Larry Bird’s upbringing wasn’t exactly poverty, but it wasn’t exactly a comfortable life either.
The Boston Celtics legend had a column written on him by CNN’s Frank Deford in 1988, and there was one story about how his mother, Georgia, who was employed as a waitress, endured a challenge every day. Bird recollected how her struggles were.
“His mother, Georgia, was employed mostly as a waitress. “I remember, she worked a hundred hours a week and made a hundred dollars, and then went to the store and had to buy $120 worth of food,” Larry says. “If there was a payment to the bank due, and we needed shoes, she’d get the shoes, and then deal with them guys at the bank. I don’t mean she wouldn’t pay the bank, but the children always came first.”
It’s wholesome to know that Georgia ensured her children didn’t lack anything, and it’s also newfound respect for Bird to understand that being poor meant the struggles were real.
“It motivates me to this day,” Bird said. “I never once worried about college when I was in high school, and I never worried about the pros in college,” he says. “When it was the Celtics drafted me, I could’ve cared less.”
The money came in later. Bird made a little more than $24 million in salary in his 13 seasons with Boston. The icon made just $650,000 in each of his first five years. But for a man that saw less money all their life, he still stayed rooted, and that speaks volumes about his humility and simplicity.
Larry Bird Never Splurged Even After He Made Good Money In The NBA
It was never about fast cars, expensive wine, rich food, and real estate for Bird even after he made the NBA and made it big. And he explained why.
According to Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe (via Sportscasting), “I really don’t need anyone to build my ego. When I’m home in Boston, I want to go out and eat, pay my bill, and get the hell out,” he said.
“Back in French Lick, I don’t have those problems, and that’s why I go back there. It’s the same with nice cars, Mercedes and all that. I can’t see putting $50,000 or $60,000 into a car when our house growing up was worth $10,000. I just can’t buy that. And clothes never did catch my eye. I never really enjoyed ‘em. I always wore what I felt comfortable in. I’ll wear pretty much anything if I get it for free.”
The modern-day NBA stars can take a leaf out of Bird’s book, where it was simple living. One doesn’t have to live as a hermit, but there’s no point splurging on material things, either.
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