The Larry Bird story starts like many others; born and raised in a small town, local hotshot, the wonder boy of French Lick. After a stellar high school career Bob Knight recruits him to play for the Hoosiers. He makes his way to Bloomington and things go to hell for him quickly. He was always use to being the man. IU had just completed an undefeated season the year prior and they had plenty of 'the mans.' Couple that with the fact Larry had never been out of French Lick...needless to say, he didn't last long.
After his brief stay at IU, Larry heads back to French Lick. He knew a job working for the city was waiting for him. The only job open at the time; garbage man. After a year on the garbage truck his mother can't anymore. So she calls the coach at Indiana State. He comes down and talks him into playing for them...The rest is history!
Recently, I watched a special on ESPN that documented Larry's life. My favorite part is when they are interviewing Bill Walton. He said this about him, "It's game 5 of the Eastern finals and everyone in the building thinks the Celtics are going to lose except Larry. The Pistons let their guard down thinking it was over and he made them pay. People forgot that Larry Bird never gives up!" For those tried and true Celtic fans. You remember the moment Walton is referencing.
When I was a young, Larry was the king in small town Kansas, every kid wanted to grow up and be him. My friend Jack told me a story about a friend of his from Kansas who actually met him. He said the guy was driving past French Lick and decided to take a look at where his boyhood idol had grown-up. He then found out where he lived. He figured, "What the hell. I'll just go knock on his door." He does just that and Larry answers. He then tells him he was a fan and always wanted to meet him (this is my favorite part of the story). Well, Larry tells him to hold on for a minute and puts his shoes on. The two of them end up shooting baskets, shooting the breeze, chewing Skoal and having a good time for a couple of hours. That's got to be one of the best stories I've ever heard.
I was in Chinatown the other day eating at a crowded restaurant with my colleague Kam: When an Asian kid walks in wearing a vintage Bird jersey. I told the kid I liked his jersey and asked him what he knew about Larry. He started rattling off everything and I become impressed rather quickly by his knowledge. I then thought to myself. 'Go figure, Larry Bird is popular in Chinatown as well."
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