UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, August 19, 1992
9A
Larry Bird retires from pro basketball
Larry Bird retires
Forward Larry Bird, who helped lift the NBA to new heights of popularity, retired from the Boston Celtics Tuesday. A look at his brilliant career:
Pro career
Led Celtics to three NBA championships.
Member of gold medalwinning 1992 U.S. Olympic Dream Team
Rookie of the Year, 1980 Three-time regular season Most Valuable Player, 1984-86
College career
■ Led Indiana State to 1979
NCAA Finals
■ 1978, '79 consensus
All America
Source: Boston Celtics, Associated Press
After 13 years of giving the NBA his all, injuries force him to give it up
Editor's note: Because today's sports section was printed early yesterday, the story about Celtic forward Larry Bird on Page 8B is outdated. This story updates.
By Hal Bock The Associated Press
When Larry Bird showed up at Boston Garden for the first time 13 basketball seasons ago, Red Auerbach, boss of the Celtics, viewed the young man from French Lick, Ind., with some apprehension.
"He looked like a little country bumpkin," said Auerbach, the city slicker. "But when you looked into his eyes, you knew you weren't talking to any dummy. He knew what he wanted in life and what he needed to get there."
And in his first training camp, Bird, the nonbumpkin, figured out fast that he had come to the right place.
"It didn't take me very long to realize I was going to be a great player in this league," he said. "When I got to rookie camp, I realized I could play in this league."
Then came the Jack Benny pause. Here comes the punchline, folks. "The thing about it," Bird continued, "I had Rick Robey guarding me, so I thought I was gonna be a little bit better than I really was."
Typical Larry Legend. A little bark. A little tongue in cheek. A little fun. Hey, Roby Hobert mind. What is basketball we're talking about. What's the sense, if you can't have a laugh.
So, it was with a smile, not a tear, that Bird announces his retirement from the NBA on Thursday.
Carl Nicks, who played with Bird at Indiana State, expected nothing less from his old teammate.
"Larry kind of kept everybody loose," Nicks said. "That was one of the most important things.
"He always cracked jokes a lot, never took it serious. When I first got to the team, he used to chewbacocho all the time. When guys would take a nap on the plane, he would put that nasty cup under their nose."
You know, just a friendly little wake-up call.
"He kept everybody else relaxed," Nicks said. "But when it came time to perform, he wasn't a vocal leader, but he led by example."
Example: Game 6 of the 1986 NBA Finals against Houston. Final score: Celtics 114, Rockets 97. Bird's contribution in Boston's title clincher was a triple double, 29 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists.
"I think I hit my max," he said. "I didn't play that well. I'll never forget walking off that court. I felt like I was getting a heart attack. There's never a thrill like winning a championship in your own building."
Unless, of course, it's winning it in the other guy's building, the way Bird's Celtics did against Houston in 1981.
Example: Game 6 of the 1981 NBA Finals against Houston. Final score: Celtics 102, Rockets 91. Bird remembered a three-pointer that put that series away.
And then there was Magic. There always was Magic. Bird and Magic Johnson arrived in the
NBA together in 1979. Like most people, Char-
lotte Hornets coach Alan Bristow licks them.
"You had Magic on the West Coast with the Lakers and Bird on the East Coast representing bookends for the NBA," he said. "They have respect and credibility back to the league."
And a fierce rivalry, as well.
Example: Game 1 of the 1984 NBA Finals against Los Angeles. Final score: Celtics 129, Lakers, 125.
Boston had lost Game Three by 33 points, not the best of recommendations for its prospects in the next game. Bird was having no more of that, though. In steamy Boston Garden, with the temperature at 97 degrees, Larry Legend was just as hot, scoring 34 points, pointing the Celtics toward the title. Included was a turnaround basket at the end against, of course, Magic.
“On the court, Larry was the player in the league that I feared, and he was the smartest player I've ever played against,” Johnson said yesterday. “I always enjoyed competing against him because he brought out the best in me. Even when we weren't going head-to-head, I would follow his game because I always used his play as a measuring stick against mine.”
Bristow, who as a player with Utah and Dallas, guarded Bird, marveled at the man's anticipation on the court.
"I can remember one play when he was running to a loose ball at mid-court and he flicked it over his shoulder to Dennis Johnson for a layup," Bristow said. "Not only did he save the ball, he was thinking two steps ahead. Very few players can think a few seconds ahead of everybody else."
Philadelphia general manager Jim Lynn recalled another Bird-Johnson collaboration.
this one from Game Five of the Boston-Detroit Eastern Conference finals in 1987. Bird swiped an inbounds pass from Isiah Thomas with five seconds left and fed DJ for the winning basket.
"Detroit had them dead and buried in Boston Garden," Lynam said. "He makes that steal on the out-of-bounds play and flips it to Dennis Johnson to win the game in the waning seconds.
"But you came to expect that. In the waning moments of games. Bird. He made the spectacular routine."
A year later, in Game Seven of the Eastern semifinals against Atlanta, Bird went bucket-for-bucket in the fourth quarter with Dominique Wilkins. He had 20 of his 34 points in that period, missing just one of 10 shots as the Celtics won 118-116.
in the fifth and deciding game of the 1991 playoffs against Indiana, Bird dove for a ball late in the first half and landed face first on the floor. He lay motionless and was eventually helped from the court.
Midway through the third quarter, with Boston struggling, Bird returned to a tumultuous ovation and simply took the game over. His pain masked by the determination one foe once described as "like looking into the eyes of an assassin." Bird scored 14 points in the last 6:46 of the quarter. Boston eventually won 124-121.
"When I played, I played as hard as I could," Bird said. "You don't let an injury stop you from diving on the floor."
"I knew what I had to do every night. I had to play at a high level."
And that's exactly what he did.
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