NBA Draft: 30 greatest draft picks in league history
Larry Bird. 4. player. 18. . Small Forward. Indiana State Sycamores, 1978 (No. 6)
Greatest NBA Draft picks in league history: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
The next two players on this list are forever linked, by history and by marketing and by Jackie MacMullen’s excellent book When the Game Was Ours. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson together gave basketball life and started an era of stars.
For Larry Bird, that career started in rural French Lick, Indiana, and then at Indiana State. He led the small school to an undefeated 33-0 season and then all the way to the NCAA championship game in 1979, where the Sycamores fell to the Michigan State Spartans, led by Magic Johnson. The rivalry was begun.
In 1978, before that title run, Bird was taken No. 6 overall by the Boston Celtics. He elected to return to school, which created a unique standoff the following offseason.
Bird negotiated for a large starting contract from Boston, which Red Auerbach was reluctant to grant. Yet Bird could have simply entered the 1979 NBA Draft, erasing Boston’s rights, and would likely have been selected No. 1 overall. He got his contract, the Celtics got their man and both sides have to be pleased with the results.
Bird played his entire 13-year career with the Celtics, making 12 NBA All-Star teams and 10 All-NBA squads. “Larry Legend” was one of the first players (and the first star) to truly make use of the 3-point line. His jumper worked from everywhere on the court, no matter the defensive attention. Three times he brought home the NBA MVP trophy, and three times he brought home a championship trophy.
Bird stands out as one of the most iconic Celtics in the history of the franchise, seeing unparalleled success for a team trying to find its way after the glory days of Bill Russell, Bob Cousy and John Havlicek.
If Bird had access to modern medicine, it is possible his body would have held up, and he could have submitted his claim to being the greatest of all-time. He was that good. As it was late in his career, he ceded the Eastern Conference throne to the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls, retiring as the epitome of Celtic green.