Boston Celtics - NBA Basketbal - Larry Bird - Basketball

This basketball with a black signature in top condition. Signed in black by Larry Bird, including COA. Gorgeous luxury case incl aluminum name tag

Bird was born in West Baden Springs, Indiana, from the marriage of Georgia and Joe Bird. He grew up in West Baden Springs and the nearby town of French Lick, which earned him the nickname The Hick from French Lick.

Bird began his basketball career on the Springs Valley High School team, where he is still known as the most productive player to have ever played for Springs Valley High.

In 1974, Bird chose Indiana University, where he joined the team of famous basketball coach Bobby Knight. However, Bird felt absolutely out of place there and after a month decided to leave the university, only to return later at the college level with the Indiana State University (ISU) Sycamores.

In 1978 Bird entered the NBA draft. He was selected as the 6th pick by the Boston Celtics. Bird, however, decided to stay one more year with the Sycamores. Nevertheless, the Celtics retained the exclusive right to recruit him a year later.

In 1979, Larry Bird led his Sycamores to the NCAA Championship final, where he lost to Michigan State University in one of the most legendary college games ever, then led by Earvin Magic Johnson. A game in which Bird scored 19 points to Magic Johnson’s 24. It is still claimed to this day that this was the start of March Madness, the current craze surrounding the NCAA tournaments held in March.

At the end of the 1979 basketball year, Bird was named NCAA Player of the Year, averaging 30.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

After the bitter loss to Michigan State University, Bird moved up to the “big” guys in the NBA, where he landed with the Boston Celtics through the 1978 draft.

Due to his extraordinary leadership qualities, court vision, passing, and a phenomenal jump shot, Bird immediately had a major impact on the Celtics’ play. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1979, ahead of the very well-performing Magic Johnson, who had also made the jump to the NBA that same year and was the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers. Bird mainly played at small forward and power forward.

In his rookie year, Bird posted averages of 21.3 points per game, 10.4 rebounds per game, and 4.5 assists per game. In 1979, already as a rookie, Bird was selected for the Eastern Conference All-Star Team, an achievement he would repeat in each of the next 12 years.

Bird managed, among others, to win the NBA Championship three times with legends like Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. Together with Magic Johnson, he helped restore the popularity of NBA basketball, which at that time had somewhat stagnated, to new heights. They did this largely by reviving the longstanding rivalry between Bird’s Celtics and Magic’s Lakers.

Throughout his NBA career, Larry Bird achieved the very impressive averages of 24.3 points per game, 10.0 rebounds per game, and 6.3 assists per game.

In the 1992 games, he earned the gold medal with the first and most legendary Dream Team.

Bird is still regarded as one of the greatest players in NBA history and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. Bird was selected as one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time in 1996.

This item ships with standard insurance, but you are also welcome to pick it up. If desired, an invoice can be added.