On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise debuted their highly-regarded new prospect drafted the summer prior out of Indiana State, a Hick from French Lick, Indiana — Larry Bird. Larry Legend’s first game in the NBA came against the Houston Rockets, and fittingly happened to also be the night of the first-ever recorded 3-point field goal in league history as Celtics shooting guard Chris Ford connected from deep in Bird’s debut.
Bird, a native of West Baden Springs, Indiana, grew up in nearby French Lick (thus the nickname), and played collegiately briefly at Indiana University before transferring to Indiana State.
This wrinkle made him draft-eligible in what was his junior season at Indiana State.
In turn, this prompted Celtics team president Red Auerbach to exploit the loophole to take Bird with the sixth overall pick of the 1978 NBA draft.
Bird would play his senior season with Indiana State, going all the way to the NCAA title game he would lose to career-long rival and friend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, then join Boston that October.
Bird would win three titles (1981, 1984, and 1986), three Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards between 1984 and 1986, two Finals MVPs (1984 and 1986), a dozen NBA All-Star elections, and an All-Star MVP, 10 All-NBA nods, and three All-NBA Defensive Second Team selections among many other honors.
He would retire as a Celtic in 1992 after 13 seasons with the team, his jersey number was retired by Boston immediately after his retirement.
He averaged 24.3 points, 10 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.7 steals per game with the team.
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