LEGEND IN GREEN

the following is a Fox 25 sports special he always had to prove himself because I don't think really nobody ever really thought that he would be that good being from a small town community people over here you know they just go out of their way to be nice to people and to do things for people malaria's kind of like that I think that's kind of like the rest of our family people know you just have to say French Lick and they know where it is he's put us back on the map he really has pull the state together and the communities especially French Lick and West Baden you know that's her son and everything revolved around them who'd ever thought that that little bomb had a Boyd go on and be what he was we're the luckiest family in the world I would say the whole town's very proud of a lifetime is such a small community everybody knows everybody in town there ain't nobody that know who the birth family is this is his home there's nobody rushing up to him for an autograph there's nobody stopping giving him a hassle this is home he treats me just like he would have 18 years ago and I treat him same I don't cut him no slack and he won't cut me with he were hard workers they were they were churchgoers Larry's father was a fine person he just had some major problems that were very difficult for him to overcome and he couldn't overcome them in a sense it made the boys and Linda stronger I think the one thing I got from my father was his determination to go to work no matter what my mother worked 100 hours a week she's gonna dollar an hour we grew up without a lot of things that the other kids had but we didn't care we had sports and we had our family there's no question at all who was the best player in NBA basketball there is no doubt to fully understand the basketball genius of Larry Bird you have to come back to its roots here in French Lick Indiana hello I'm Jimmy Meyers and welcome to our special Larry Bird a legend in green it was here in a close-knit community that bird influenced by family and friends acquired the work ethic and values that would build a Hall of Fame basketball career a very quite boy a very loving boy a very good little boy the other boys seem like always wanted to be out doing something but he more or less wanted to stay around the house stay around with me and helped me and he wanted everything done right I don't know what I should save this or not but we gave him up nicknamed mr. clean not many people know he'd go out and play and he'd come back in and he'd take a shower and change clothes he could not stand to be dirty he had to be cleaned so we called him mr. green we grew up without a lot of things that the other kids had but we didn't care we had sports and we had our family I think the one thing I got for my father was his determination to go to work no matter what I never seen him cry about being sick I never seen he got injured I never seen salami I'd miss work tomorrow on mother worked so many hours she worked 100 hours a week and she made a hundred dollars back then she's very stubborn I'm very stubborn she's very moody I'm very moody so I get a lot of things from her and all that goes with me when I play basketball because if I have an injury I try to play through it like my father would and I'm very stubborn with the way I thought I look at the game I look the game a little bit different a lot of people and I think I get that from work Larry here clowning around on the Left grew up with younger brothers Jeff and Eddie his sister Linda and older brothers Mike and Mark one thing that we did as kids is there was always a fight every day and he is usually either me and Larry fighting or Mike and Larry fighting or me and Mike fight but nobody dare pick on either one of any one of us because then all three of us were pretty tough together Larry used to get in a lot of fights he wouldn't pick on kids his own age because he was so much bigger than them but he's always picked on somebody that was five or six years older than him he got us into many of fights well my dad told us as young kids he always says well if your brother gets in a fighting guys bigger than Pele and jumping when you get home room get a whippin well that's the same way with with our friends you know I have a lot of good friends and sometimes they get in trouble and I try to help them out and like necessarily fighting all the time too long as younger we should stick up one known I think anybody would do that but my dad always taught us to you got to do whatever you can to help that individual out because he's a part of you and that's why we was brought up Larry's upbringing would take a tragic turn in February of 1975 when his father Joe ended his own life with a shotgun it's not how it was done that makes it so terrible if it'd been a car wreck or something that wasn't quite as bad but to think that maybe we all could have done something especially me I have always thought just one little thing maybe could have changed the whole thing I just you know I just wish he was around my dad was one of the greatest people in this community a lot of people liked him I mean he was just Joe Bird everybody knew him and it's just sad that you know he's not here to reap the benefits of all of his kids hard work do you ever wish that your dad could have seen all this no there's no question I haven't seen a guy over town yesterday was was Sam broad wish your dad was here to see all the other compliments that you made and all the things that's be done and of course you would there's nothing you can do about it you got to move on with your life he made a decision how he wanted to live his life and how he wanted to die and you know you can't dwell on that you know you dwell on it when it happens and you go Jesus Christ and I can't believe it I still can't believe it but I can't live my life around and I can't go to put that aside and go on and all I can do is just hopefully when it's all over we'll get to meet again in addition to his parents and siblings granny Kern's home Larry lived with for a few years greatly touched his life I perceived me as been sort of a hard-nosed guy and very moody and does what he wants to do with my grandma completely office she's very religious very church-going and always thought I was wrong because I didn't go to church if I came in at 10 o'clock at night she'd always fix me popcorn and always give me back rubs and she was a big part of my life a big part of our family and when she passed it was unbelievable I mean it was just like you know this thing's supposed to happen but it happened and I I think about it every day that's one person that I've always thought about every day in my life man to man what does your brother mean to you means the greatest I love him I love all my brothers and my sister and he just you know he just didn't typifies hard work and desired to be the best and that's what he means to me the greatest when you think of all the things that your amazing son has done how do you describe your sense of pride well first I think of him that's just my boy one of my boys one of my children I'm proud of all of them they've all done good and Larry's just a little special touch taller but and we're all very proud of him to think who never thought that that little blond headed Boyd go on and be what he was we're the luckiest family in the world [Music] thirteen years of hard work sweat toil and pain produce fame and fortune for one Larry Joe bird but it was here on this court at Spring Valley High School in French Lick Indiana that a young man grew to love the game of basketball and the legend was born there was many games we stepped down that court and he'd have to get us up he could suck us up I mean we we would field you know you look at the t bear and boy we thought boy this with you know we're playing a lot bigger schools nursing and then Larry Larry I mean he just had to stay he said boys he says we can do it he said let's go out there he said they you don't wake nobody you know no better it's a and I tell you he could get us up I mean he could make us believe it and we and I tell him I expected the year we had in high school seniors nothing nobody nobody ever expected it but Betty had and it it was mainly due that his desire he was he was a coach out on the floor with us I can still remember just like it was yesterday big game and oh yeah just to watch him play and the crowd he would build the crowd up and then the crowd would build him up to do just a little bit more [Music] you can almost still hear the ringing in your ears two individuals were most responsible for Larry's development as a basketball player the first was brother mark who began the number 33 tradition and preceded Larry as a star at Springs Valley I think the one thing income Island my brother was a junior in high school how much time he put into it effective skills he was marthis three years older than me and what happened was he just kept playing and playing playing got better and better better and I sort of caught on and donek figured that took a lot of time to be good and when I put the same amount of time in it and I seen my game improve and sort of got a kick out of it Larry credits his first coach Jim Jones with instilling in him the fundamentals and work ethic that would symbolize his great career he stopped by and give you a couple of moves work when he says now be back in an hour we'll see how you did well he might not come back for four or five hours but you wouldn't going to leave because you want to make sure you knew he's gonna come back sometime then he comes he might show up the next day and because I'm sorry didn't show up yet but after a while I kept telling my buddy I played with all time I said I think he's just doing that to keep us at her school practice more and come to find out that's why he was doing it but still he worked with us a lot I mean he put his time in you don't find too many coaches like that and I think that that gave me a direction to going the peace only worked that hard as a coach as a player you should double your time to make him proud of even I can remember is a very young extruders a sophomore in high school his ability to understand the situation and to make the passes were there I've seen you make behind-the-back passes I can recall one specific incident that we were playing and the kid Larry was playing with as a junior was trying to beat the school scoring record and we had everybody out in a blow but he was in and he was just whirring out because the kids couldn't get him to ball I'm Larry it's typical says coach put me back in we'll get it we put Larry back in the game three passes the kid has three baskets he breaks his school record and - Larry there was nothing when did you realize that your brother Larry was going to be a special basketball player the time that I thought that I I seen Larry play and I thought boy this kid is going to be something was a summer of his between his junior and senior year and when I left French Lick here Larry was about 6-3 probably laid around 150 maybe 55 pounds and he was a good I mean he was good you can tell he's gonna be a good athlete he was gonna be as good if not better than me he comes up there and all of a sudden he's 6 6 now weighs about 170 580 pounds I couldn't believe it and me and Larry was on the same team with our other friend that came up and we just dominated we started about 5 o'clock and played for about 9:30 10 o'clock and we never lost a game and that's the day that I I just knew that Larry was destined for something better than you know than anybody could imagine I think that was the first time that I can remember that Larry ever beat me one-on-one I mean you know he just couldn't do it I always had that psychological edge on it you know a little bit more quickness than him but now all of a sudden he's got this height you know these these drives the basket anymore where I could just shoot it up over him you know I get him knocked back in my face this little scary 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 the regional Larry's accomplishments at Springs Valley Lourdes college recruiters to French Lick public sentiment persuaded him to choose Indiana University and coach Bob Knight I think my dad was the biggest influence on Larry going by you yeah yeah he that's all he talked about was how how good he would look in a red blazer you know or you know a nice red suit the crimson suit that I used colors and he didn't want about you in the first place the night that Bobby Knight came down to talk to him he said mom I don't want to go up there I do not want to go and he said I said well why are you going somewhere you don't wanna go and he said too many people are depending on me that's all I said and he said I'll let too many people down so he goes Larry stated I you for less than a month and returned home to French Lick he took a job at the streets department but his love for the game never wavered his Larry's famous practice course yeah I just nailed this bucket up the whole bottom Ella nailed it up up heard like a shot stood out there and shuffled over with this low field he stood up here yeah all through dinner time every day yeah Larry enrolled at Indiana State the following fall in three years later led the unheralded sycamores to 33 straight wins before a championship lost the Michigan State and Magic Johnson through it all he had no idea how far his talents would take it really and when I was in college and I look taught about the pros until the Celtics trapped me in my junior year the thing with me was you know he kept from small school he never played against good competition when I got to college it was basically the same thing until my senior year then everybody sort of figured that I barely played professional basketball but to me I didn't know until I got to training camp in Marshville I'll guarantee you I'll give 100% every time I come out and if I get a torn Tony some I want to sit out I play hard as I can every night and I hope I bring excitement to the fans and I'll never give up [Music] [Applause] 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 anointed as the team's Savior Larry would indeed salvage and restore the pride of the Boston Celtics I never really knew what was going on in Boston when I was in college they draft me as a junior I decided to stay in school later on I found things writing a lot of articles they's following my career they had some games on TV out there but I really never knew what I was getting myself into thank God I mean it's great that I didn't when I went out there I went out there with a fresh mind just knowing all I had to do is play basketball for a living I think the big eye-opener was when I walked in the first practice and Cedric Maxwell and Curtis row and Sidney wicks were there and I could hear him soar rumbling you know like here's our save year we got to watch out this and that fired me up right there because I knew I had to go in there and establish myself right away I couldn't wait two or three weeks to get a feel I had to go in and play well the first two or three practices all right they would have no respectful from day one he came in and really made an impact even in practice with his passing and his shooting ability and you just seem to always be able to spot the open man and it just can't be that you work that much harder to get open because if you did you know you'll get tall Larry's multifaceted game quickly blossomed in the pros he captured Rookie of the Year honors in 1980 and the following season led the Boston Celtics back to the NBA mountaintop 81 was very important I want to get the first room about the magic had one I thought it's very important because we had a young team and we had to establish herself right away you can come in second or you can come in third all you want you gotta win a title to get respect Mary was now respected as a superstar in the lid but a tumultuous four-game sweep by the Bucks in the 83 playoffs proved to be a turning point in his career prompting him to rededicate himself to the game I'm gonna punish myself as far as playing basketball I'll take off a couple weeks I mean the way as far as it possibly can and you'll even always say you'll be burnout or you'll be this well almost wait for the day I get burnout from basketball how long would an NBA championship and I'm gonna start a couple weeks from there I was very embarrassed the way we performed in the playoffs we've had a lot of bickering with the coach and players wouldn't get along with each other that's what usually happens with players don't get along for coach they start bickering among each other and you know just a bad year and we start off well detail he's missing something and after seeing his old we got embarrassed in Milwaukee it was time to step forward and do something you can let your whole career go like this are you gonna step forward and show these guys who the real leader this team in and establish yourself as a leader and go from there and I think that's what I did I came home I work very hard I'm gonna backhand put the other seeded beers some good years translated into three consecutive most valuable player awards and two more NBA championships the first of these titles will come in 1984 at the expense of the hated Lakers and on a Celtic team that made a habit of winning the pigment come down to one game now if it is ever a better team in basketball than the Boston Celtics that year because we knew that we had enough good players that could play together stay within the framework of what was trying to do and win the basketball game is you remember certain Maxwell get on want to kill my bad boys I'll carry you to define that's good enough he thought he could do that give him the ball and let him do it I mean nobody else was gonna stand there I can do it too hey Cedric said he can do it let's see if he can do it and that's how we felt about each other how Larry felt about all four Magic Johnson was another story new heights and dominated the mid-80s but not until 1987 did a lasting friendship develop when we first came in and we had a little thing of I don't like you don't like me in that whole thing and we're on a commercial shoot it was a lot of daytime on that day of time we just started talking you know I know he said you know you gotta stop this we can be heated rivals when we hit the floor but off the court we can talk and be me and really rap to each other we sort of found out that we have similar backgrounds you know his dad worked very hard and he's cool with his father to work he loved the game so much and we like a lot of things that other people would never dream them with like issue well yeah we go together we go fishing together we don't mess around shopping you know walking through smalls and movies and stuff like that while magic Johnson represented the opponent hemisphere Larry would tab Dennis Johnson as the best he's ever played with DJ could always take his game to another level no matter how the opposing team is playing he could take it to that next level a lot of folks can't do that a lot of players sort of max out DJ always seemed to take another level like I say when BJ started driving at home we played a different game he never missed free throws you know you hardly ever seen this free throws of the game and get the ball and the people's hands that were getting a job done very intelligent everything just fit right as a glove when it pertained to me and Larry and all the passes that it made I mean anything that we did it just worked I mean we can go back to the still against Detroit he mates to stay up I make the cut I make the basket he passes to me one of the few times I my dad he passed to me too [Music] [Applause] [Music] I always remember my bird came to win he didn't come to play he's a game to win he'd play hurt and also vibrate in my opinion was the most highly self-motivated athlete I have a sore Larry's self-motivation and will to win never displayed itself more prominently or with more emotion than in Game six of the 86 final when the self explained banner number 16 I didn't ever ever felt that I feeling like that I was so pumped up for that game I think I slept probably an hour to two hours a night before because I was so pumped up and I was trying to calm myself down and I was everywhere that day I'm and I was running around playing his own I think it was just so much emotion because I won a championship the year that we had to have one we had our best team we put a best team forward we had a great year and when I came out of that game I actually thought when I had a heart attack time I got to the bench I came in the bill walton grabbed me and I said hey I just got to sit down I mean Jesus I thought I was gonna die but if I died right that day I'm gonna have a man [Music] in 1980 when the Boston Celtics traded for Robert Parish and a draft pick which became Kevin McHale no one could have imagined the glory and camaraderie to follow suffice it to say there may never be another frontline to compare in greatness with the big three a bird Parrish and McHale two best white guys the world Lacey Roberts at that pick-and-roll Larry Larry to the bounce nice to keep the Duncan I said I've just seen that play a million times and no one still can't stop it here's a guy who came jump he's not the fancy guy where he just beat guys on front of them Kevin plays against me hard and I play against him hard I try to push him to the limits and he tries to push me the limits just something always happened I remember his first practice with Celtics I thought well I won't kill this guy today because he came in late winter about the first two or three times he blocked my shot nothing this guy little bit more respect I mean he actually blocked my shot three times and I thought boy he's got to play defense well come to find out he's great defensive player but he loved that score everybody always built blows things up a portion I have a lot of respect for Kevin he's a great basketball player he's a great guy pretty good relationship you know I think it was a lot of people expected because working from small towns both came from the Midwest both were white both played forwards both played for the Celtics that we'd be joined at the hip but there were two different people but in all the times that letter and I played and no we never had disagreements we played very well together it was always fun playing with them it was really an honor and a privilege to play as Larry Bird and I don't think a lot of people really know him now well off the court he's a pretty fun loving fun guy Kevin reminds me a lot of my little brother Kevin works very hard Kevin spends a lot of time after practice working on his game but the thing that always made me mad about Kevin he was having two years there where he was playing so great that it was just unbelievable watching him play and I always sit on the bench I see a guy Kevin 20 MVP this year I don't want it I don't care I don't want it you know it's not a big deal I want to just play and help win you let one year slip away where he could one where the big prize you know you won times good enough and you win at one time that's all you need to win us Kevin had all the skills good and when I go to my grave I'll know that that one year he played just as well are even better than I did [Music] nice person and being a proud person also takes a lot of pride and everything that he does I think this when the reason why he has such a great work ethics on the basketball court I didn't want to use my II such a great player because he takes a lot of pride in what do you do and if I could say one thing that to describe Larry you know he's a very very proud worth very proud once we step on the court we had a bond who was all there to come through something and we knew that we was all good in our areas we had to use that to win basketball games Robert would come to practice he do his work he worked his hardest work or everything in practice in a two hour period he'd do everything the code I never hardly ever seen him miss the practice he worked as hard as it possibly could when the practice over she needed next sheet and he stay around shoot a little bit but he was gone Robert likes his privacy and we all respect to that I've heard you know different critics say you know ultimately we are the best front line to be a symbol but I don't know about the greatest I know we one of these greatest you know I've been very fortunate to be surrounded by great talent like Lehren Kevin two of the best forward to this ever played the game he's playing with the best post up guys were played the game and the best all-around forward to uh play the game and I look back on well confidentially very well I think that Larry's ability to move the ball shoot the ball get the ball inside to Robert and I Robert eyes ability to block shots with Larry's man got by um or you know cover up a little bit on the defensive end for all of us guys then let Larry roam a little bit more and play the team defense which is very effective at all that stuff we all helped each other you know if there's no one person wins and no one person can do it and all together us three it'll run a lot of games together and dill I really fun things on the court together but we always got together when we were on the road for New Year's didn't matter every New Year's Eve we all get together as a team and we party a little bit or we go out and eat and that's really the only time we got together as a group and that's just the way we did things now we're get a little bit over of course we can't stay up late anymore I'm a ladder II that we've had between the three of us the closeness all the fun we've had you know off the court not to mention the fun we had on the court in there that's one of the things I'm gonna miss I'm gonna miss the friendship part about 54 that's one day I'm gonna miss most about not having an area around them guys we'll never know how much I appreciate because I know how good they were and what they did for us to win basketball games his time came but I tell you what he did hell of a run on say whatever you want about that then he had a hell for fun wit when he was out there playing it was that she was the best I'd ever is the best I ever played with again strength he ever seen he people talk about 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 alright now Danny those cross caught the bird put the plays not being guarded it goes the bird bird up begs Burke takes the shot by God rather Connor [Music] get it on the sideline God faith I drove it up [Music] Larry entitled his autobiography drive and perhaps no word better captures the competitive spirit and abundant pride in the man for 13 seasons we sat in these seats in the Boston Garden and marveled at his magic on the court while deep down inside of us all there was always a sense of wonderment as to what made this private and dedicated athlete tick I can remember working out in the summer times for three and four hours a day and people say well why do you put so much time and you know the other guys I know other guys don't even play lice well that's that's what they look at it I want to be in the best shape I can be in I want to go back and I want to have a big gear and I want to earn my money I want them I want it money like everybody else should and that's what kept me motivated I think every time I got a new contract that motivated me to play harder and work harder because you have to live up to it getting the money's one thing earning it's not that easy I mean you got to go out there every night play as hard as you can or the fans will get down on you and that's one thing I didn't want them to do Larry was was a driven man you know cuz he wanted to be so good you know people said that that he was very good ball player and I think that the reputation that he want to live up to matter of fact I think he's just afraid of failure you know he had this burning desire to be successful you know to be the best Larry's the type of guy you just don't play anything it doesn't have to be monetary it's just it's just the idea I beat you I can recall an incident he was at our house my daughter was pregnant and we were playing ping pong in the basement she be he liked to kill him he strung her over that ping-pong table to her little legs wouldn't move but that's Larry's competitors in high school Larry was slower pub one read I'll be nothing he was slow all he was slow we went down there one night got on the track beside erase this been quite this vineyard this is when he's gotten the program and he said I think I can beat you in I said no I don't think he can we went down to the race I got he beat he outran me in that in a hundred he had written I never would ever believe but that's design you know and I I'm a little heavy but I still I thought with ain't no way slows you are I think he was motivated by pride I know that when he would talk to Bill Russell he admired Bill Russell he saw some of the things that Russell did on film and just by talking to him because Bill Russell was so bright they had great conversations and he admired him and I love Larry for that because Larry believe it or not I had a lot of humility Larry's humility and appreciation for consistent greatness allowed him to draw inspiration from another legend a Boston sports well I don't really don't know why Bobby Orr but the guy was so awesome and for some reason I started looking up earlier in my career when they when I had his number up there and every time I see I spoke us in on it and I can always remember this shot every game where he should flip the one back in and don't cross the eyes now every for every several things I look up at so I think about us always look at our three banners up and that sort of got me fired up the game they're like the icing on the cake get myself prepared clip the first of game during a game Larry emerged as the ultimate extrovert the flamboyant passes at an open display of emotions off the court however he often shunned the glare of the spotlight I don't like to be around big crowds I just never felt comfortable been around a lot of people the one thing that I never had I never had any schooling when I went from a small town I really never left this town was a kid we've never had a family car we never had you know vacations together so I went to college you know and I started dealing with the press once we started playing and winning there all of a sudden the press coming I never had no children and all that side you know I shied away right away and I'm still a shy person that I let more people come around me as far as the press I go to functions but I don't like to do them every night like some people it's just not my style I don't know why I think it might be the shyness people can say what the one I don't care but I enjoy being by myself and being with my family Larry's extended family includes the people of French Lick and West babe he is unquestionably the source of tremendous civic pride but in this community he is admired as much for who he is as for what he has accomplished this is his home there's nobody rushing up to him for an autograph he jogs he rides his bicycle back and forth along the highway here there's nobody stopping him and giving him a hassle this is home so we went mushroom hunting together and stuff like that mushroom hunting here what is mushroom hunting hey just go out woods and find these things called mush Moe's little mushroom yeah from West Road Monday Larry Bird was busting one thing yeah hey he liked to do that if Larry had not been Larry Bird well and now a basketball player what do you think he would have been [Music] professional mushroom hunter cuz he can hit the mushroom I always thought I wanted to be construction worker or something like that I've grown up in a small town I never was real good with my hands but you know when I was in high school I worked for the gas company and I said we always late gas lines and stuff like him you know that was alright but I always want to get to the big pipes you know use the back hose and the dozers and all that stuff I wasn't good with my hands but you serious well I mean as far as a carpenter I couldn't build things and I'm not very good at fixing things but as far as digging big holes and laying pipe and I can do that [Music] [Applause] hope you got till mr. all back but I would have played for nothing it's been pretty awesome with last 13 years but knowing that I've played the game that I love and got paid for it I always say well I would play for nothing but I don't know if I would dunno because it's you know you have to travel and you have a lot of injuries but the one thing that I I do know is that it's a game I love and I got paid well for it and I'm just sad it's over not cause the money it's just because I couldn't go out the way I wanted to go out with the championship [Music] you know I would like to play it a little bit longer maybe a year or two more but there's just no way possible I was going to be able to do that so today I'm retiring and I'm still going to be around but not in the capacity I once was so as far as I'm concerned I gave my heart my body my soul to the Celtics and hopefully we can continue to have a good relationship if there was any more basketball to be played in Larry Bird's life more than likely it'll be played on this court that he built in his beautiful home in West Baden Indiana but retirement from the NBA does not signify an in for Larry Bird only a beginning a beginning of a new life to be shared with his wife Dinah and their son Connor probably the best maid anybody could ever get because they've been a lot of nights where we sit up and watch basketball games over and over then a lot of nights would have been a lot of sadness in the house we lose big games and she fought right through it with me and but she went support every game that played in the garden she never missed a game she's just a very very sweet lady and I'm not a I'm very lucky that there's almost 17 years now all the things I've done it's it's been tough on her but we got through it and now it's it's her time to shine we're gonna do a lot of things now she loves to play tennis she loves to run and play golf so now we got time to do all that stuff with my man time with our man Connor he's special to it very special he's a gift from God and we enjoy him so much he's a big part of my life now and we can't wait he gets moving and grooving so but we almost most have a little problem Barcelona he wouldn't sleep at nights we didn't know what was gonna do but we're home now he's happy you know the one thing I'm gonna try to stress is he's gonna have to make the decision what he wants to do I don't know if it's basketball football and she wants a good lawyer if he wants to be a gardener or whatever he wants to do he's gonna have to put the time in to do it you to like to make sure that he knows what it takes to do that job and I guarantee the one thing I want to do if he does it you don't put all this effort into it that's the way I was taught that's the way I'm gonna trying to teach him while Larry Dinah and Connor will now spend their lives comfortably in the French Lick West Baden area the past five years have been filled with the pain and frustration of injuries Larry tore both Achilles tendons then underwent surgery on both heels in 1988 soon after he suffered the back ailments which would necessitate his early retirement the back injury of us different killers wouldn't gonna be me but the backs got me and there's no question it's some days it's pretty rough in other days it's pretty good but big-goblin and when they hit me and hit me hard he's never in great shape I couldn't get up down the court like I wanted to I always felt that I could get that once I had surgery and I was feeling good I could get back to where I was at because I can get myself in shape I can fare myself but once my back start acting up again I couldn't do that and after that I it was all downhill because if I can't practice I can't play the way I want to plug he was in a lot of pain at least when I talked to him on a lot of occasions he'd say all my back feels great today and I'd call him three days later and he couldn't even get out of bed it was hurting so bad listen I have back trouble all the time and my back hurts continuously bet oh I wish that could have been mine I wish they'd been nine and let him what went on for he'd had three more good Jeff his back you know the elbow got okay the heels got okay and I prayed and hoped that his back I really thought his back would be better I really thought that his back for being able to enough where he could go out and like at least one more year despite the pain Larry participated in the Barcelona Olympics the gold medal triumph served as the crowning achievement to a brilliant career I didn't know if my career was over at that time but I looked around and I smelled the roses I was very proud I haven't had an opportunity from the country in a long time I had an opportunity to do it came up in my career and yeah you wrote I was very very proud I'll just have to say now everybody's got their favorite player and everything but there's no question at all who is the food it was the best player of all there is no gap and it's Larry Bird I don't care I'm prejudiced maybe but I mean all-around player now there never be I don't think anybody'll ever be knocking are you ready not a major part of your life please stop that you're not married or player presence here now the Larry Bird tired different good I swear I wanna yeah you know I'm sure you know in Boston it's different I mean if you play professional sports in Boston you treat your fans right they support you and you show your affection to them from your heart they'll follow your career till the day you die just look it's back the other way John have a check Carl Yastrzemski you know just everybody and I was very fortunate to be able to go to Boston play basketball as we received very well the fans clam watched us play all the time and that's all you can ask for and to show our respect to damages say hey all you can do is say thank you thank you very much for making all of our careers great and you know if they want to quit all my career here on that but that's fine with me because I think I'll enjoy this part better than and I ever have because I've been in limelight for 17 years and now it's time to calm down and live a normal peaceful life [Music] thirteen years three NBA titles three MVP awards and a gold medal and thousands of magical basketball moments for millions of basketball fans it all contributed to the making of a basketball virtuoso and while it is so difficult to encapsulate Larry Bird's life in just one hour we hope that we've given you a little bit more of an insight into the man behind the legend and for all of you out there who had a chance to watch him play we say thank you captain Larry Joe Byrd thank you for the memories and thank you for being a legend in green [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I'm gonna back the bird [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Willis is writing Mikael bird has the ball in three-point land [Music] at Burke Drive and lays it up it is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] spin [Music] [Music] you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Troy Pritchett

Views: 172,951

Rating: 4.8220639 out of 5

Keywords: Larry Bird Documentary, legend in green, larry bird

Id: A1GBZuYLU7o

Length: 49min 58sec (2998 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 31 2017