Just For Results

We are glad that our friend Coach Phil Jackson has decided to return for another season in the NBA coaching the LA Lakers for another title shot. Going for another 3 peat is not an easy goal to accomplish in any sport but with Coach Jackson’s experience, motivational skills and rapport with his team and management he will have a great chance to repeat. Coach Jackson knows how to get maximum performance from his team.

All the best to Coach Jackson on another winning season and continued good health for the entire upcoming season and beyond.

Larry Joe Bird was born on December 7, 1956 in West Baden Springs, Indiana to parents Joe and Georgia and was raised in nearby French Lick. Excelling at Basketball at an early age, Larry attended Springs Valley High School and became his team’s all-time leading scorer; he graduated in 1974. Perhaps no one knew the greatness of Larry Bird or that his name would be forever synonymous with basketball but his high school efforts landed him a scholarship to the University of Indiana-a premonition of things to come.

Larry Bird felt out of place on the large campus and dropped out, taking a year off before returning to college and the game of basketball at Indiana State. Bird led the team to the NCAA championships in 1979 against Magic Johnson’s Michigan State Spartans. Although the Spartans were victorious this time, the team finished with a 33-1 record and cemented Bird’s 30.3 points per game average as a college player.

Larry Bird was the number one draft pick of the Boston Celtics in 1979 – he joined the team, earning a then-record of $650,000 annually. He averaged 21.3 points per game with the team and won a NBA Rookie of the Year award. Bird led the Celtics to a 61-21 record and himself to great popularity with Boston’s fans.

The following year, the Celtics relocated to the Robert Parrish Center and took on Kevin McHale. Bird and McHale are considered by many to have been the best frontline in NBA history. In the 1980-1981 season, the Celtics made it to the NBA finals, where they defeated the Houston Rockets six times to take the championship. In the 1980′s, the Celtics made it to nearly every NBA final, often facing off against the Lakers.

Bill Fitch, the Celtics’ coach nicknamed Bird “Kodak”, since as Fitch said: “it’s for his ability to picture how a play would unfold. He can turn a play into points.”. Bird was also a formidable defensive player and his statistics are truly amazing – his tallies in the 1981-1982 season reached the double digits. The Celtics became even more of a force to be reckoned with in 1983, when guard Dennis Johnson signed on and new coach KC Jones came on board.

The end of the 1983-84 season brought victory to Bird and his Celtic teammates with a seven-game series and win over the Lakers; they won the seventh game in a close but exciting 111-102 score. Larry averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds during this amazing series and won the coveted Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the NBA’s regular season MVP for the 1983-84 season. A loss to the Lakers in the 1984-85 season still brought Larry the NBA’s MVP award. Fans of basketball everywhere still feel the match-up of Bird versus Magic was and is the best match-up in basketball and the most exciting to watch.

The Celtics returned to finals once again in the 1985-1986 season; they defeated the Houston Rockets in six games and finished with a 76-15 record for the year. Bird again won the series MVP in this, his third NBA championship victory with an average of 24 points per game, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. This year also saw him winning the league MVP award, the third player to do so. Bird’s Celtics would also come out on top in the finals the next year, beating the Lakers in six games. Bird, like his rival Magic Johnson was becoming synonymous with the game of basketball.

However, it was his performance in the 1987-1988 season which would make the name Larry Bird a synonym for basketball. This season saw him earning a 29.9 point per game average with a field goal percentage of .527 and a free throw average of .916. Due to surgery for a bone spur, Bird was sidelined in the following season. He returned for the 1989-1990 season, but Bird knew that it would soon be time to retire. This basket ball legend was part of the 1992 US Olympic basketball “Dream Team”, along with Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Bird holds a career average of 24 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists per game, his 49.6% field goal average and an incredible 88.6% free throw average, a 37.6% three-pointer average and has played in no less than twelve All-Star games. Larry Bird’s name is truly legendary and the man is a living synonym for basketball, holding a special place in the hearts of basketball fans everywhere.