Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Birdis an American retired professional basketball player who played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association. Since retiring as a player, he has been a mainstay in the Indiana Pacers organization, currently serving as team president. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish and forward Kevin McHale...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth7 December 1956
CityWest Baden Springs, IN
CountryUnited States of America
I don't think that once you get to one level, you can relax. You've got to keep pushing.
Leadership is diving for a loose ball, getting the crowd involved, getting other players involved. It's being able to take it as well as dish it out. That's the only way you're going to get respect from the players.
I've got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.
My coach told me, "Larry, no matter how much you work at it, there's always someone out there who's working just a little harder - if you take 150 practice shots, he's taking 200." And that drove me.
I learned what my weaknesses were and I went out the next day to turn those weaknesses intro strengths.
Before every game I used to go out and shot the same shots over and over and over. In the summer time I spent a lot of time just shooting. So really it just came natural. Whether it's a tie game or down by 1 or up by five, it was always the same shot. So I always felt comfortable with the ball in my hands because it was in there a million times before.
I knew I was as good as anybody. That's not really bragging; it's just that I'd put the time in.
It makes me sick when I see a guy just stare at a loose ball and watch it go out of bounds.
Who in their right mind wouldn't listen to what Larry Bird tells them? He knows what it takes to be a successful player, and he's letting us do the things to have the success.
The nature of competition is such that any number of people invariably have their eyes on the same prize you do. Recognize your assets and employ them to the best of your ability.
We're glad this is over with. We wanted to be patient with this one because Ronnie is a heck of a player and someone's always going to take a chance on someone like that.
We're still looking and seeing what we can do. We like our team, we're very deep, but we don't like where we're at financially. We'll see what we can do.
Won't be much golf this off-season. It's going to be a working summer.
When I was a kid, I never thought about anything. Never had to think about where I was going to school or what I was going to do. I just lived minute to minute.