In 1974 Larry Bird was my P.E assistant when I was in the 8th grade and he was a senior at Springs Valley High School. At the beginning of each P.E. class we always ran 10 warmup laps around the gym. One day, a trampoline was set up on the basketball court and there was Larry Bird bouncing on it. As the whistle blew and we reluctantly lined up to run our laps, our teacher (who was also Larry's basketball coach) blew his whistle, and said "Larry is going to take 10 shots while jumping on the trampoline. If Larry makes any shots, each one made will delete a lap that you must run." Coach threw the ball to Larry and right there in front of me and the entire boys Jr. High P.E. class, Larry proceeded to hit 7 out of 10 shots while bouncing up and down on the trampoline, 40 feet away from the goal. Larry set an incredible example for me as a young boy in French Lick, Indiana that helped me through my entire adult career. If you are willing to work very hard and never give up, your dreams can and will come true. Thank you Larry.
"Working hard" is a somewhat ambiguous term. Is it showing up early? Never calling in? Never taking a lunch? What really matters in life is getting an opportunity and taking advantage of it. Some get lucky, others create their own break.
iggypopisgod9 there is no luck in basketball skills, but there is luck involved in a 'cake walk'. LARRY LEGEND was born with a gift and he didn't blow it. As stated by Bird, 'if you give 100% of your talent all the time, then eventually, everything will work out' (paraphrased).
@@ireneduke5022 I was thinking more outside of basketball. Obviously Larry had a gift first, which got him to the NBA. One could practice b ball 24/7 [hard work] , but if you dont have god given talent, waste of time
Bird had incredible style mixed with grit. He could do it pretty, and he could do it ugly, he was smart, and he was willing to fight, backing down from nobody. We need more guys like that in the league today.
Well Sir! There Will Never Be Guys Like Larry, Magic, Mike, McHale, Worthy In The League "EVER AGAIN"👌🏿!! It Was A Special Time And A Special Group Of Guys Who Cared About The Game And What It Meant To A Pro. I Simply Consider Myself Lucky To Have Been Able To Witness Guys Like Larry And The Aforementioned Play Basketball. I Was In Kindergarten When This Game Was Played. DePaul Had Major Talent Coming Through There At That Time. Hell, Mark Aguirre Went As The Top Pick A Few Years Later And His Teammate Terry Cummings Went #2 Or #3 In '82 If My Memory Serves Me Correctly To The Then San Diego Clippers Who Drafted Tony Gwynn Of The Padres At Point Guard.
Davan Mani Especially when you consider that era. Only guards were supposed to handle the ball and pass like that. Bird ( and Magic) changed everyone's perception of what big men could do and the game has never been the same.
Great quality for 35 yrs ago lol. Loving Larry Bird, best player to watch play....Maravich is up there but Bird's team work and hussle/ shooting is just crazy good!
He said (Larry) that him and his dad used to watch PETE do all of that stuff when Pete played at LSU. It's on an espn special where Bird says that. It's on youtube too :)
Pete never knew how to make his teammates better. Before his senior year Press, his dad started talking team ball...LSU had a better team than ISU, Pete avgd. 44 ppg, LIU was abt a .500 team for his 4 years. 4 all his flash he never understood the beautiful subtleties of the team game like Larry did.
Mich St fan here who grew up watching BIRD and he spoiled me so much !!!.......... i still cant figure out how todays player miss wide open shots or are even afraid to take wide open shots..... because i watched BIRD my whole lifew and he almost never missed wide open shots
Jerry West wasn't Forrest Gump either! Jerry and Larry always struck me how identical they were all the way back to their rural upbringings. SI once had a picture of Larry in a Laker's home (gold) uniform--it was like looking at Jerry West 2.0!
@@mja91352 you could argue that Magic was smarter, but to say "much, much smarter" is ridiculous, especially when you consider the fact that much of Magic's game is built on the physical advantages he has over his matchups at the PG spot. Also, John Havlicek? He's a great player, but how many times was he actually the best player on his team? 🤷♂️
The story goes that after the Celtics medical staff found out about Birds injury he was called to Boston to see the team doctor. After the exam the DR told Red Auerbach that Bird was "DAMAGED GOODS". Red told Bird to put on his gym shorts & meet him on the parquet floor. Birds hand was bandaged but Red had him throw and catch various passes. Then Red had him shoot a bunch of different jumpers, Bird draining one after another. Auerbach looked at the doctor, told him " he is fine."
When I get bored I watch Larry Bird highlights on RU-vid. The only other athlete I can do this with is Lawrence Taylor. I don't know a thing about hockey--one day I'll have to see what's available on Wayne Gretzky. I don't think Sandy Koufax is on RU-vid... in 'volume'.
One game Bird had for ISU. It was the opposition’s free throw. Bird winked at one of his guards to run the other side after the shot’s released. The ball fall off the rim. Bird (facing the basket got the ball and without looking and back to the guard) Bird threw the ball behind over his own head to the guard who caught and laid it in on the other side of the court.
Bird has his best game of the 79 NCAA tournament against DePaul, going 16-19 and one shot he missed was a layup. One thing that made Larry SO tough is that he could go either way, shooting equally well with either hand. He was probably a better shooter in college than the pros. After graduation he almost torn the pinky finger of his right hand off playing softball. He said "he never had the same feel for the ball after that." One of the smartest, toughest players ever! Liked watching him play!
I am a DePaul alum who was at that game my senior year. Bird flat out dominated the game on offense. DePaul played very well and had a chance to go ahead at the end when Gary Garland passed up an open16 foot jumpshot and passed to Aguirre who was triple teamed. Even though we lost, it was a great experience never to be forgotten.
@@irishgrl I stand corrected, you are right!! Thankfully it didn't keep him from playing bball. He is my all time favorite & one of the Greatest to ever play!!
yeah.. index finger actually was the softball incident - it was permanently at a 45-degrees angle, still is to this day. pinky mangle happened in pro-career.. how he shot with that hand, no one will ever know lol
Wow, his game was _all there_ already. That venue was vibrating with excitement, like a hardware store paint mixer - and he was the motor. Thanks for posting this!
I remember as a kid, half watching a college game on TV. It was either ‘78 or ‘79. Anyway, ‘this guy’ kept on throwing up the most amazing shots… Watched again, a week, or so, later - same unbelievable performance! It was at that moment, I said, “Who is this guy!” From that point on, I paid full attention!! Larry Legend!
Larry Bird is one of the best players ever - and may be the best college player ever - he took Indiana State to #1 and a national title game - INDIANA STATE for pete's sake.
ZZBlue....the year he joined, Indiana State went from 13-12 (previous to his joining) to 25-3. He averaged 32.8 points and 13.3 rb per game in his first year in college. Ridiculous.
Lebron would never pass and shoot like Bird, take aside some other aspects of the game.. for me Birds best SF of all times. Lebrons a hell of a player but Id take prime Bird all night long
@@dwightlove3704 yeah but from the mouths of Kareem magic Jordan worthy Isaiah Wilkins and all them cats they all say bird was the best player they ever seen that means something dude played 11 and 2 half years was mvp 3 times and runner up 8 times in that era with all those legends and bird is only player to beat all of them in the playoffs
Seems like he added more post moves when he went to the NBA. Instincts were amazing too. For a slow guy he's always in the right spot at the right time.
@@irishgrl It just occurred to me 🤔 that Bird graduated from high school in 1974, went to IU that fall but didn't turn 18 until December of that year. December 7, 1956 to September, 1974.
Things were different then. I grew up, one state away, in Ohio, and maybe saw Bird play twice on TV before his senior year tournament. He was a mystery (remember the SI cover "Indiana State's secret weapon"). And I was a college basketball junkie. As much as one could be back then. Got my "Street & Smith's" memorized the players...
Love how Larry would find new shots mid-game in the NBA. If a 7 footer (or Pippen & Jordan that time in the Playoffs) came out to block him, he'd put up this ridiculous rainbow with wayyy more arc than normal. It was a thing of beauty that I never saw other players pull off like Larry
desde el 78 al 88 tuvimos la suerte de ver al mejor jugador de la historia del baloncesto mundial si no llega a ser por espalda y lesiones diversas hubiera sido indiscutible su superioridad pero solo le bastó una década para dejar una huella y una forma de ver el juego todavía no alcanzada por nadie. PURA INTELIGENCIA Y CONOCIMIENTO DEL JUEGO Y FUNDAMENTOS TODO ERA TAN FÁCIL PARA LARRY Y SIN LEVANTAR LOS PIES DEL SUELO... IRREPETIBLE ÚNICO MAGISTRAL POCO MAS SE PUEDE DECIR GRACIAS POR HACERME SENTIR Y AMAR ESTE JUEGO Y POR HACERME TAN FELIZ POR TODO LO QUE DISFRUTE Y APRENDÍ DEL JUEGO FOR EVER LARRY BIRD
I always loved Larry Bird. I saw him on TV because in my area they usually showed popular teams. We didn't have Hornets then. After watching this video, you can see he is leaps and bounds better than most of players on the court. He manages to make most of teammates look better because of assists. He knows where to put the ball to score.
I grew up watching Bird. When I I was about 11, my family took me to Disney World. It was the same year the Celtics and the Lakers were going at it in the Championship. The first time they played each other. I remember riding home on the bus and a guy was arguing with his wife about getting back home to watch the game. He was Ike, " you don't understand it's the Celtics and the Lakers." It was a pretty awesome series in his defense.
The best college basketball players of all-time. 1. Pete Maravich 2. Larry Bird 3. Bill Walton 4. David Thompson 5. Kareem Abdul Jabbar 6. Bobby Jones 7. Tim Duncan 8. Cedric Maxwell 9. Oscar Robertson 10. Jerry West
Great list, but I'd have to include Ralph Sampson on there somewhere. Sampson played at Virginia, and earned three Naismith Awards as the National Player of the Year, only the second athlete to do so (Bill Walton was the first), and a pair of Wooden Awards. Not to mention where Virginia was before he arrived (nowhere), during his time there (routinely ranked #1) and after (nowhere again) his Virginia playing days were over.
I remember Mark Aquirre talking about how good Larry Bird was while playing pick up b-ball at Delano school playground (3900 W.Wilcox)on the west side of Chicago.Mark and Skip Dilliard(both played at Westinghouse High)were always at that court(Skip lived 1 block over on Monroe St.)With all the pro talent in that area(Russell Cross(Manley High),Benard Randolph(Westinghouse) etc. and plenty of guys who were better but never made it.I didn't mention Isiah because his family kept him away from those oftentimes dangerous areas.Of all the talent,Mark would talk about Bird being the best he competed against.
You do know he did transfer, don't you? He started at Indiana but was more comfortable in a small town, so he transferred to Indiana State in Terre Haute.
The well-known assessment on Bird has always been, "He can't jump; he's slow." But until his back broke down toward the last few years of his career, his body was able to do everything it needed to do for Bird. His body and physical abilities were just fine.
Pretty much everybody above Boston in the 1978 draft needed help NOW and could not wait a year for Bird to come out. Boston was willing to take the chance and it payed off.
BIRD WAS UNSTOPPABLE INSIDE AND OUT. HE UNDERSTOOD HOW TO POSITION HIS BODY INSIDE TO SCORE AND REBOUND. HE WOULD HEAD FAKE, AND USE LEFT OR RIGHT HAND. HE COULD DO IT ALL. THE BEST ALL-AROUND PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF THE NBA. HE BEAT EM ALL...ALL THE GREATEST HALL-OF- FAMERS. HE SWEPT MJ AND THE BULLS TWICE IN THE PLAYOFFS. IN MY OPINION, HE IS THE G.O.A.T.
Larry Bird's performance in this game was possibly the best ever at the final four.... However, DePaul might have had the team balance and skill to play with Michigan State in the title game, which Indiana State did not.
@@mja91352 I believe this is better than Walton's. I respect and think the world of Bill, but he had 2 offensive goaltending calls in that game, had a dunk waived off and actually scored an inadvertent basketball for Memphis. So in real terms, he was 21 for 26 - still tremendous. But he got in early foul trouble and was not effective defensively until the late going. I'd put Bird's performance vs. DePaul higher up.
And still DePaul was within one basket on winning ... but Magic & Michigan State out an end to the hype in the Finals. (And mire Finals in the NBA to come!)
Mid-range shoooting is the most underrated skill in basketball, and this game illustrates how a good mid-range shooter can dominate a game while making it look easy. Fun fact: Larry Bird had a mediocre 37.6% 3-point shooting percentage in his NBA career, and a below-25% 3 point shooting percentage during the regular season of two of the three years his team won a ring. Bird never averaged more than 1.3 converted 3 pointers/game in his entire NBA career.
Best player per physical attributes. There are a handful of players that are at his level, but of all of them he did it all with the least impressive set of physical attributes. He's tall, but so are tons of NBA people. But he can't jump much, he's not that fast, etc. Unfortunately he messed up his back in the latter part of his career, so he was really limited then.
I watched this game cause I`m from CHICAGO & I was pulling for the blue demons. ONLY George mikan aDEPAUL ALUM could`ve stop LARRY in UTAH that night!!!!!
Part if the reason was that Bird had said he was going back to school in 1979. Under NBA draft rules then players who had eligibility left could be drafted when their original class had four years of eligibility used up. The teams drafting above Boston didn't want to wait a yet. Red Auerbach was willing to wait and it paid off. If Bird had come out as he could of the Pacers were going to take him #1 overall
Great player.Phenomenal shooting touch.Fine passing skills and stellar defensive player.But not quite at the level of Michael and LeBron.This is because Bird`s physical skills-his strength, speed and jumping ability-were mediocre.Still, Bird was one of the ten best hoopers of all time.He ranked near the bottom rung of the top ten.
@@jimmckittrick6515 Admittedly, Larry Bird was "downright tough."Its hard to find anything wrong with Larry`s game.Without a doubt he is an all time basketball great.But I have to say this: Lebron would have thrived in the physicality of 1980s basketball.Thats because he is so strong and gifted physically.The flopping is just an act designed for the times.In a different environment Lebron wouldnt have flopped at all.Woe unto the opponents who would have tried to get physically tough with Lebron James. This super athlete would have crushed such people.
the 81 finals mvp didn't get awarded to larry bird and the scoring from larry bird didn't equal the scoring from michael jordan and with help from robert parish and kevin mchale that caused the bulls to go 0-6 in the 86 and 87 playoffs vs the celtics
And silly Rodman and Isaiah said he would be just an average black player. 😕 By the looks of the video, he was better than everybody else on the court, combined. 😉 No wonder the Dream Teamers didn’t respect Isaiah and didn’t want to be his teammate.
I never understood that comment to be honest when he's out there making black players look stupid on a nightly basis. I think it was more aimed at the media and taken out of context, like if he was black he'd just be another good player in the nba but cos he was white the media loved him, but it wasn't the case at all as it doesn't matter about the colour of his skin he was the best player in the NBA during the 80s, Magic was great Jordan came later on but a prime Bird was just ridiculous and deserves every accolade he's ever given because he was that damn good
no reason to dribble between the legs while bringing the ball up as todays players do how stupid!!!??? plus......why waste energy dunking when you can just lay it in???? todays game is so inferior
dribbling between the legs doesn't accomplish a whole lot, and it CAN be stolen. dribbling behind the back, especially when you're receiving a fast break pass at halfcourt with a guy right on you, it makes it so the defender can't possibly steal the ball plus you beat him at the same time. Bird did the behind the back when it made sense.
