Easily ranked in the top two Boston Celtics players in history is Larry Bird. After the Celtics achieved 29 wins the year before, he led the team to a 61-win season as a highly anticipated rookie.
He won the first of the Celtics’ three titles in the 1980s in just his second NBA season. Bird was well-paid when he joined the NBA because stardom was written all over him. Even though Bird received the most of the media attention, his teammates never treated him differently. It’s precisely as he desired it to be.
He won the first of the Celtics’ three titles in the 1980s in just his second NBA season. Bird was well-paid when he joined the NBA because stardom was written all over him. Even though Bird received the most of the media attention, his teammates never treated him differently. It’s precisely as he desired it to be.
Bird’s Celtics teammates never treated him like a star.
Bird was one of the Celtics’ greatest players. Alongside future Hall of Famers like Bill Walton, Dennis Johnson, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish, he won championships. His teammates did not treat him any differently; rather, they treated him equally.
He stated, “That’s the way I like it, too,” in a Sports Illustrated piece from 1981.
Even though Bird received the most of the spotlight, he was also the one who gave his teammates credit.
He humbly remarked in 1981, “If it weren’t for Tiny, for (Cedric Maxwell), for Robert Parish… you know, I could be out there, but we wouldn’t have won anything.”
During the Bird years, the Celtics were a close-knit group of players, and Bird was one of the team’s many trash talkers. On the court and in practice, they were a competitive group, but they also had a great time. They were equals while they were together. Bird’s personality made him likable rather than his basketball prowess.
“His skill and his sacrifices are appreciated by guys,” Archibald remarked. “Everyone on the team likes him because he’s just Larry, even though we know he’s the main focus.”
