Larry Bird (Who's Really The G.O.A.T) NBA Legends

[Music] [Applause] [Music] Larry Joe bird there have been players who are great at one aspect of the game there have also been some although far fewer in number who were outstanding multi-dimensional players but Larry Bird is one of only a handful of NBA stars who excelled in every facet of the game he the best all-around player that ever played has always had to develop different aspects of the game to be able to get my shot off my bird man he had a killer instinct he came for the jugular vein every time he played against you was no nights off with him you know you cost me a lot of sleepless nights once he experienced the taste of excelling under pressure bird never looked back three straight times in the mid-80s he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player the initial one coming in 1984 when the Celtics faced Magic Johnson's LA Lakers in the first of their epic playoff battles in the 80s where was our bad somebody it would never be ever never ever ever be another lay abode he's the only guy that I fear that can beat me he had a quality that went beyond his skills he was a winner he was a champion he was the best I'd ever he's the best I ever played with against strength he ever seen he people talk with Michael Jordan Dahl and stuff Michael George can do a ton of stuff but I don't think anybody was as good in the last few seconds Larry was those cross caught the bird bird I give up I surrender Jordan is Owen Owen six against burden the playoffs right so a nice tickety guns so I know I think he was motivated by pride he had the ability to lift his game to an even higher level just when his team needed it the most and that's what defines greatness in any athlete not just the ability to pile up numbers but the ability to come through in the clutch and under pressure bird up begs Burke takes the shot [Applause] a lot of players in this league that can score the first three quarters of game just get down in the fourth quarter when you need a basket you can separate the men from the boys it's been like and it's always going to be like it you always want to have the guys that come up with the attitude that they can make the last shot or make a big play [Music] I don't know what makes a a player do that just your competitive nature and their will to win [Music] and if it comes down to one shot I won't be the guy thank you gonna go to bird he's got a shot you are the most feared player I feared you more than anybody else because this man would find a way to win that damn game [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my god Larry Bird couldn't jump this high he couldn't run at his feet faster that I could walk today but Larry Bird he just thought everybody remember when bird stole the ball against the Pistons and imagine for a young kid growing up in Detroit grew up rooting against Larry Bird every chance I could get I remember the day Versailles the bar underneath the DJ I said it's here that day [Applause] like the great John Havlicek before him bird - saved his most memorable clutch moment for defense in Larry's case it was the fifth game of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons when the Celtics found themselves in need of a miracle Detroit's ball out of bounds with five seconds to go and I tell you Isiah Thomas made a play he'll he'll remember the rest of his life [Applause] Detra gets the ball and I'm sort of sitting on the floor waiting for detoured to call it timeout but I got back up and I've seen through it'll be no timeout and in Isaiah lofted the ball to Lam beer I cut all the way over from Dumars in front of him and just barely got my fingertips on it and caught DJ cutting out the core of my I've laid it in no question about that but you know this way guy really can play kid born and raised in the USA no no there's only one Larry Bird [Music] Michael Jordan is a stylish as they come Earvin Johnson style is sometimes pure magic and Charles Barkley's is flash and brute-force they will write their Styles in the basketball history if you were writing a book about basketball the people you just saw would merit a chapter or two but ask any basketball expert and they'll tell you that if you're rewriting the story of basketball the author Larry Bird to fully appreciate what Larry Bird accomplished in his career you have to first fully understand what he overcame in his life French Lick Indiana population 2087 cannot be touched by interstate only country backroads can bring you into the second poorest region in the state an area where the average income is just over $9,000 one night was sitting there and an LSU came on Pete Maravich was playing him I was just amazed at what he was doing with the basketball and he end up getting 40 for that game and after the game my dad said I tell you what son you keep practicing he said maybe Wednesdays I'll coach you and let you choose every time you touch it so I always got a big kick out of that Larry credits his first coach Jim Jones with instilling in him the fundamentals and work ethic that would symbolize his great career 1973-74 Larry Bird senior year in high school state's leading scorer state's leading rebounder leading his team to the championship game in a regional now we come to the subject of this is bird country Oh the first watching country but it's a rare bird Halley's Halley's Comet it appears once every 76 years that's what they call him down here Halley's Comet he has unbelievable ability and welcome to Larry for Larry's quest for basketball perfection was developed at an early age almost out of necessity during his long practice hours he wondered why go home when there's nothing to come home to he grew from the scrawny 6-1 sophomore to a gangly 6-3 junior to a 6 7 star who would average 30 points and 17 rebounds his senior season when Larry graduated from Springs Valley he did what any good Hoosier basketball player wants to do play for Bob Knight at Indiana but at age 17 Larry Bird had never been more than 50 miles away from home for longer than a weekend at a time his stay in Bloomington lasted just 24 days saying he felt lost and out of place the local hero was headed back home I don't think that I was either quite quite smart enough or quite understanding enough of Birds situation when he was here he was from a small town down in southern Indiana French Lick and and had had had some tough things in his life growing up and came here and I kind of approached it when he left toward the end of September well you know I wouldn't have chased Maor Buckner or Abernathy and I'm not going to chase Larry Bird either well probably at that point in his life Larry needed somebody to chasing a little bit and to show a little bit more compassion for his situation than I did at that time I get back to campus and I see Scott in May and my brother Loren who happened to go to Indiana University and I asked my brother I said well where's this kid named Bert my brother says yesterday I saw him out on this roll in his called 37 I saw him on 37 with his luggage I think he went home did you feel like a failure when you were hitchhiking home no I was glad to get out of there only thing I was worried about is when I got home how my family would react and like remember my mom was mad at me for three or four months after that the first month we didn't speak and I could understand that but I made the decision to leave and I was gonna stick by it I had everybody talking to me trying to get me go back but I couldn't Larry Bird put Indiana State on the basketball map I had some friends who I kept in contact with while is still back here at any estate and they never saw any estate or Larry Bird on TV so because of the numbers that he would produce they they assumed that he Larry Bird was a black player and I thought you know never thought of that but they just thought that you know a guy can do that kind of thing as far as score and rebound and dish out the assistant you know must be a black athlete two years later basketballs secret weapon was no longer a secret to the rest of America the Sycamores who were unranked in the preseason polls Larry's senior season breezed through the regular season unblemished is you tacked on a couple of more wins during the NCAA tournament including a two-point victory over to Paul in the semi-finals [Applause] [Music] great man her guests oh there you go Larry Bird coming in bird [Music] [Applause] / Watkins here's what you're talking about Ali pushes him back in with a quit ball fake solid fundamentally holds the ball above his head great release excellent rotation on the ball the guy's incredible he gets super balanced on his jump shot and fir controlling the game offensively Bailey just stated in place that play coming off the little foam like a part of why I fell asleep on it he should have picked up Larry [Applause] Larry Bird ties in at 26 all right they're kept sedan he's everywhere what a touch danced it on the rim believable 83% Watkins too late get here there's the beautiful soft touch inside after the basket 24 [Music] mitchum of the block the bread is there again [Applause] those what a claim Larry Bird man you know Larry Bird another guy that I have a lot of respect and admiration for a while sim developed as a collegiate player remember him him is junior Indiana State had a great year kind of first burst on the basketball scene than a senior year they were at 33 and OH at one point winning every single game he's a guy watch play collegiately on TV and just knew that he was going to be a great NBA basketball player lot of people had some some doubts about him white guys slow whatever but you watch his flare how he passed the basketball how shocked the basketball he moved on the floor at 6 9 225 pounds the way he moved was it was just a thing of beauty [Music] even though I knew I was probably gonna shoot it and if I did I was probably gonna make it it would draw the defense to me and we'd open the court wide open II an estate what if Larry Bird off the backboard bird off the Como we just passed you many times [Applause] in your face because when you catch Larry Bird watch him put the ball in the face they're taking in the face they're not watching shoot it unbelievable now far away that is heads in left field with the three blocks is like two miles in New York so 18 another 26 with all Larry in Anniston is one important law along one again thanks driving horses the shot bird comes with a football here he comes in isolation on Larry Bird there it is now watch this dying swan butcher doesn't jump too high for five inches keeps his eye on a river - off [Music] by himself I think UCLA ánotá gain of rays of light coming off 41 well is that 41 points already he's putting on part of this we ask him to his first Knicks reading high participation he's got the ball he's got the job [Applause] was a sophomore the last 15 games I averaged over 40 but I had to because if we was gonna win I was went to the care of the scoring low I remember my first game we probably had five or six thousand people there then three games later you couldn't get a ticket if there's no Larry Bird there mid pack to lower in in the Missouri Valley Conference and instead they're the first or second best team in college basketball it's as simple as that he meant everything [Music] [Applause] [Music] i define a shooter as one that understands how to make shots and do that consistently a shooter is range in accuracy and consistent being able to go out there just kidding the ribbon him and she 15 18 foot make 67 in a row for me that's a shooter chapter 1 I just use any type of shot I'm not afraid to take an off-balance shot or a three-point shot this kid more than bruised I don't know what makes it go in sometimes it releases out my hand for him think about it I think it's just the fact that I've shot some of these shots a million times he squares up very seldom does he take a bad shot I think his background and in Indiana had been tremendous tough for him because I think players and tough that part of the country especially Indiana get the great fundamentals there's nothing like going out there and throwing up shots and know that they're probably gonna go here my favorite jump shot shooter was Larry Bird he set the way for us you know shooters and shots he was just my god that is amazed you hear guys say getting his own it's not just the scoring part of it that everything's geared to you and everything else is so easy to do and you just tear a team apart he was probably the single most dominant player in college basketball in the last 35 years he would come out and start right underneath the basket took the ball and banned is every time until he made every single one and then he would take a six-inch step back until he made every one and then another 60 Larry never stopped backing up that's the unlimited range that he had he was the best deep shooter that I've ever seen he could shoot from deep and had no conscience whatsoever and that's what made him even better the championship matchup would prove to be act one of a long-running two-man play that would eventually leave a lasting impression on the sport bird didn't know his team would make it to Salt Lake City that year but he had a premonition magics team would I remember the first time I seen him play is my senior year and they were playing against the Russians and you know they was Duncan pass and he you tell you get control the game from beginning we played the Russians that year too and we had a close game they beat him now no 15 points 20 points but you just tell he was a great basketball player Indiana state's one-for-all couldn't beat Michigan State's all for one bird in the Sycamores magical season would you make their final opponent disappear all-american we lost we go to the finals you lose we lose to Michigan State after the game he tells me I need to go to the boys club I need to work out and shoot I need to work on my game you know I mean hey we had a great year man were you talking about I'm going home and I'm gonna brag I'm not gonna play any ball you know but that's just the difference you when Larry Bird left behind the towns of French Lick West Baden and Terre Haute Indiana to come here to the city of Boston the hopes and dreams of an entire franchise were pinned squarely on his shoulders Byrd was a junior eligible when the Celtics elected him as the sixth pick in the 1978 Draft Byrd joined the Celtics a year later signing the largest rookie contract in sports history at the time Byrd was entering the NBA at a time when 80% of its starters were black he was joining a last-place team with the me-first attitude a team that had posted the most losses in franchise history the previous season he refused to be turned into a symbol a symbol representing the great white hope Larry Bird Larry Bird could walk literally in his heyday he could walk into any black neighborhood in America [Music] some blacks were skeptical of the knight in shining armor well you know the league needs great white players today you need great black players you know cousins great for marketing great for the league you know fans and everything and so I thought they were really just pushing somebody to be a great white player I didn't think he was as good as everybody say anymore but once I came and start playing with him I realized then that everybody said about him is true you know we sit back out and have a beer after the inning in a locker room and we was talking you know be maybe talking his life you know white boy just lit you up and I used to always say that you know like tomorrow phrase it like you always weren't really that good nice to say like yeah yeah that's the bad his white whale played against [Music] nobody I had to give my own so you're seeing a guy like Burke coming in dominate he was ridiculous our sportscaster played the Superman theme when he was talking about him that night after the game because he did everything points rebounds assists just steals you name it liar has such a great mind for the game and you know a great touch I had a lot of respect for him as as a competitor of the Mavericks team to get back here in Freiburg again Reverb past right there and that's a good pass from walton to a cutting Larry Bird feasting finally misses the bird doesn't bird gets a three three-point try [Applause] and again there are the Celtics Larry Bird good Larry Bird versus one of the leading three-point field goal shooters is Larry Bird Larry Bird Larry Bird and Larry Bird has 32 just moments ago Ellis goes for the steal of Larry Bird with the left hand winning tag can't get it to drop Barry Burd three-pointer counted two-man game for Boston by Roberta he's one man very strong hands they lead by four with 12 seconds third three-pointer held it Larry Bird comes back with a clutch play the legend of Larry Bird really took root almost from the first moment he stepped onto an NBA court Boston wins became a familiar phrase around the NBA when Larry Bird joined the Boston Celtics in 1979 in his first season Bird helped the resurgent Celtics improve their record by 32 wins and a year later against the Houston Rockets he led Boston to the NBA championship [Applause] just ride around with Claire Myrtle try deeper water Birds free will have to be the ball half bird picks off the pass ninth turnover Wedman won't go down for the follow [Applause] except the bomb how many times will be seen that play my twice the game for the last month huh unbelievable finds Larry top of the key words quick turnaround bird for free make a thirty-one [Applause] spins true [Applause] he's trying to go one-on-one on Reid looking for the double and McDowell gets down there but not quick enough he was one of the first stretch force right we talked about what's going on today Larry he talked about a guy who was six nine six ten Lana for shooting threes that was unheard of back then that's passing forward the teleplay chapter two is passing while all of Larry's passes may not be fundamental in this chapter he always seems to get the ball there I realized that you can move the ball to court a lot quicker if you pass it opposed to dribbling enough some of the passes I make I try that really might have a very slim chance of making it but you got to try it because if you get double Tina's there's an opportunity that somebody's gonna be open somewhere he has such supreme confidence in his passing ability he knows if he draws two people he's probably gonna produce something better than four in the form of a layup bird does it instinctively it doesn't take any yet but he doesn't have to train his head he looks at the entire floor and he sees movement and color this outs 161 games in Birds rookie season a year later he would guide Boston to the first of his three titles three years later he would her in the first of his three consecutive MVPs he was cocky he was arrogant and he was driven by being the best player on the best team you want to have them days where everything goes right for you either pass and shooting hour playing good defense in once it does you don't feel like anybody ready scoffing now in this chapter the other team has the ball but when Larry's on the court not for long all anticipation we watch the other team you watch the place that they call you watch the plays that the coach calls from the bench and you anticipate where the ball is going and you anticipate what your man's supposed to do and you just go from there it's a lot of luck he isn't blessed the grits are jumping ability plays a blessed with knowing where to put his body he puts his body on the right part of the floor to defend yes great anticipation and the final chapter in the clutch we find out just why Larry Bird is rewriting the book of basketball and soaring over all challengers with a dedication unmatched in sports we now know why they say get the ball to Larry sometimes he gets in the fourth quarter and three or four minutes ago on air by all comments okay Larry time to take over you know that's the greatest feel in the world here you're playing with some of the best players in the game and the hair they come to you and say okay it's time to take over take over the game and that's a heck of a filling oh and now you need to throw it hard I can't none of these planes PE not near one shot take your shot [Music] running through my veins [Music] you and Harry Bird teammates for a long time what's your best Larry Bird story we run the road Larry you say I like that little bit of fun out like we all did we were all young we'd go out through brewers after the game and stuff and so Larry decided this road trip that he wasn't gonna wasn't gonna drink wasn't involved with it what a bit early was gonna take care of himself as have a great road trip he was about three or four days into this to play a game we playing goal in the state he was afraid first time I ever son got afraid he walked in a locker room and we're all just going like you know we'd never seen Larry go for a like that and and let her go that's it because this is I can't hang on with Chris board going to beds not good for you so we stayed out fairly late that night and the next night he had about 38 in Portland courage pull-up on Thompson [Applause] they go to Byrd quick turnaround Thompson doing a good job is paying with Dennis Johnson on their way out for got it pullin a nice job of covering up for a three-pointer back Bert just really wants the ball he kind of sets it Danny they give it back to me that's why I guess well when you feel it you got to go with it Birds quick fall away for two and get it up quickly bird wants it gives it up McHale for two people get the pass for Watson six can to play bird got it top of the key Larry spin-dry [Applause] well he just spun away from Kersey didn't ya well right there is a little hand contact from Michael Thompson that could have been called double-team and Bert Larry faked fall away [Applause] believable that is the labels but the magic of Larry Bird was not on the basketball court was not in the locker room it was in his ability to create an atmosphere I remember the one time we play at Indiana in the playoffs this is the first time he's come back so he walks through the tunnel I'm in the layup nitinol hears a loud roar by me I think you know we're all so cozy somebody in the building and this Larry Bird a church in learning this is the playoff game and it was like whoa there go Larry this is my first time seeing them this close you know so you know just he's just left or a bit of a break tonight with the second shot bird the trailer yes ifsta Berto just came back one hits the bird back to Jambo they go to Charles Smith married watch the shot trying to get hot birdshot is good over Smith Reggie comes away with it first [Applause] his Hilbert's backbreaker fakes using the parish pick and as the defense collapses he steps back watch him now well we didn't see it watch him give banister the sign for the high five and fantastic boy Larry was just a intense competitor not one word ever said on the court between us Marcus judge I remember we were playing on one time and Kersey this red head referee was reffing and and our game plan but me was always try and play him physical to kind of you know bump him off his game try and deny him the basketball and Larry tojust curse he liked red red get him off me get him off me and just kursi like hit me with two quick fouls I'll just look they're just like you know what heck is this but that's the kind of the statue that Larry had started to reach after about three or four years in a league and and I'm frustrated as I've ever been as a basketball player you know you just get that feeling that you just can't miss you know the great players give it a lot more than the average players I mean I see it happened with Larry Bird more often than any other player in the league and so I went back to my room and I wrote this point and the poem goes it's out of my hands no control no say acquiesce to someone's demands it's out of my hands rule of thumb is act real dumb and pretend that there's nothing wrong but if your senses are real and your mind is intact it's kind of hard to go along it's out of my hands you a quitter so mister man you play the game you perform the role but then you try a little hard not to control yourself too long after you're through because it's not really a test of a man but only when the scale is grand you find who's really who it's out of my hands it was a release of frustration and just trying to remind myself that there are bigger things and basketball and not to get so wrapped up into what was going on on the basketball floor that it caused me to be bitter and to be angry and to be frustrated while his war is were with magic his battles were waged with the rest of the league was a tie game they had the ball and DJ was stalling the basketball you know Larry was kind of standing I was probably behind him like denying him the ball and they called a timeout and he turned around and looked at me and said I must go read here on you and I said I know you will I'll be ready [Applause] two seconds on the clock [Applause] and he shot a turnaround jump shot I just looked back the ball just went in kid all knit you know he said I told you so another time that was when we was playing him here like 42 Kemp was a freshman he told Shawn Kemp that I'm the best F player to ever come from Indiana shoot and shot a three-pointer in his face all net he's like Larry use his picks probably better than the players ever played the game and Larry was on the box and Robert Pera was coming down I said a pick on me the chief didn't didn't shoot then throw a good pick so wild Larry's in the air he's got the ball right here and he's screaming that chief but not said the pig and I'm like you screaming had a guy any air but not setting the pig and he yard and he makes the jumper I like I couldn't believe that any one of the best biggest trash talkers that you're ever seen yo trash on the court did anybody tell you where he's going to tell you when he catch it there's nothing you could do about it he was and it was it was it was great trash-talking because it wasn't vulgar I mean he wasn't you know pounding his chest you can just be standing next to him you know I would jump out and try to block a shot on rotation and he says Scott Scott you not getting that which why you even jumping but it was game don't don't do and he talked the whole game and it was you know after the game and after years of thinking about you like man that dude but he was like cap said he was ridiculous as far as the way he played the game and that's why he's one of the greatest players ever played we played it here yeah which is where it starts right here right period but just superior Larry Joe Bird beat every single last real in his era everybody nobody else can say it now magic not Kareem now MJ nobody can say that they beat every single last real and they Burdine day he be there everybody in the 80s can't nobody said he be dr. J he beat Moses he beat magic Kareem worthy he beat I said Thomas Dumars Oh Robin he be adrià deadly larry bird cooked this rhyming so bad he cooked the so bad the robin said only reason bird get that much hype is cuz he white you know what that sound like to me that sound like that Robin was so salty you got cooked by bird that he was like a man only reason y'all Busan is because he white he be how many bro you know how many bird beat Bo can't nobody said it NJ didn't beat um bird and jet even get a game not one bro not one God in tennis shoes the gold that's my man but he swept them you know what sweet me that means I think he'd beat him in Boston and then he went to Chicago see my thing with him being Jordan is damn George you couldn't get one you feel me Jordan couldn't even get one magic never beat a Jordan you feel me you when you really like line it up like Kareem never beat Michael you know I'm saying like nobody can say that they beat everybody and bird is the to actually walk in the room and say say bro look out I beat you you you you I swept you you supposed to be to go where I swept you twice oh I've got to he swept him again in Eddie Selim 80-some y'all Jack look out yells Eddie Sami swept them LeBron Fez I don't hate me I can remember the night he and I in we went out to Rush Street and as you said we had a couple beers maybe a few too many because the Chicago cheerleading staff was in happened to be in the bar that we were at and they kept sending us a few bears a few bears and before we knew it it was late at night and we had a few too many we got in a cab and they got us back to the hotel in about six hours later we had to be up because we're twelve o'clock game that afternoon and we get to the arena and you know we're still a little tired and happened matter of fact Larry fell asleep on the taping table to get a little nap before the game so we go out and Larry takes his first shot he misses everything and I'm going oh lordy Bill Fitch is gonna be all over me because he knew he was with babe and Robert Parish picks up three quick files so that means I got to go into the game and play a bunch of minutes that night we ended up winning the game and winning the series against Chicago Bird head like you said around 40 points and as we're walking off the floor I could remember this Larry looked over at those cheerleaders that thanks a lot for those Bears last night the doors are probably just open to the arena and these two guys walk around the corner our locker room wasn't well marked so they probably thought they were just going into a restroom or they probably just walking around seeing what they could find they're having to walk into our locker room but I could tell when they first walked around the corner if they were just like shocked that they were in a sub big locker room all of a sudden and Larry as soon as he sees him and he knows they're not supposed to be there he says oh hi guys come on in and he invites him in the locker room invites him to have some popcorn there the bob boys had already got some popcorn in there and these guys are just like shell-shocked you know that they've walked into place and now Birds making him stay in there and they're like scared to death and so he makes him sit down by his locker and he gets him some popcorn if you guys need anything to drink we got some beer back here for after the game or cold or pop whatever you need and then after every player would come in Larry would introduce these guys to the player and these guys I'll you know they just started heating this stuff up Casey Jones walks in the locker room Casey come over and meet my friends my long-lost buddies and it was it was just hilarious I just always wondered after that night what happened to those guys how many people they told that story to and how many people believed it he's in Philadelphia and was around Christmastime and you know the people dressing up like Santa Claus they had like four or five of them sitting in one row the games going on and they take me on a game we're sitting there and I look over and there's these for Santa Claus getting in a fight and these guys are pounding these Santa Clauses and I'm sitting there going oh a cow I said what's all these kids think about this you know sit in the stands they they look down there four year old kids hey mama here's Santa Claus and all of a sudden you see him in a fist fight with some guy behind him that was probably the most startling thing I've ever seen in my entire career I think the story that sums up Larry the best was back then we flew commercial we didn't fly private we played in a Tuesday night game in Cleveland and of course we got up for the first flight out we had a game on Wednesday night in New Jersey snowstorm hits Cleveland we're at the airport at 7:00 in the morning flights canceled it at 7:00 it's canceled at 8:00 let's cancel that night it's canceled at 10:00 cancel that 11 12 we finally leave about 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon we fly up to New Jersey now the storm has kind of moved into Jersey and the bus driver says I can't get to the air into the hotel into the arena I can only go to one place well we got a game that night we go the arena so we get to the arena and I mean we're dragon and we're sitting on the locker room and yeah and everybody's kind of retired and you know and all of a sudden the coach gives a little bit of the speech of come on man guys we're playing basketball let's get ready to going Larry stands up and Larry says a couple of the fukes few choice words and he says I don't know about you guys Bongo take it out on their rear ends so I was like all right so let's go so we got on the floor Albert King sitting there Larry walks up to Elbert King and goes don't take this butt-whoopin personally I've been eating hot dogs all day and then Albert King look something like you've been eating hot dogs oh there was I got to do with me and we went out and just hammered him I mean we we terrorized them hurt free [Applause] Larry distribution in the air gives to Paris for two birds popping out wants it not even halfway through the first quarter bird baseline move finds bird fires right away bird hits at the track bird is free got a good up fake on ship Yuka yes bird open who as soon as we shot it it wasn't gonna go so he went and got it again he's got John long backs his way a shot distance by three looking for five Benson and Furyk great play on the defensive end it comes a Boston break three on one McHale to Larry they find them on the baseline bird outside fire he's open he'll give it milk naked bird wants it loose ball Birds got it beautiful rebound and then good up fake up and in while bird was still active he never wanted to look back on the highlights of his career he feared this was an admission that he was no longer still improving the NBA to discover more stars Boston will attach itself to another hero but both would be a little emptier without Larry Bird he put the fun into fundamentals he was an in two degree of difficulty his career lasted 13 seasons the pain those 13 seasons delivered will last a lifetime his body started asking for timeouts in 1989 by 1992 his body would ask to quit he loves to portray himself as the hick from French Lick this guy is truly a genius he did things that nobody else had done did do or will ever do again [Music] from high school all the way up till now if you give it a hundred percent every day good things are going to happen good things happen to great players especially Larry Bird one of the NBA's fresher performers never been couple of hidden spotlight because I know how many people's help me along the way but the national spotlight was on Larry Bird as Indiana State dedicated a statue of its most famous graduate if you dedicate yourself to something that you really love your dreams will come true I know I'm living proof of that it was also about dedicating a statue first envisioned by Indiana State students to be taller than the one at Bird rival Magic Johnson's alma mater the statue from the top of the basketball to the sidewalk measures 17 feet one and 1/8 inches that is enough to dwarf the 12-foot structure at Michigan State I want to thank you so much for this day the statue means so much to me but I hope the future generation is young kids drive I hear maybe aspire one or two of them hopefully they'll spire a lot more but if we can just help one kid or two kids to reach their dreams like I did I'll be very happy thank you I love you I respect you and I admired [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Face PC Gaming

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Keywords: Entertainment, LARRY BIRD, 1080P, HD, FACE PC GAMING, BOSTON CELTICS, NBA LEGENDS, LARRY LEGEND, NBA, BASKETBALL, GOAT, SPORTS

Id: YxuEgsfW4Z0

Length: 48min 59sec (2939 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 14 2017