Larry Bird
Basketball legend
gave city 'a place on the map'
By David Hughes
Businessmen Max and Greg
Gibson have heard the common misconception.
So has youth sports promoter Jimmy Smith.
Ditto for Mayor Kevin Burke.
Any Terre Haute resident who travels around the nation for business
or pleasure inevitably gets asked where he or she is from.
When the answer is "Terre Haute," a response along
the lines of "Oh, that's where Larry Bird is from"
often follows.
"It still happens today," emphasized Greg Gibson, son
of Max and longtime friend of Bird. "I travel quite a bit
and a lot of people know that Indiana State is in Terre Haute
and they think Larry Bird is from Terre Haute."
Even though Bird was born in West Baden in 1956 and grew up in
French Lick, his name continues to be linked with Terre Haute
26 years after he played his last official basketball game for
Indiana State University.
A 1979 ISU graduate, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame and current president of basketball operations for
the National Basketball Association's Indiana Pacers, Bird occasionally
finds time to return to Terre Haute, said friend and former business
partner Max Gibson.
Bird's most recent high-profile visit came in February 2004 when
ISU conducted a ceremony in Hulman Center to retire the jersey
numbers of Bird and Duane Klueh.
"Indiana State's been great to me," Bird told thousands
of fans at the time. "Terre Haute's been great to me. I
spent four of my best years here in Terre Haute."
After Bird enrolled at ISU in 1975, he sat out one season as
a redshirt and played three seasons from 1976 to 1979, setting
numerous school records along the way. Anyone with a pulse in
Terre Haute in 1979 remembers how Bird led the Sycamores to a
33-1 record and an NCAA runner-up finish.
The 6-foot-9 Bird then took his unique, unselfish talents to
the NBA, where he spent 13 eventful seasons with the Boston Celtics.
Back problems prompted his retirement as a player in 1992, but
he returned to the sport in 1997 to coach the Pacers for three
seasons.
Despite his status in Boston, Indianapolis and French Lick, and
the memories of longtime basketball fans around the world, Bird
is still considered "Terre Haute's own" by many of
this city's residents.
"He put us on the map," said Burke, who was running
his Burke Spring business and attending ISU home games regularly
in the late 1970s. "After '79, vendors would come to Terre
Haute and ask about Larry. People made trips [from out of town]
to Terre Haute to look for Bird stuff."
Through the 1980s and most of the 1990s, the best place to find
"Bird stuff" was Larry Bird's Boston Connection (later
known as Larry Bird's Home Court Hotel) that the Hall of Famer
co-owned with Max and Greg Gibson until they sold the hotel/restaurant/lounge
on South Third Street in 1999.
"It was fun for us for a few years," Max Gibson said,
"and hopefully fun for the community."
Bird's name also was affiliated with the Bird-Gibson Recreational
Facility, which now consists of the Wabash Valley Family Sports
Center and LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course on
240 acres of property in eastern Vigo County. Bird pledged $100,000
toward its development in 1994 in memory of his late father,
Joe Bird.
For close to 20 years, hundreds of golfers enjoyed converging
on the Country Club of Terre Haute in August to compete in the
Larry Bird Classic until the event discontinued a few years ago.
In the event's last few years, proceeds were split between the
Terre Haute Boys and Girls Club and Wabash Valley Family Sports
Center.
Smith, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club and a former
teammate of Bird at ISU, appreciated Bird's efforts in raising
money through the golf tournament, although he could understand
why Bird discontinued it.
"I think it was just a matter of Mariah and Connor [Bird's
children] getting older," Smith said. "I think Larry
and Dinah [Bird's wife] wanted to be able to do more things with
them in August."
Greg Gibson said Bird contributed to many charitable activities
in Terre Haute over the years, either financially or by donating
memorabilia.
"Terre Haute's always going to have a bigger place on the
map because of Larry Bird," Greg Gibson noted.
Tribune-Star sports reporter David Hughes can be reached at
(812) 231-4224 or david.hughes@tribstar.com
|
Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza |
| Hulman Center, 25 years later: Former Indiana State University basketball player Larry Bird accepts a commemorative framed program from ISU President Lloyd Benjamin III during Bird's jersey retirement ceremony Feb. 28, 2004, in Hulman Center. |
MORE PHOTOS>>
LARRY BIRD AT A GLANCE
- Dec. 7, 1956 - Born Larry Joe Bird in West Baden
- 1974 - Graduated from Springs Valley High School in French
Lick
- Feb. 24, 1979 - Scored school-record 49 points to lead Indiana
State University's basketball team over Wichita State 109-84
in front of national television audience and sellout crowd in
Hulman Center
- 1978-79 - Led ISU to 33-1 record and NCAA runner-up finish
- 1979 - Named College Player of the Year and earned degree in
physical education from ISU
- June 8, 1979 - Signed five-year deal with NBA's Boston Celtics
for $3.25 million
- 1980 - Named NBA Rookie of the Year
- 1981, 1984 and 1986 - Helped Celtics win NBA championships
- 1984, 1985 and 1986 - Named NBA Most Valuable Player
- 1984 and 1986 - Named NBA Finals MVP
- March 25, 1985 - Scored career-high 60 points against Atlanta
Hawks
- 1980-1992 - Named NBA All-Star 12 times in 13 seasons
- 1992 - Played for U.S. "Dream Team" that won Olympic
gold medal
- Aug. 18, 1992 - Announced his retirement as NBA player after
scoring 21,791 regular-season points
- May 8, 1997 - Named head coach of Indiana Pacers, replacing
Larry Brown
- Oct. 2, 1998 - Inducted into Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall
of Fame at Springfield, Mass.
- June 2000 - Resigned as coach of Pacers after they lost to
Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 in NBA Finals
- July 11, 2003 - Named president of basketball operations for
Pacers
- Feb. 28, 2004 - Honored in Hulman Center when ISU retired jersey
numbers of Bird (33) and Duane Klueh (54)