Though he never let his emotions get the better of him, Larry Bird was never particularly angry. That all changed in 1983 following the Boston Celtics’ humiliating series of losses to the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals. Longtime Boston Globe reporter Bob Ryan observed Bird’s feelings and a vow he made in the locker room following that painful elimination game.
In 1983, Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics faced the Milwaukee Bucks in a difficult playoff series.
As a rookie in 1979–80, Larry Bird swiftly turned around a Boston Celtics team that was having trouble. Despite Boston’s meager 29 game winning streak, Bird guided the team to an NBA-high 61 victories and Rookie of the Year recognition. Boston won its first of three NBA titles in the decade the following season.
Despite their encouraging regular-season performance, the Celtics were unable to make it back to the championship round in the following two seasons. They lost in the conference finals in 1982 to the Philadelphia 76ers, a rival team. The Bucks dominated them in 1983, winning all four games. Due to illness, Bird was unable to participate in Game 2, which allowed the Bucks to win 95–91 and take a 2-0 series lead back to Milwaukee, where they finished the sweep.
M.L. Carr, a former forward for the Celtics, claimed the club was just not mentally prepared. He felt there was an urgent need for a coaching change. As expected, following the season, Bill Fitch resigned.
Carr reportedly said to Celtic Nation’s Michael D. McClellan, “We lost to the Bucks in four (in 1983), but to be honest, any team in the playoffs that year could have beat us in four games.” To be really honest, as a team, we decided it was time for our coach to leave. I’m not ashamed of that.
In Maxwell’s book If These Walls Could Talk, former Celtics guard Danny Ainge said, “I remember we were down.” “The good news is that we won’t have to listen to him anymore if we lose this series,” some of the team’s players said. I believe Kevin (McHale) even stated in the media that whether or not Fitch returned would determine his status as free agent.
