Larry Bird is one of the greatest NBA legends of all time. The small forward left a huge mark on the game during his days with the Boston Celtics, recording impressive performances with the C’s, winning several championships and individual awards.
Unfortunately, Larry’s career didn’t last as long as others, and his back issues forced him to retire. Still, Larry Legend never lost his talent and earned a call to the 1992 USA Dream Team. The NBA sent their best players to the Barcelona Summer Olympics, ready to show the world they were absolute dominators of international basketball.
Players like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson, David Robinson, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and more traveled to Spain to represent the country, dominating every rival on their way to the gold medal.
Bird lived plenty of memories during those days, being included in an iconic picture with Michael Jordan while he chunks beers, out drinking Charles Barkley, shutting down trash talkers who didn’t think he was still good, and debating with Jordan who the best player in the league was.
Even though he had a memorable time in Barcelona, Larry admitted that nothing can actually compare to his time with the Boston Celtics. The Greens were the best part of Larry’s life and when he walked away from that, things changed. Talking with Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe, the player opened up on the differences between playing for Team USA and his beloved Celtics.
He dragged himself through limited playoff duty, and then he got himself to the Olympics. “Sure, I wanted to. I was 35, and it was a great honor, to play for your country.”
But don’t ask him for any game reminiscences. “There’s nothin’ to talk about,” he says, via Sports Casting. “You can’t spend 12 days at one thing and say it was the best time of your life. Those 13 years with the Celtics were the greatest time of my life.
“When I left the Celtics, I left basketball. My career ended when I left the Boston Celtics.”
Bird’s love for his franchise was incredible. He left his everything for the Celtics, becoming one of the best players in league history with the C’s. Still, he had great memories from his time with the Dream Team.
“Winning the gold medal has to be one of the greatest things you can ever do as an athlete,” said Bird via Olympics.com. “The enjoyment for me was just being there for the Olympics. I had been on teams with some of these guys, but this was the Olympics. It was special.”
Bird is a synonym for the Boston Celtics. After Bill Russell, he’s arguably the greatest legend in team history. Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep playing at the highest level thanks to his health issues, but Bird made sure to leave a mark when he was healthy.
He topped it off with a gold medal in Barcelona, playing with former rivals that later became friends of him. Larry was one of the greatest small forwards of all time and nobody can deny that.
