My all-time favorite lines pertaining to Larry Bird

My all-time favorite lines pertaining to Larry Bird

The 1987 NBA Playoffs were underway, and the Celtics and Bucks were locked in a thrilling seven-game Eastern semifinal series. Don Nelson, the head coach of Milwaukee and a former Celtic, was watching Boston warm up from the courtside with his assistant, John Killilea, who was a key player for Tom Heinsohn’s teams that won the Celtic titles in 1974 and 1976.

Despite having six of its top eight players injured during the 1987 postseason, reigning champion Boston nonetheless managed to make it to the Finals, largely thanks to Larry Joe Bird’s heroics in the hoop.

The squad had to rely on seldom-used reserves like Sam Vincent and Greg Kite, or add some relatively unknown players like Conner Henry and Darren Daye to fill out the roster due to their extraordinary string of injuries.

With a mocking expression on his face, Killilea told Nellie, “Look, there are four average players”—as if we should defeat these guys—while glancing at the stand-ins in the Celtic layup line.

At that moment, Bird bounded to the rear of the lineup, trailing the four purportedly “average” Celtics.

The wise-cracking hoops guru Nelson then responded to Killilea with a quote that would go on forever. His brief response revealed how excellent a basketball player Bird was and how he was able to maximize his teammates’ value when they were on the court.

How sharp Nellie’s basketball mind was.

Nelson shot back at Killilea, saying, “Yes, but look now—there are five great players standing there.”

Although an all-time great’s career cannot be summarised in a single statement, the quote’s wide-ranging implications come the closest.

That Nellie statement still gives me chills, much like Bird’s iconic steal of Isiah’s drifting in-bounds pass at the very end of Game 5 in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals.

Following his Olympic gold medal performance with the original Dream Team in mid-August 1992, Bird had his retirement press conference.

Dave Gavitt, the president of the Celtics, once said in a famous way how Larry Legend had excellent hand-eye coordination, skill, heart, basketball IQ, and feel for the game.

Gavitt had done almost everything in the game of basketball as an administrative whiz. Coached Providence to the 1973 Final Four, where future Celtics Ernie DiGregorio, Marvin Barnes, and Kevin Stacom played.

During the late 1970s, Dave organized the enormously popular Big East conference. He oversaw the 1980 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball squad, which regrettably did not compete in the Moscow Olympics because of a political boycott.

Later on in the Bird era, he was elected president of the Celtics.

He came up with a cunning plan in 1992 to prolong Bird’s contract despite Bird’s failing back. With the goal of becoming the newest in a long line of legendary Celtics sixth men, he went to Larry. Bird joins the ranks of Ramsey, Havlicek, Nelson, Silas, Carr, McHale, and Walton.

In order to escape the crowded aircraft, Gavitt’s plan called for Bird to play only home games and competitions on the eastern shore, which he could travel to during the 1992–1993 season.