Larry Bird

Bird was born December 7, 1956, in West Baden Springs, Indiana, to Georgia Marie (née Kerns; 1930–1996) and Claude Joseph "Joe" Bird (1926–1975), a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. His parents were of Irish, Scottish and Native American descent. Bird has four brothers and a sister. Bird was raised in nearby French Lick, where his mother worked two jobs to support Larry and his five siblings. Bird has said that being poor as a child still motivates him "to this day." Georgia and Joe divorced when Larry was in high school, and Joe committed suicide in February 1975. Bird used basketball as an escape from his family troubles, starring for Springs Valley High School (Class of 1974) and averaging 31 points, 21 rebounds, and 4.0 assists as a senior on his way to becoming the school's all-time scoring leader. Bird wore the jersey number 33 in high school because his brother Mark had previously had it; he kept that number through his college and professional career. According to Bird, he grew up as a huge fan of the Indiana Pacers in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and center Mel Daniels, who represented his first exposure to professional basketball. Daniels would coincidentally become an assistant coach to Bird at Indiana State University. ==College career==

Bird received a scholarship to play college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers under head coach Bob Knight in 1974. After less than a month on the Indiana University Bloomington campus, Bird dropped out of school, finding the adjustment between his small hometown and the large student population of Bloomington to be overwhelming. He had a successful three-year career with the Sycamores, helping them reach the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history with a 33–0 record where they played the 1979 championship game against Michigan State. Indiana State lost the game 75–64, with Bird scoring 19 points but making only 7 of 21 shots. leading the Sycamores to an 81–13 record during his tenure. He graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education. Bird's youngest brother, Eddie, also played basketball at Indiana State. ==Professional career==

Boston Celtics (1979–1992) Joining the Celtics (1978–1979) Bird was selected by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft. Shortly afterwards, NBA draft eligibility rules were changed to prevent teams from drafting players before they were ready to sign, a rule known as the Bird Collegiate Rule. In his career debut, Bird recorded 14 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in a 114–106 victory over the Houston Rockets. On November 14, 1979, he recorded his first career triple-double with 23 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists in a 115–111 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Nine days later, Bird recorded his first 30-point scoring game (along with 11 rebounds and 3 assists) in a 118–103 victory over the Indiana Pacers. With averages of 21.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.7 steals per game for the season, he was selected to the All-Star Team and named Rookie of the Year. forming a Hall of Fame trio for years to come; the front-court of Bird, McHale, and Parish is regarded as one of the greatest front-courts in NBA history. Behind Bird's leadership and Boston's upgraded roster, the Celtics again advanced to the Conference Finals for a rematch with the 76ers. Boston fell behind 3–1 to start the series but won the next three games to advance to the Finals against the Houston Rockets, winning in six games and earning Bird his first championship. At the 1982 All-Star Game, Bird scored 19 points en route to winning the All-Star Game MVP Award. At the end of the season, he earned his first All-Defensive Team selection. Boston's misfortunes continued into the next season, with Bird again finishing second in MVP voting to Malone and the team losing in the conference semifinals to the Milwaukee Bucks. MVP three-peat (1983–1986) Bird was slated to become a free agent after the 1983–84 season. In 1983, as part of a collective bargaining agreement, the NBA initially implemented a "hard" salary cap (meaning total player salaries could not exceed a certain limit) which would not go into effect until the 1984–85 season. The NBA quickly modified this to a "soft cap", meaning the cap could be exceeded in order for a team to re-sign its own free agents. This came to be erroneously known as the "Larry Bird Rule"; the Celtics didn't actually invoke the exception to specifically re-sign Bird, as the cap wasn't in effect. Bird signed his seven-year, $12.6 million extension in 1983, before the cap came into effect and the Celtics were actually over the cap in total player salaries (including Bird's extension) at the time the cap was implemented. 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. In Game 4, the Lakers—led by Bird's college rival Magic Johnson—were on the verge of taking a commanding 3–1 series lead before a flagrant foul was committed on Kurt Rambis that resulted in a brawl and caused the Lakers to lose their composure. Boston came back to win that game and eventually won the series in seven games. On March 12 of the 1984–85 season, Bird scored a career-high and franchise record 60 points in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. The performance came just nine days after Kevin McHale set the previous Celtics record for points in a game with 56. At the end of the year, Bird was named MVP for the second consecutive season, behind averages of 28.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game. During the 1985 offseason, Bird injured his back shoveling crushed rock to create a driveway at his mother's house. At least partially as a result of this, Bird experienced back problems for the rest of his career. Before the start of the 1985–86 season, the Celtics made a daring trade for Bill Walton, an All-Star center with a history of injury. The risk paid off; Walton's acquisition helped Boston win a league best 67 games. One of Bird's career highlights occurred at the 1986 NBA All-Star Weekend when he walked into the locker room at the inaugural Three-Point Shootout and asked who was going to finish second before winning the shootout. On November 27, 1985, Bird recorded 47 points to go along with 12 rebounds, two assists, and two steals in a 132–124 victory over the Detroit Pistons. On March 10, 1986, he scored 50 points to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists in a narrow 116–115 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. With averages of 25.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 6.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game, Bird became just the third player in NBA history to win three consecutive MVP Awards. In the playoffs, the Celtics lost only one game through the first three rounds en route to a match-up against the Rockets in the Finals. He averaged 24 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game for the championship round. The 1985–86 Celtics are commonly ranked as one of the greatest basketball teams of all time, with the Boston Globes Peter May and Grantland's Bill Simmons listing them at number one. Falling short (1986–1988) In 1987, the Celtics made their last Finals appearance of Bird's career, fighting through difficult series against the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons. In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons, with five seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and Boston trailing the Pistons 107–106, Bird stole an inbound pass. Falling out of bounds, Bird turned and passed the ball to teammate Dennis Johnson, who converted a game-winning layup with less than a second left. The dramatic play saved the series for the Celtics. In the Finals, the Celtics faced a dominant Lakers team that had won 65 games during the season. The Celtics ended up losing to the Lakers in six games, with Bird averaging 24.2 points on .445 shooting, 10 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. The 1987–88 season was the highest-scoring season of Bird's career. Aided by a new weight training regimen along with a shorter hairstyle after years of sporting a mullet, Bird would average nearly 30 points on 53% shooting, as the Celtics topped the Eastern Conference with 57 wins. In Game 7 of the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, Bird shot 9-of-10 from the floor in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 points in that quarter and lifting the Celtics to a series-clinching victory. Bird finished with 34 points. His effort helped to overcome a 47-point performance by Atlanta's Dominique Wilkins. Wilkins remarked, "The basket was like a well. I couldn't miss. He couldn't miss. And it went down to the last shot of the game. Who was going to make the last shot? That's the greatest game I've ever played in or seen played." The Celtics failed to reach the NBA Finals for the first time in five years, losing to the Pistons in six games during the Eastern Conference Finals. Between them, Bird and Johnson captured eight NBA championships during the 1980s, with Magic getting five and Bird three. During the 1980s, either Boston or Los Angeles appeared in every NBA Finals. Late career (1988–1992) Bird's 1988–89 season ended after six games when he had bone spurs surgically removed from both of his heels. Bird returned to the Celtics in 1989, but debilitating back problems and an aging Celtic roster prevented him from regaining his prime form. Nonetheless, during the final years of his career, Bird maintained his status as one of the premier players in the game. In his final three seasons with the Celtics, Bird averaged over 20 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists per game, shot better than 45% from the field, and led the Celtics to playoff appearances. After leading the Celtics to a 29–5 start to the 1990–91 season, Bird missed 22 games due to a compressed nerve root in his back, a condition that eventually led to his retirement. Bird had off-season surgery to remove a disc from his back, but his back problems continued and Bird missed 37 games during the 1991–92 season. During the 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Bird missed four of the seven games due to recurring back problems. During Bird's final two seasons when he had serious back problems, the Celtics went 71–28 when he played. Without Bird, they had a 30–29 record, further demonstrating his importance and game-changing ability while on the court. On August 18, 1992, Bird announced his retirement from the NBA. Following Bird's departure, the Celtics promptly retired his jersey number 33. ==Rivalry with Magic Johnson==

(pictured) is often credited with popularizing the NBA. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are known to be "one of the greatest rivalries in sports." Their rivalry began in college, when Bird and Indiana State lost to Johnson and Michigan State in the NCAA Championship game. Their rivalry continued on in the revived Celtics–Lakers rivalry in the NBA. Either the Celtics, led by Bird, or the Lakers, led by Magic, were present in every NBA Finals series in the '80s, with Bird and Magic meeting thrice. Magic got the upper hand against Bird, beating him in 1985 and 1987, while Bird beat Magic in 1984. Throughout the 1980s, contests between the Celtics and the Lakers—both during the regular season and in the Finals—attracted enormous television audiences. The first regular-season game between the Celtics and the Lakers in the 1987–88 season proved to be a classic with Magic Johnson banking in an off-balance shot from near the three-point line at the buzzer for a narrow 115–114 Lakers victory at Boston Garden. The historical rift between the teams, which faced each other several times in championship series of the 1960s, fueled fan interest in the rivalry. Bird and Magic's presence on the court was only a small part of their contribution to basketball, as their rivalry changed the landscape of the NBA, transforming it from a "struggling, barely profitable league into a highly visible, financial and marketing dream for teams and players alike." Journalists speculated that Bird and Magic represented different contrasts, such as clashes between Celtics and Lakers, between East and West, and between Blacks and Whites. But, as one journalist would say, "They looked different, perhaps, but take a chainsaw to their souls and they were fraternal, if not identical, friends." Watching Bird play was like watching Magic play, as they both shared this talent that the league had never seen before. They each had charisma, deft shooting touch, extraordinary passing skills, and team-oriented mindset that ignited their team and the crowd. This style of play was starting to influence a new horde of fans as they would sit and "marvel at what they [Bird and Magic] can do" while giving younger kids "a different perspective of the game." Despite the intensity of their rivalry, Bird and Johnson became friends off the court. Their friendship blossomed when the two players worked together to film the Converse commercial, which depicted them as archenemies. Johnson appeared at Bird's retirement ceremony on February 4, 1993, and emotionally described Bird as a "friend forever." ==National team career==

During the summer of 1992, Bird joined Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and other NBA stars to play for the United States men's national basketball team in that year's Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. It was the first time in the United States' Olympic history that the country sent NBA players to compete. Although head coach Chuck Daly initially suggested that Jordan captain the team, he declined and so Bird and Magic Johnson had co-captaincy of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team. The "Dream Team" won the men's basketball gold medal. In eight games, Bird averaged 8.4 points. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame called the team "the greatest collection of basketball talent on the planet." ==Player profile==

Bird has been described as one of the greatest basketball players and greatest shooters of all time. He was selected to 12 NBA All-Star teams. Bird won three NBA championships (in 1981, 1984, and 1986) with the Celtics He won three consecutive regular season MVP awards; as of 2020, the only other players to accomplish this feat are Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. Bird was also a four-time regular season MVP runner-up in 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1988. Bird scored 24.3 points per game in his career on a .496 field goal percentage, an .886 free throw percentage, and a .376 percentage on three-point shots. Bird had an average of 10.0 rebounds per game for his career and 6.3 assists. Bird was the first player in NBA history to shoot 50% or better on field goals, 40% on three-pointers, and 90% on free-throws in a single NBA season while achieving the league minimum for makes in each category. He accomplished this feat twice. Bird won NBA three-point-shooting contests in three consecutive years. He sometimes practiced shooting three-point shots with his eyes closed. Pat Riley (who had coached the LA Lakers featuring Magic Johnson against Bird's Celtics in three NBA Finals), when asked about his opinion of the best clutch performer, said "If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save a game, I'd choose Michael Jordan. If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save my life, I'd take Larry Bird." Bird is also remembered as an excellent passer and defender. In recognition of his defensive abilities, Bird was named to three All-Defensive Second Teams. Bird was known for telling his opponents how and where in the court he would score against them; Xavier McDaniel recounted that Bird predicted a game-winning shot against him, then "shot a shot right in my face and was like 'Damn, I didn't mean to leave two seconds on the clock.'" When playing against Dennis Rodman, a player known for his defensive abilities, in the 1987 Eastern Conference finals, Bird continually belittled Rodman's ability, at one point asking Chuck Daly, Detroit's head coach, to send in someone up to the task of guarding him. Knowing that Bird used such chirping to raise his own game, Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan discouraged his rookie teammate B.J. Armstrong from responding to Bird, saying: "Not a single person. Not one word. No one talk to Larry Bird". Jordan has since stated, "Larry Bird is the greatest trash-talker and mind-game player of all time. He taught me everything I know about getting in folks' heads". Bird was widely considered one of Red Auerbach's favorite players, and he considered Bird to be the greatest basketball player of all time. Bird's humble roots were the source of his most frequently used moniker, "The Hick from French Lick". Bird was also referred to as "Larry Legend". Michael Jordan himself considers the description 'God disguised as Michael Jordan' as his favorite compliment since it came from Bird (after Game 2 of the Celtics' first-round series against the Bulls during the 1986 playoffs when Jordan scored an NBA playoff-record 63 points in a 135-131 Celtics win). Jordan has since said "Larry Bird's comments gave me credibility. Up to that point I was still perceived as a hotshot rookie, not a real player. When Bird acknowledged my performance, I became a player. I still wasn't up to his level, but I was now a player who was marked as a star, a potential Hall of Famer depending upon how I took those comments. Off the court, Larry Bird intimidated me because of who he was, what he had accomplished. And the fact that he was Larry Legend". In another example of how Bird was respected as one of the NBA's all-time greats, Jordan deferred to Bird and Magic Johnson for co-captaincy of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team. Legacy Bird was voted onto the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team list in 1996, and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame again in 2010, as a member of the "Dream Team". In 1999, Bird ranked 30 on ESPN SportsCentury's list of 50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th century. Bird also ranked No. 24 on the Associated Press's list of the 100 Greatest Athletes of the 20th century in 1999. He played both the small forward and power forward positions. Universally recognized as an all-time great player, Bird was placed at the power forward position on an NBA all-time starting five roster with fellow superstars Magic Johnson (point guard), Michael Jordan (shooting guard), LeBron James (small forward), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (center) in 2020. In 2011, Bird was honored with a lifetime achievement award at The Sports Museum's 10th annual The Tradition event (celebrating New England athletes) held at TD Garden. The Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year trophy is named in Birds honor. There is a street named in Bird's honor on the campus of Indiana State University. In 2013, the university unveiled a bronze statue of Bird (wearing his Sycamores jersey, in mid-jump-shot pose) in front of the Hulman Center. In addition, Bird's former teammate Bob Heaton, then serving in the Indiana House of Representatives, read a proclamation from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence proclaiming Nov. 9th as Larry Bird Day in the state of Indiana. At the 2019 NBA Awards, Bird received the NBA Lifetime Achievement Award (shared with Magic Johnson). Since 2022, the NBA will award the MVPs for the conference finals; the Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy is named in Bird's honor, while the Western Conference trophy is named after Johnson. In October 2021, as part of the NBA's 75th Anniversary, Bird was honored as one of the 75 greatest players of all time, by being named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team. In May 2024, the Larry Bird Museum was opened in Terre Haute, Indiana. The museum contains memorabilia from Bird's high school, college and NBA career along with interactive exhibits and interviews with coaches, teammates and rivals. ==Coaching and executive careers==

, Boston The Celtics employed Bird as a special assistant in the team's front office from 1992 until 1997. In 1997, Bird accepted the position of head coach of the Indiana Pacers. Bird said that he would be on the job for no more than three years. Despite having no previous coaching experience, Bird led the Pacers to a 58–24 record—the franchise's best as an NBA team at the time—in the 1997–98 season, and pushed the eventual champion Chicago Bulls (led by superstar Michael Jordan and head coach Phil Jackson) to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Bird then led the Pacers to consecutive Central Division titles in 1999 and 2000, and a berth in the 2000 NBA Finals where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers (coached by Phil Jackson) in six games. In 2003, Bird was hired as the Indiana Pacers' president of basketball operations. One of Bird's first acts as Pacers president was to replace Isiah Thomas with Rick Carlisle as head coach, due to the team's underachievement under Thomas. From 2006 onwards, Bird overhauled the roster by trading away veterans while making savvy draft picks, since the Pacers were a small-market team that could not chase expensive free agents. After the 2011–2012 NBA season, when the Pacers secured the No. 3 seed in the East and had the fifth-best record (42–24) in the league, Bird was named NBA Executive of the Year, becoming the only man in NBA history to win the NBA MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year. On the day before the 2012 NBA draft, Bird and the Pacers announced that they would be parting ways; he said that health issues were among the reasons for his departure. Bird returned to the Pacers as president of basketball operations in 2013. Bird continued to serve as an advisor until July 2022, when he "stepped back from maintaining an active role with the Indiana Pacers." Nearly a year later in June 2023, it was announced that the Pacers re-hired Bird to serve as a consultant. something he has noted before. He stated in 2016, "Sometimes my job really sucks." ==Career statistics==

Playing NBA Regular season Playoffs Career-highs in regular season Career-highs in playoffs College Head coaching record ==Awards and honors==

NBA • 3× NBA champion (, , ) • 2× NBA Finals MVP (, ) • 3× NBA Most Valuable Player (–) • 12× NBA All-Star (–, –) • NBA All-Star Game MVP () • 9× All-NBA First Team (–) • All-NBA Second Team () • 3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (–) • NBA Rookie of the Year () • NBA All-Rookie First Team () • 3× NBA Three-Point Contest Champion (–) • 2× NBA Three-Point Scoring Leader (, ) • 4× NBA Free-Throw Percentage Leader (1984, 1986, 1987, 1990) • 2× NBA minutes played leaders: (, ) • 2× 50–40–90 club (, ) • 7× NBA Player of the Month • 15× NBA Player of the Week • Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996 • Selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021 • No. 33 retired by Boston Celtics • Trophy named in Bird's honor (Larry Bird Trophy) awarded to Eastern Conference Finals MVP (established in 2022) • NBA All-Star Game head coach (1998) • NBA Coach of the Year () • NBA Executive of the Year () • NBA Lifetime Achievement Award (2019) USA Basketball • 1977 World University Games gold medal • 1992 FIBA Americas Championship gold medal • 1992 Olympic gold medal NCAA • 1979 MVC Regular Season Champion • 1979 MVC Tournament Champion • Consensus National Player of the Year (1979) • John R. Wooden Award (1979) • Naismith College Player of the Year (1979) • Oscar Robertson Trophy (1979) • Adolph Rupp Trophy (1979) • AP College Basketball Player of the Year (1979) • Sporting News College Basketball Player of the Year (1979) • UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1979) • NABC Player of the Year (1979) • 2× MVC Player of the Year (1978, 1979) • 2× Consensus first team All-American (1978, 1979) • 2× AP first team All-American (1978, 1979) • 2× NABC first team All-American (1978, 1979) • 2× UPI first team All-American (1978, 1979) • USBWA first team All-American (1979) • USBWA second team All-American (1978) • NABC third team All-American (1977) • UPI third team All-American (1977) • 2× first team All-MVC (1978, 1979) • NCAA total points leader (1979) • No. 33 retired by Indiana State Sycamores Media • Associated Press Athlete of the Year (1986) • Sporting News Athlete of the Year (1986) • 2× Sporting News NBA MVP (1985, 1986) • Sporting News Rookie of the Year (1980) • Sporting News NBA 1980s All-Decade First Team • AP NBA 1980s All-Decade First Team Halls of Fame • Two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee: • 1998 – individual • 2010 – member of "The Dream Team" • U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame (class of 2009 as a member of "The Dream Team") • FIBA Hall of Fame (class of 2017 as a member of "The Dream Team") • Indiana Sports Hall of Fame (inaugural class of 2020) • Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame (class of 2000) • Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame (class of 2000) • Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame (inaugural class of 1997) • National High School Hall of Fame (class of 1995) Other • Received an honorary doctor of law degree from Boston University (2009) ==In popular culture==

• Bird has appeared in three movies, each time playing himself: Blue Chips with Nick Nolte, released in 1994 by Paramount; the Warner Brothers film Space Jam with Michael Jordan and Bill Murray, in 1996; and Celtic Pride with Dan Aykroyd, Daniel Stern, and Damon Wayans, which was also released in 1996. • A fictionalized version of Bird appears in the DIC Entertainment animated series Captain N: The Game Master episode "Pursuit of the Magic Hoop", voiced by Canadian actor Garry Chalk. • Bird's likeness has appeared in several video games. In One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird, Bird plays opposite Julius Erving in a game of one-on-one. A sequel, Jordan vs Bird: One on One, was a 1988 basketball video game. In 2011, Bird was featured on the cover of NBA 2K12, alongside Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Bird is also a playable character in the revamped NBA Jam. • In a McDonald's commercial from 1991 (first aired during the Super Bowl), Bird and Michael Jordan have a trick shot contest, in which the winner got Jordan's lunch and the loser had to watch the winner eat. In a commercial during Super Bowl XLIV, Dwight Howard and LeBron James challenge each other at trick shots for a McDonald's lunch. After they finish, clapping is heard, then the camera pans to the crowd, and Bird says "Great show, guys. Thanks for lunch." Howard and James share a confused look. Howard asks, "Who was that?" James replies, "I have no idea." • In 2013 Bird voiced himself in an episode of Futurama titled "Saturday Morning Fun Pit"; however, Bird did not want anything to do with the role so his only line is a voicemail of him telling the showrunners that he wanted no part in the episode. • Bird has been referenced and parodied in the animated series Family Guy multiple times. In the 2016 episode Peter, Chris, & Brian where Peter Griffin sets up a cutaway when he claims he never did anything important expect beating Larry Bird. In a parody of commercials Bird has done over making outrageous shots in the wager for a McDonald's Big Mac. He physically appears in the 2017 episode "''Peter's'' Def Jam" where Peter and friends observe one of Birds interviews. • Until July 2023, Twitter's logo was named Larry in honor of Larry Bird. • Bird is portrayed by Sean Patrick Small in the HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. ==Personal life==

In 1975, Bird married Janet Condra. They remained married for less than a year. Following an attempted reconciliation, Bird and Condra had a daughter, Corrie, in 1977. Bird married Dinah Mattingly in 1989. They have two adopted children: Conner and Mariah. During his professional career with the Celtics, Bird lived in the Boston suburb of Brookline, Massachusetts. Bird is an active philanthropist, especially through the Boys & Girls Clubs of America along with health-related charitable efforts. However, Bird has kept most of his efforts out of the press, seeking no publicity for his efforts. Bird once stated "All of my donations are sort of made under the table," "I don't need the publicity. I'm not doing it for the publicity. But I do care. And that's what matters most." Bird is known to live a low-key lifestyle; in his spare time his enjoys engaging in hands-on activities. He is an avid fisherman and takes pleasure from playing golf. During his playing days Bird said in his pre-game inspiration that he always looked up at the rafters of the Garden at former Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr's retired No. 4, instead of the retired numbers of Celtics stars such as Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, or John Havlicek. ==Publications==

Film Television Music videos ==See also==