• Larry Bird suffered from atrial fibrillation, which was diagnosed after his playing days
• Bird feared in a 1998 game vs. the Chicago Bulls that he was almost going to pass out due to his health condition
• The Celtics legend forgot to take medicine, which resulted in him sweating abundantly
Larry Bird retired from the NBA in 1992. In 1997, Bird accepted the job of coaching the Indiana Pacers in 1997. He did a phenomenal job with the team in his rookie season as head coach, leading them to a 58-24 record.
During the 1997-98 season, in the March 17, 1998, game vs. the Chicago Bulls, Larry Bird almost passed out. The reason? Well, Bird suffered from a heart condition called atrial fibrillation. It causes irregular heart rhythm in any person. Bird described his experience on the sidelines to Sports Illustrated.
“I always knew there was something funny about my heart,” Bird wrote. “I got a little scared, because it didn’t seem like it was going away.”
After admitting to not taking his medication to keep his medical condition in check, Bird explained the events of the late-season matchup vs. the Bulls in 1998.
“I was standing on the sideline and hoping for a television timeout, because I felt like I was gonna pass out,” he writes. “Finally, the ref whistled time. Whenever we have a timeout, they always put a chair on the court for me so I can sit down and talk to the guys. This time I fell into that chair, because I was going out.”
The Pacers lost the game 84-90 vs. the Bulls. As for Bird, the abundant sweating was a result of the tense environment in the game. Fortunately, the feeling passed when the game ended.
Bird won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award for his work with the Indiana Pacers in the 1997-98 season. The Pacers reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 1998. However, they were eliminated by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in seven games.
Larry Bird Made His Players Stop Dancing To Look More Professional
Larry Bird’s coaching tenure with the Indiana Pacers lasted for just three seasons. But during his stint, Bird took the Pacers to new heights, including an NBA Finals appearance in 2000.
Speaking of his time as a coach with the Pacers, Bird didn’t particularly like his players dancing during pregame warmups. He believes it wasn’t professional behavior on their part.
“I always tried to look professional. When I coached, our guys used to do a big dance routine during warm-ups. I used to turn my back on them. I couldn’t stand watching them. I went to them and asked if they’d put a stop to it. They asked me why, and I said I thought it was embarrassing—not just to me but to our fans. And they quit doing it. We went to the NBA Finals that year.”
The Pacers went to the 2000 NBA Finals. However, the dynamic duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal proved to be too much for them. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated Bird’s team in six games and won the title.
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