Larry Bird
© RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Larry Bird is a Boston Celtics legend and one of the best players in the history of the NBA. His achievements as a player rank him on many people’s top 10 lists.
Bird was elected to the All-Star game in 12 of his 13 NBA seasons. The only season that he wasn’t an All-Star was due to playing just six games due to injury. More of his player accomplishments include two championship titles, along with two Finals MVP awards, as well as three MVP awards. The accolades for Bird as a player go on and on, thus earning him a lot of respect.
However, he doesn’t get the same credit for his work as a coach with the Indiana Pacers.
Scroll to Continue
Jalen Rose on Bird as a coach
Bird coached the team to three straight playoff appearances in just three years, winning a Coach of the Year award in the process. For that reason alone, he deserves to be recognized as more than just a legendary player. But very few are willing to give him the credit he deserves. Thankfully, Jalen Rose did.
Rose recently posted a video on his Facebook page, talking about what Bird was like as a coach. Bird coached Rose in each of his three seasons while he was playing with the Pacers.
“Of course, you know him as Larry Joe Bird. He was my coach, my coach; that’s something I could call him,” Rose said. “Let me tell you about his style. Like Iav Hutton, when he talked, we listened. A man of few words, unlike most all-time great players, although able to analyze the game from his third eye. Not expecting every player to do what he would do. He also knew what he didn’t know.”
Bird’s greatness
From a coach’s standpoint, being able to account for every scenario is incredibly important. Bird had a very deep bag, but even he understood that there was much more to basketball than displayed in his game. In his third and final coaching season, he led the Pacers to the NBA Finals for the first and only time in franchise history.
This amount of success in such a short time frame highlights how well Bird knew the game of basketball. He was an unbelievable player but an outstanding coach as well, and more NBA fans should recognize him for it.
.