
Guys like Larry Bird -- he played so hard, he wants everybody else to play hard. That's not unreasonable. Any coach would want that and demand that.
I've been around a while. I kinda know these things.
When I was a player, I didn't expect my teammates to play the way I did. I did expect them to work hard hard every day and get better. And I never learned anything by losing.
I wanted to compete at the highest level again - and that's the NBA.