Larry Bird’s current position as coach and executive in the National Basketball Association is worth great, thanks to his professional career with Boston Celtics.
He is undeniably one of the greatest basketball players of all time, which has earned him “the Hick from French Lick” and “Larry Legend” nicknames.
The 63 years old former player had his 13 superb seasons with the Celtics, which poured him the chants of ‘Legend Player.’ The latter inspired his team members, along with millions of basketball fans. Bird had always been a perfectionist whom millions of Celtics fans and basketball players idolize.
When Larry Bird had to retire due to his back surgery in 1992, Commissioner David J. Stern said, “Larry Bird has helped define how a generation of basketball fans has come to view and appreciate the NBA.”
Larry Bird’s Fans are curious to know more about their favorite basketball player. That’s why, in this article, we will be sharing with you about Lary Bird in detail, like his age, height, weight, education, Instagram, and Twitter.
Let’s get started.
Quick Facts
Page Contents
| Full Name | Larry Joe Bird |
| Birth Date | December 7, 1956 |
| Birth Place | West Baden Springs, Indiana, United States of America |
| Nick Name | The Hick from French Lick and Larry Legend |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| Education |
|
| Horoscope | Sagittarius |
| Father’s Name | Claude Joseph “Joe” Bird |
| Mother’s Name | Georgia |
| Siblings | Yes (Eddie Bird, Mike Bird, Mark Bird, Linda Bird Campbell, Jeff Bird) |
| Age | 67 Years Old |
| Height | 6’9″/2.06 m/206 cm |
| Weight | 220 lb (100 kg) may vary now |
| Shoe Size | 17 |
| Hair Color | Blonde |
| Eye Color | Grey |
| Body Measurement | Unknown |
| Figure | Athletic |
| Married | Yes |
| Wife |
|
| Children | 3 children |
| Profession | Basketball Player, Coach, and executive |
| Net Worth | $75 Million |
| Position | Small Forward/Power Forward |
| Jersey Number | #33 |
| Affiliations | NBA |
| Active Since |
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| Social Media | Twitter, Instagram |
| Last Update | March, 2024 |
Early Life, Family & Education
Early Life & Family
Larry Bird was born in 1956, and he celebrates his birthday on December 7 every year. His birthplace is West Baden Springs, Indiana, but later he grew up in French Lick.
He had to deal with emotional turbulence after his parents divorced, and his father committed suicide when he was in high school. As a result, Larry’s family went through an economic struggle.
Bird has five siblings; three brothers, Mike, Mark, Jeff, Eddie, and a sister, Linda. His mother, Georgia, struggled to raise the six kids after separation from her husband and suicide.
All of Larry’s family incidents affected him because Larry Legend abandoned his family, but this made him take the path toward the opportunity to be a basketball player.
He stepped into a sportsman as a basketball player, which helped him get out of his family troubles.
Education
Since his high school days at Spring Valley High School, he proved himself a star player with averaged 31 points, 21 rebounds, and four assists as a senior.
In 1974, Bird was awarded a scholarship to play college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers under the leadership of head coach Bob Knight.
However, he found the transition from his small hometown to the bustling student population of Bloomington overwhelming, and he dropped out of school after less than a month.
He then returned to French Lick and enrolled at Northwood Institute, which is now known as Northwood University. During his year there, he took on various municipal jobs to support himself.
In 1975, Bird decided to resume his college education and enrolled at Indiana State University in Terre Haute.
Larry Legend graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physical education in 1979.
On another side, he, too, had a successful college basketball career. During his college day, he won numerous awards and the Naismith College Player of the Year Award.
Wife & Kids
Larry Legend was married to Janet Condra in 1975, but after a year, they started having issues, which almost led them to be separated.
However, they harmonized for a while and had a daughter Corrie; in 1977, they separated permanently. Later, in 1989 Bird got married to Dinah Mattingly, and the couple adopted two children.
In his early childhood, Bird had to go through emotional and economic chaos after his father’s demise, Claude Joseph, a Korean War veteran.
In his several interviews, Larry revealed that his background had always kept him motivated even after all of his success and economic stability at present.
Larry Bird | Professional Career
Boston Celtics selected Larry in 1978, but he wished to finish his final season at Indiana University, but he didn’t join the Celtics.
The Celtics had decided not to pay Bird more than any other players, but eventually, he ended up signing a five-year, $3.25 million contract with the Celtics and was the highest-paid rookie time of his career.
Along with Bird’s entrance into the team, the Celtic’s game was improved compared to all of the previous season with 32 games.
As a result of his tremendous performance at the Celtics, he got selected to the All-Star team and was also praised with the title Rookie of the Year.
He played for Celtics until his retirement but always stayed part of the team as an advisor.
Bird even participated in the World University Game in 1977 in Sofia, where he won gold with the US team, and participated in Summer Olympics in 1992.
Achievements & Highlights
The 67-year old’s career had always been a handful of achievements and earned it with his consistent and hardworking performance, classy and energetic determination.
His love for basketball rose from his high school ending up in Boston Celtic being the most increased aid rookie of the time.
In 1980, Bird was titled Rookie of the Year. Larry Bird was the NBA champion with Boston Celtics three times in 1981, 1984, and 1986.
To add to this, he also won three consecutive NBA MVP awards in the year 1984, 1985, and 1986.
He was NBA All-Star for the 12th time and two times got into the NBA finals for MVP in 1984 and 1986. Also, Bird was the first person to be titled NBA MVP, NBA Coach of the Year, and NBA Executive.
On June 24, 2019, Bird shared NBA Life Time Achievement Award with Jhonson. He was even listed in the list of 50 best NBA players in 1996 and recorded at No. 30 on ESPN Sports Century’s Top 50 athletes in 1999.
Awards
- 3 times NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986)
- 2 times NBA Finals MVP (1984, 1986)
- 3 times NBA Most Valuable Player (1984–1986)
- 12 times NBA All-Star (1980–1988, 1990–1992)
- NBA All-Star Game MVP (1982)
- 9 times All-NBA First Team (1980–1988)
- All-NBA Second Team (1990)
- 3 times NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1982–1984)
- NBA Rookie of the Year (1980)
- 3 times NBA 3-Point Shootout champion (1986–1988)
- 2 times 50–40–90 club (1987, 1988)
- AP Athlete of the Year (1986)
- No. 33 retired by Boston Celtics NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team National college player of the year (1979)
- 2 times Consensus first-team All-American (1978, 1979)
- Third-team All-American – NABC, UPI (1977)
- 2 times MVC Player of the Year (1978, 1979)
- No. 33 retired by Indiana State
Injury, Rumors, & Controversies
During the 1985 NBA season, Larry sustained an injury to his back while shoveling crushed rock to create a driveway at his mother’s house. As a result, he has played with back problems since then.
Furthermore, the basketball player had to go through back fusion surgery that led his playing career to an end at 36 years old. There might be times when Bird was accused of being overrated at times.
Still, he had always been loved. Once a man named Eric James Trophy, who was found guilty of robbery and intended to kill, requested his 30 years sentence in prison to 33 years so that he could match it with Larry Bird’s jersey, which is no. 33.
Larry Bird | Stats
| Year | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Playoffs | 164 | 162 | 42.0 | .472 | .321 | .890 | 10.3 | 6.5 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 23.8 |
| Career | 897 | 870 | 38.4 | .496 | .376 | .886 | 10.0 | 6.3 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 24.3 |
| All-Star | 10 | 9 | 28.7 | .423 | .231 | .844 | 7.9 | 4.1 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 13.4 |
Net Worth, Salary, & Career Earnings
The Indiana-born was the highest-paid rookie of the year, with $3.25 million, an average of $650,000 a year, in a 5-year contract with the Celtics. Bird had played 879 games in his career until his retirement in 1992.
America’s greatest basketball player still worked as a coach and executive in the NBA, which had indeed led him to get over the low economic lifestyle of his early age, which he had discussed in his several interviews.
Today the net worth of Larry Bird is estimated to be over $75 million. The legendary player was the first player to earn $5 million.
Besides that, the basketballer’s career earning in the NBA was $24,070,000. He earned the highest salary, $7,070,000, during the 1991-92 season.
Furthermore, he has also dipped his toe in the business world and owned a hotel and restaurant and a car dealership in Indiana.
Similarly, the popular figure earns a decent amount through endorsement deals from companies like Heinz Corporation.
Height & Body Measurements
Larry Bird is a charming man with brown eyes and dark brown hair. The Hick from the French Lick has got yellow-toned tan skin. As listed, his height is 6 ft 9 inches (2.06m), and his weight is 220lb (100kg).
Larry looks fit and has an athletic body, but he had to go through back fusion surgery, leading him to end his playing career.
Currently, he is in his 60s, due to which his bodily figure is not as athletic as before. His hair color has faded slightly, but Bird still has that blue-colored beautiful eyes.
Social Media Presence
Twitter itself seems inspired by basketball’s legend as its logo is dedicated to and named after Larry Bird.
But it seems like Bird himself is not fond of using social media as there are no personal accounts though we can find numbers of his fan pages on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
We can find his followers updated about his news, achievements, and photos through the fan page of Larry Bird. On his last year’s birthday, Boston Sports posted a tweet wishing him his special day. Sadly, the account was suspended some time ago.
Larry Legend’s fan page on Instagram has over 28.3k followers. It has only 27 posts, and he hasn’t posted since February 8, 2015.
Aside from that, several documentaries on Bird’s legacy and career have been released. Some of them are Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals, Celtics/Lakers: Best of Enemies, Larry Bird: A Basketball Legend, etc.
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