Editing Larry Bird (section)

{{Short description|American basketball player (born 1956)}}
{{for-multi|the Canadian football player|Larry Bird (Canadian football)|the painter|Larry Bird (artist)|the American politician|Larry Byrd}}
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{{Use American English|date=September 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Larry Bird
| image = Larrybird.jpg
| alt = Bird smiling
| caption = Bird in 2004
| team = Indiana Pacers
| position = Consultant
| league = [[NBA]]
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 9
| weight_lb = 220
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1956|12|7}}
| birth_place = [[West Baden Springs, Indiana]], U.S.
| high_school = [[Springs Valley High School|Springs Valley]]<br />([[French Lick, Indiana]])
| college = [[Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball|Indiana State]] (1976–1979)
| draft_year = 1978
| draft_round = 1
| draft_pick = 6
| draft_team = [[Boston Celtics]]
| career_start = 1979
| career_end = 1992
| career_position = [[Small forward]] / [[power forward]]
| career_number = 33
| coach_start = 1997
| coach_end = 2000
| years1 = {{nbay|1979|start}}–{{nbay|1991|end}}
| team1 = [[Boston Celtics]]
| cyears1 = {{nbay|1997|start}}–{{nbay|1999|end}}
| cteam1 = [[Indiana Pacers]]
| highlights = '''As player:'''
* 3× [[NBA champion]] ({{nbafy|1981}}, {{nbafy|1984}}, {{nbafy|1986}})
* 2× [[Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award|NBA Finals MVP]] ({{nbafy|1984}}, {{nbafy|1986}})
* 3× [[NBA Most Valuable Player Award|NBA Most Valuable Player]] ({{nbay|1983|end}}–{{nbay|1985|end}})
* 12× [[NBA All-Star]] ({{nasg|1980}}–{{nasg|1988}}, {{nasg|1990}}–{{nasg|1992}})
* [[NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award|NBA All-Star Game MVP]] ({{nasg|1982}})
* 9× [[All-NBA First Team]] ({{nbay|1979|end}}–{{nbay|1987|end}})
* [[All-NBA Second Team]] ({{nbay|1989|end}})
* 3× [[NBA All-Defensive Second Team]] ({{nbay|1981|end}}–{{nbay|1983|end}})
* [[NBA Rookie of the Year Award|NBA Rookie of the Year]] ({{nbay|1979|end}})
* [[NBA All-Rookie Team]] ({{nbay|1979|end}})
* 3× [[NBA Three-Point Contest]] champion ({{nasg|1986}}–{{nasg|1988}})
* [[Associated Press Athlete of the Year|AP Athlete of the Year]] (1986)
* [[NBA anniversary team]] ([[50 Greatest Players in NBA History|50th]], [[NBA 75th Anniversary Team|75th]])
* {{abbr|No.|Number}} 33 [[List of Boston Celtics accomplishments and records#Retired numbers|retired by Boston Celtics]]
* Consensus [[List of U.S. men's college basketball national player of the year awards|National College Player of the Year]] ([[1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season|1979]])
* 2× Consensus first-team [[NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|All-American]] ([[1978 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|1978]], [[1979 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|1979]])
* Third-team All-American – [[National Association of Basketball Coaches|NABC]], [[United Press International|UPI]] ([[1977 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|1977]])
* 2× [[Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year|MVC Player of the Year]] (1978, 1979)
* 2× First-team All-[[Missouri Valley Conference|MVC]] (1978, 1979)
* No. 33 [[Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball#Retired numbers|retired by Indiana State Sycamores]]
'''As coach:'''
* [[NBA Coach of the year Award|NBA Coach of the Year]] ({{nbay|1997|end}})
* [[NBA All-Star Game head coach]] ([[1998 NBA All-Star Game|1998]])
'''As executive:'''
* [[NBA Executive of the Year Award|NBA Executive of the Year]] ({{nbay|2011|end}})
| stats_league = NBA
| stat1label = [[Point (basketball)|Points]]
| stat1value = 21,791 (24.3 ppg)
| stat2label = [[Rebound (basketball)|Rebounds]]
| stat2value = 8,974 (10.0 rpg)
| stat3label = [[Assist (basketball)|Assists]]
| stat3value = 5,695 (6.3 apg)
| cstats_league1 = NBA
| cwin1 = 147
| closs1 = 67
| HOF_player = larry-bird
| CBBASKHOF_year = 2006
| medal_templates = {{MedalSport|Men's [[basketball]]}}
{{MedalCountry|the {{USA}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament|1992 Barcelona]] | [[Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics|Men's Basketball]]}}
{{Medal|Competition|[[FIBA AmeriCup|FIBA Americas Championship]]}}
{{Medal|Gold|[[1992 Tournament of the Americas|1992 Portland]]|[[1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team|Men's basketball]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[World University Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1977 Summer Universiade|1977 Sofia]] |[[Basketball at the 1977 Summer Universiade|Men's Basketball]] }}
}}
'''Larry Joe Bird''' (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional [[basketball]] player, coach, and executive in the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA). Nicknamed "'''the Hick from French Lick'''" and "'''Larry Legend'''" <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.olympics.com/en/athletes/larry-bird |title=Larry Bird |website=Olympics.com |access-date=February 10, 2025}}</ref> Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest{{under discussion inline|talkpage=WT:NBA#Discussion on allowing "greatest" in the lead of all NBA players}} basketball players of all time. He is the only person in NBA history to be named [[NBA Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year]], [[NBA Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player]], [[Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award|Finals MVP]], [[1982 NBA All-Star Game|All-Star MVP]], [[NBA Coach of the Year Award|Coach of the Year]], and [[NBA Executive of the Year Award|Executive of the Year]].<ref name="triple award">{{cite magazine |url = http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/basketball/nba/05/16/larry.bird.pacers.executive.ap/index.html |title = Pacers' Bird named NBA's top exec |magazine = [[Sports Illustrated]] |date = May 16, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120519090133/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/basketball/nba/05/16/larry.bird.pacers.executive.ap/index.html |archive-date = May 19, 2012 |quote = "Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird was voted the NBA's Executive of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the first person to win that award, plus the MVP and Coach of the Year honors." }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA" />

Growing up in [[French Lick, Indiana]], Bird was a local basketball star. Highly [[college recruiting|recruited]], he initially signed to play [[college basketball]] for coach [[Bob Knight]] of the [[Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball|Indiana Hoosiers]]. However, Bird dropped out after one month and returned to French Lick and attended a local college. The next year, he attended [[Indiana State University]], ultimately playing three years for the [[Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball|Sycamores]]. Selected by the [[Boston Celtics]] with the sixth overall pick in the [[1978 NBA draft]] after his second year at Indiana State, Bird elected to stay in college and returned for the 1978–79 season. He then led his team to an undefeated regular season. The season finished with a national championship game match-up of Indiana State against [[Michigan State Spartans men's basketball|Michigan State]] and featured a highly anticipated match-up of Bird against Michigan State great [[Magic Johnson]], thus beginning a career-long rivalry that the two shared for over a decade. Michigan State won, ending the Sycamores' undefeated streak.

Bird entered the NBA for the 1979–80 season, where he made an immediate impact, starting at power forward and leading the Celtics to a 32-win improvement over the previous season before being eliminated from the playoffs in the conference finals. Bird played for the Celtics during his entire professional career (13 seasons), leading them to five [[NBA Finals]] appearances and three [[NBA championship]]s. Bird played most of his career with forward [[Kevin McHale (basketball)|Kevin McHale]] and center [[Robert Parish]], considered by some to be the greatest front court in NBA history.<ref>{{Cite web |last = B |first = Mike |title = Big Threes Beyond the Boston Celtics & Miami Heat: 50 Best Trios in NBA History |url = https://bleacherreport.com/articles/510139-big-threes-beyond-the-boston-celtics-miami-heat-50-best-trios-in-nba-history |access-date = November 2, 2022 |website = Bleacher Report |language = en |archive-date = November 2, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221102234456/https://bleacherreport.com/articles/510139-big-threes-beyond-the-boston-celtics-miami-heat-50-best-trios-in-nba-history |url-status = live }}</ref> Bird was a 12-time [[NBA All-Star]], won two [[NBA Finals MVP]] awards and received the [[NBA Most Valuable Player Award]] three consecutive times ([[1983–84 NBA season|1984]]–[[1985–86 NBA season|1986]]), making him the only forward in league history to do so. Bird was also a member of the gold medal-winning [[1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team|1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team]], known as the "Dream Team". He was inducted into the [[Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame]] twice as a player—first in 1998 as an individual, and again in 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team." Bird was voted onto the NBA's [[50 Greatest Players in NBA History]] list in 1996, and subsequently the [[NBA 75th Anniversary Team|75th Anniversary Team]] list in 2021.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web |url = https://www.nba.com/news/nba-75th-anniversary-team-announced |title = NBA 75th Anniversary Team announced |website = [[NBA.com]] |access-date = October 26, 2021 |archive-date = October 16, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221016202815/https://www.nba.com/news/nba-75th-anniversary-team-announced |url-status = live }}</ref>

A versatile player at both forward positions, Bird could play both inside and outside, being one of the first players in the league to take advantage of the newly adopted [[three-point line]]. He was rated the greatest NBA [[small forward]] of all time by Fox Sports in 2016.<ref>[https://www.foxsports.com/nba/gallery/top-10-small-forwards-in-nba-history-061814 Fox Sports: Top 10 small forwards in NBA history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329213421/https://www.foxsports.com/nba/gallery/top-10-small-forwards-in-nba-history-061814 |date=March 29, 2020 }}. Fox Sports, October 20, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2020.</ref> After retiring as a player, Bird served as head coach of the [[Indiana Pacers]] from [[1997–98 NBA season|1997]] to [[1999–2000 NBA season|2000]]. He was named [[NBA Coach of the Year Award|NBA Coach of the Year]] for the [[1997–98 Indiana Pacers season|1997–98 season]] and later led the Pacers to a berth in the [[2000 NBA Finals]]. In 2003, Bird was named president of basketball operations for the Pacers, holding the position until retiring in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/pacers/.../larry-bird.../1 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160308042100/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/pacers/.../larry-bird.../1 |url-status = dead |archive-date = March 8, 2016 |work = USA Today |title = Sports Essentials }}</ref> He was named [[NBA Executive of the Year Award|NBA Executive of the Year]] for the 2012 season. Bird returned to the [[Indiana Pacers|Pacers]] as president of basketball operations in 2013,<ref name=return>{{cite web |url = http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/reports-bird-returning |title = Bird Returns |publisher = Indiana Pacers |date = June 26, 2013 |access-date = May 13, 2015 }}</ref> and remained in that role until 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.denverpost.com/2017/05/01/larry-bird-resigns-indiana-pacers-president/ |title = Larry Bird resigns as Indiana Pacers president for second time |work = The Denver Post |date = May 1, 2017 |access-date = June 24, 2021 |archive-date = June 24, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210624203442/https://www.denverpost.com/2017/05/01/larry-bird-resigns-indiana-pacers-president/ |url-status = live }}</ref> Bird continued with the Pacers as an advisor until July 2022, then after nearly a year's break returned to the organization in the role of consultant.<ref name="indystar.com">{{cite news |title=Larry Bird returns to help Pacers. Fans have opinions on that, some nice, some not so nice |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2023/06/01/larry-bird-returns-to-indiana-pacers-as-a-consultant/70275671007/ |access-date=July 7, 2023 |agency=IndyStar.com |date=June 1, 2023 |archive-date=June 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601132230/https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2023/06/01/larry-bird-returns-to-indiana-pacers-as-a-consultant/70275671007/ |url-status=live }}</ref>