Written By: Michael D. McClellan | So much has been written about Larry Bird, and yet the private superstar prefers to operate far from the spotlight. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Larry to discuss his brilliant career, but, because of his affinity for privacy, wanted to keep the on-the-record dialog short-and-sweet. Larry appreciated that greatly. Off the record, we joked about everything from our shared hick-dom (Larry Legend hailing from French Lick, me from West Virginia sticks) to life after stepping down as the Pacers’ president of basketball operations. What follows is a Q&A with one of the most significant players in NBA history.
When did you realize you could hang with the best in the NBA?
It wasn’t long after I joined the Celtics. The team was going through drills in training camp, and it didn’t seem like everyone was going all-out. And then we started playing exhibition games, and I was able to get my shots, make my cuts, things like that. When the season started, the game slowed down for me. I was able to think my way around the court and see plays develop before they actually happened. That’s when I realized I could play at a high level and be successful.
The Celtics played a couple of tough playoff series against Dr. J and the Sixers in the early ’80s.
We were down 3–1 in ’81 and came back to win, and were down 3–1 a year later and lost Game 7 in the Boston Garden. I thought we were going to win the championship in ’82. Didn’t happen. It was a disappointing loss for sure.
Tom Heinsohn pulled an exploding cigar prank on Red in the ’60s. Who was the biggest prankster on your team?
Those 82-game seasons are long, so you’ve got to have some fun. McHale was one of the biggest jokesters. Danny, too. Robert was quiet in public, but he was a different person in private. We had a lot of fun.
Xavier McDaniel says you were the game’s biggest trash talker.
Like I said, it’s a long season. Sometimes you’ve got to keep things interesting [laughs].
That ’84 Finals against the Lakers was pretty special.
Game 1, we lose at home. Game 2, if [Gerald] Henderson doesn’t steal the ball, we’re going to LA down 0–2. Game 3, they blow us out. Everything changed with Game 4. We played a little tougher, and we took them out of their flow. That’s what we wanted to do because we felt like the Lakers were easily distracted whenever we made life a little tougher on ’em. All of a sudden they aren’t running up and down the court, dunking and giving each other high fives. It was a battle in the trenches. That worked to our advantage, and we won the championship.
That 1986 Celtics team is considered one of the best ever. Tell me a little about Bill Walton.
Bill was a big addition for us, and everyone knew how talented he was. We also knew his history with injuries, so there were a lot of unknowns. Luckily, Bill was relatively healthy that year. We started off hot that season and were able to keep it up right through to the Finals. That year he played 80 games for us, and we were able to win a lot those games. Bill was a big part of our success.
Bill’s injury history wasn’t the only concern when he arrived.
We always said that Robert [Parish] was the one who had to sacrifice the most on the offensive end in order for us to be successful. And then here comes Bill. Bill understood the dynamic and reached out to Robert as soon as he got to Boston. He was a great teammate and was only concerned with team goals. He wasn’t coming to Boston to compete with Robert for playing time, he was coming to help make life easier on him. He broke the ice. It turned out to be a very positive thing. Bill and Robert became great friends.
Your steal against the Pistons is iconic. I interviewed Dennis Johnson before he passed away, and the respect he had for you was off the charts.
The steal doesn’t matter if DJ doesn’t have the presence of mind to cut to the basket. We lose that game. Dennis always played better when the stakes were higher. I thought the world of Dennis Johnson.
Two words: Len Bias.
A lot of people don’t know this, but I played against Len Bias when he was a sophomore at Maryland. Red used to have some of the top players from around the country come and work his camp, and I would work it some, too. Then at night, we’d play. Bias was incredible. He was going to be great.
You played your entire career with the Celtics.
That’s the way that I wanted it. I didn’t want to go anywhere else and play, and I wasn’t going anywhere else unless they traded me. I wanted to finish my career in Boston, and Red was a big part of that. He was very loyal, he didn’t trade me. That’s why he was so successful building and rebuilding those Celtic championship teams. I’m thankful that it worked out that way. I got to play with some great players. We won three championships and came close in a few others. I wanted to retire as a Boston Celtic. I’m very proud of that.
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