Larry Bird was destined for greatness, and his high school coach revealed how the Boston Celtics star put in the hard yards every day to become a bonafide superstar.
Coach Jim Jones shed light on how Bird became a natural leader of his team during his formative years while also carving a name for himself as the side’s reliable and go-to player.
Jones narrated the story of Bird’s development in an archival video on Youtube. Posted by AllBasketballTV, the clip sees the coach explain the forward’s mindset.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYsC_ulPPi0
The coach said the progress was slow, but Bird had the mindset of a champion.
“It was really slow. I don’t think we really thought we didn’t realize that what we had was just the best. We really did and I remember I used to tell Larry regardless of how much time you put in, there’s somebody down the road putting a little bit more. And he really took this to heart and he intended it to be his desire to be the best and each year he was better.
And his senior year, Coach Holland gave him a lot more freedom and he really exploded and became a great player. But he was always the ultimate team player. He was our best player as a junior, but he was not necessarily the leading scorer. He could have been, but he took so much pride in winning, and he made everybody else play so much better.”
That quality of being the ultimate team man and the best player was seen even during his NBA days. The accolades and the titles say it all. Bird ended his run as a three-time champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, three-time NBA MVP, and nine-time NBA All-Star, among other feats.
Jim Jones On Larry Bird’s Ungodly Will To Win
Jones had spoken about Larry Bird’s will to win in earlier interviews. Speaking to The Athletic, he told a story of how his ward did all that it took to play a game and was astonished by the extraordinary approach.
On the occasion of Bird being named in the Top 75 NBA players list, Jones relived the time he put the young forward in the game on the condition that he could finish suicides in 30 seconds.
“I told him, ‘Now Larry, if you can run suicides in 30 seconds, I’ll take you to sectionals.’ And he worked every night. He worked and worked and worked, not knowing if he was going to go (to sectionals). Of course, he did it in 30 seconds; he limped, but he played.”
“And I’ll be darned, I put him in a game, and he helped us win. Then our second game, I didn’t put him in, we got beat and he told me that was a reason why. That was his competitiveness. His will to win was ungodly.”
These stories do not just serve as good old stories about the legend but also speak volumes of what he did to get where he wanted to be. It’s hardly surprising that Bird is one of the greatest players to have played the sport.
