Legendary Larry Hall of Fame
Springfield-bound Bird ‘was pretty special’
Want to be the best at something?
Then study Larry Bird.
He’s all about being the best.
Thanks to his three fun-filled seasons at Indiana State University and his 13-year playing career with the NBA’s Boston Celtics, Bird will be one of seven new members heading into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday. His selection was announced in June.
Induction ceremonies for Bird, former Harlem Globetrotter ball-handler Marques Haynes, veteran Rochester Royals and Celtics star Arnie Risen and veteran coaches Lenny Wilkens (already inducted as a player in 1989), Alex Hannum, Aleksandar Nikolic and Judy Conradt will take place at Springfield, Mass., the birthplace of basketball. Haynes, Nikolic and Conradt, as well as Bird, were chosen in their first year of eligibility.
But make no mistake about it. Bird, arguably the best forward ever to play the game, will be the featured attraction.
‘‘I wouldn’t miss it,’’ said Red Auerbach, the retired Celtics general manager who drafted Bird in 1978.
‘‘I’m certain no one finds it surprising,’’ noted longtime Bird friend Max Gibson, a Terre Haute businessman. ‘‘His ability to concentrate is one of his major assets. He can do that in golf, tennis, coaching basketball or whatever.’’
Before Auerbach or Gibson ever met Larry Bird, the seeds for his Hall of Fame basketball career were planted in southern Indiana in the mid-1970s.
‘‘I wanted to be the best player on my high school team [at Springs Valley, where he graduated in 1974],’’ Bird recalled during a June 30 news conference in Indianapolis. ‘‘Then in college, I wanted to be the best player on that team.’’
At ISU, the 6-foot-9 forward left no doubt that he was the best player from 1976 to 1979.
Bird led the Sycamores to impressive records of 25-3, 23-9 and 33-1 respectively, including a runner-up finish in the 1979 NCAA tournament. Named NCAA Player of the Year in ’79, he still owns the school’s career records for points (2,850), rebounds (1,247), steals (240), field goals (1,154) and free throws (542). He tallied 40 or more points 15 times.
Bird’s no-look passes, tenacious rebounding and long-range bombs put ISU basketball on the national map, albeit temporarily.
‘‘Larry was pretty special,’’ remembered Bill Hodges, who moved up from assistant to head coach for Bird’s senior year and now works as an assistant at Murray State.
‘‘I’m sure there have been other players who have carried their teams to great heights, but I can’t imagine any player having as much impact on a team as Larry did.’’
Away from the court, Bird performed maintenance work for Terre Haute businessman Max Gibson in his ISU days. The two have maintained a friendship over the years.
‘‘He was here every day,’’ Gibson said, reminiscing about how he caught an early glimpse of Bird’s work ethic. ‘‘He didn’t complain. He just worked.’’
Describing the young Bird as a ‘‘southern Indiana backward farm boy,’’ Gibson remembers his first meeting with the future basketball Hall of Famer.
‘‘Bill Hodges had talked to me about giving Larry a job,’’ he said. ‘‘Then Larry walked by the window and I got excited. He shot baskets with my kids [one son and three daughters]. Then he had dinner with us that night, I think.’’
After Bird accepted a higher-paying job with the Celtics, he helped them capture three NBA championships (1981, 1984 and 1986). He also earned three Most Valuable Player awards and two NBA Finals MVP awards along with being a 12-time all-star before he retired with a bad back in 1992. He ended up with 21,791 regular-season points, an average of 24.3 per game.
He also played on the U.S. Dream Team which won the gold medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona, Spain. With Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler and Christian Laettner as Bird’s teammates, the ’92 Dream Team is considered the best collection of basketball players ever.
In 1996, Bird was named to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. He remains among the all-time leaders in several statistical categories.
Nowadays, the 41-year-old Bird is preparing for his second season as head coach of the Indiana Pacers. In 1997-98, he guided the Pacers to a franchise-record 58 victories and an appearance in the NBA Eastern Conference finals, where they lost to the eventual champion Chicago Bulls four games to three.
Not surprisingly, Bird shrugged off a suggestion that someday he may join Wilkens in the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.
‘‘All I’m trying to do is win a championship in Indiana,’’ he said June 30. ‘‘I know we’ve got a good enough team to do it. Next year, I expect nothing but the best.’’
Considering the NBA’s labor dispute appears nowhere near a settlement, there may not be a season next year.
But if the lockout does get lifted, Bird will be striving for the Pacers to be the best.
Tribune-Star Sports Editor Mark Bennett contributed to this story.
Old friends: Terre Haute businessman Max Gibson (right), with Larry Bird and his brother Eddie (seated), says Larry’s concentration was a key to his success.
File photo by Bob Poynter
Photo illustration above by Tribune-Star graphic artist Wanita Niehaus.