Was Larry Bird the best college player of all time?
There is no need to introduce Larry Bird. He is regarded as one of the NBA’s all-time best basketball players. Bird was an all-star twelve times in thirteen seasons. Between 1983–84 and 1985–86, he won three straight NBA MVP awards and was named Rookie of the Year in 1979–80. Along with winning two NBA Finals MVP awards, he was a three-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics. Bird finished with over 21,000 points, roughly 5,700 assists, and nearly 9,000 rebounds by the time his career ended in 1992. In terms of points per game, he is still ranked 17th overall in NBA history (24.3).
When Bird earned a two-time All American at Indiana State University in his junior and senior years, the buzz started.
the nation’s top college basketball player and 1978–79 Naismith Award winner. Bird averaged 30.3 points, 4.6 assists, and 13.3 rebounds per game in 94 games while playing for Indiana State. With 2,850 career points, he still holds the 16th-highest scoring record in NCAA history. In addition, he guided the Sycamores to their lone trip to the NCAA basketball tournament in school history.
For one doubleheader, Bird was a two-sport athlete in college, which surprises a lot of his admirers. He disclosed that he participated in two games for the Indiana State baseball team in his 1990 autobiography Drive.
It wouldn’t have been shocking for people close to Bird at the time to see him participate in a baseball game. After basketball, baseball was Bird’s second favorite sport in high school. After playing the game all through high school, he took up softball in the summers. Bird enjoyed playing softball at Indiana State even when he wasn’t winning championships on the basketball floor.
Even after Michigan State defeated Magic Johnson for the national championship in his final season, Bird never wavered in his commitment to working hard on the court. He would keep honing his skills throughout the spring in preparation for joining the Celtics following his graduation. The Boston team had picked him the previous year, so he knew he would be wearing the green. Bird was granted an additional season of college education, with the option to join with the Celtics, due to the draft regulations in place at the time.
After his basketball sessions, Bird would go to the athletic training offices night after night to ice. When Bob Warn, the baseball coach at Indiana State at the time, observed how much Bird would ice, he made the decision to give him
who at the time was the baseball coach at Indiana State, witnessed how much Bird would ice and made the decision to reprimand him for it.
In an interview with the Indianapolis Star, Warn recalled telling Bird, “You’re a real wuss.” “I see you every night. You’re merely “icing” in the training room.
Although Bird didn’t appreciate this remark, he decided to disregard it. When Warn noticed Bird icing again the following evening, he decided to challenge Bird and haze him once more.
“You know? I said to him. “Games with balls this huge are played by real men.” Forming his hands into the shape of a baseball, Warn spoke to Bird. “Anybody can play games with balls this size,” I remarked. A warning was issued
into a basketball with his hands. “All you need is a big basketball to accomplish this.”
Bird accepted the challenge, knowing what Warn was saying. Larry Bird played baseball for Indiana State on April 28, 1979, during a non-conference doubleheader versus Kentucky Wesleyan.
In the Hoosier state, Bird had grown quite the basketball fan. Bird was surrounded by the media nearly all the time, having led the little state college to the NCAA national title game and being selected sixth overall by the Celtics. When word spread that he would be participating in the forthcoming baseball doubleheader, nothing changed.
Mike Hayes, who faced Bird for Kentucky Wesleyan, stated, “Bird’s participation in the baseball game had been heavily advertised and, as hoped, it drew a large and boisterous crowd.” More than 2,000 admirers attended, well exceeding the typical group of a few girlfriends, a few parents, and, on a bright, sunny day, a few coeds looking to become tanner. The pitiful bleachers were overflowing with fans, who poured out onto the grass that surrounded the field. The mood was one of a circus, weather permitting. The previous evening, Bird was given a banquet in honor of his honor, so it was clear to the audience who they were coming to see.
To the dismay of the spectators, Bird began the first game on the bench. The fans started to jeer when they realized he wasn’t playing.
Halfway through the first game, he was brought in as a pinch hit. For the first time, the spectators saw Bird in a baseball uniform, with the unusual number 24 (since, at the time, it was the only one that would have fit his 6-foot-9 frame). Bird did not have a good at-bat as he struck out. Regarding Bird’s opening at-bat, Warn remarked, “It was like he was swinging a slow pitch softball bat.” “He had a horrible appearance.”
Bird started at first base in the second game of the doubleheader and recorded nine putouts.
He blasted a single up the middle in his second at-bat, scoring two runs and putting the Sycamores ahead 3-1.
Then disaster almost happened.
Bird and the catcher both chased after a pop fly in the infield late in the second game. After the two met, Bird was thrown to the ground. He lay motionless on the ground. Eventually, much to the relief of everyone observing, he stood up. Later on, Bird would say he’d merely had his wind knocked out. Before things got dicey, Warn made the decision to take Bird out of the game.
On that particular day, Bird batted.244 with two RBIs as Indiana State defeated Kentucky Wesleyan 5-1 and 7-1 in their doubleheader. Bird said, “I’ve never been knocked out in all the time I’ve been playing basketball.” “After one baseball game, I understand. I was seriously injured. Final results: 1-for-2,.500 average, 2 RBI. I reasoned that I couldn’t do much better.
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