NBA – Larry Bird admits: “I knew my days with the Celtics were over after that”

Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif

One of the greatest legends of the NBA and basketball in general, Larry Bird spent his entire career in Boston. But the Hall of Famer felt the wind change after a fateful decision by his managers that he was never able to fully digest.

No player who came through the Celtics’ ranks after him has been able to match his aura within the franchise. Along with Bill Russell, Larry Bird is unquestionably the greatest athlete ever to don the green and white. While we wait to see what Jayson Tatum will achieve, the wingman has his work cut out for him.

Even today, the n°33’s career in Massachusetts remains a veritable masterclass. Nearly 22.000 points, 9.000 rebounds and 6.000 assists in his career, three championships and as many regular-season and Finals MVP awards, 10 All-Star Game appearances… all while having embodied the face of the league in the 1980s alongside his eternal rival Magic Johnson, of course.

Larry Bird betrayed by his Celtics bosses?

With such an incredible career behind him, you’d have thought Larry Legend would have stayed close to Boston after retiring due to health problems in 1992. However, he soon left the prestigious franchise, starting a new career as a coach and then as an NBA executive… but with the Pacers, as he was originally from Indiana. And it would seem that his departure from the C’s was not without reason.

Initially, Bird had planned to remain on the Celtics’ organization… Appointed special advisor to ex-CEO Dave Gavitt, he quickly became disillusioned, as he confessed in an interview with the Boston Globe in 1997:

I knew my days with the Celtics were over when I told our owner that Sherman Douglas was the most valuable guy on our team, and then he traded him a month later.

Despite his knowledge and exceptional basketball IQ, the Boston front office had simply chosen to ignore his advice, much to the dismay of the Hall of Famer. As a result, he obviously developed a certain resentment towards the franchise that hadn’t disappeared after his former teammate Michael Leon Carr was named GM:

They would ask my advice about certain personnel moves, then turn around and do whatever they wanted. I mean, why ask my opinion if you don’t really care what I think?

No wonder he’s no longer very close to the franchise, with most of its current players explaining that they’ve never spoken to the NBA legend.