Larry Bird

Larry Joe Bird was one of the most complete and cerebral players in NBA history. A three-time NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986), three-time MVP (1984–1986), and 12-time All-Star, Bird combined elite shooting, passing, rebounding, and basketball IQ into a package that terrorized opponents for 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics. Drafted sixth overall in 1978 out of Indiana State — where he led the Sycamores to the 1979 NCAA Championship Game in the most-watched college basketball game ever against Magic Johnson's Michigan State — Bird immediately transformed the Celtics. He won Rookie of the Year in 1980, and by 1984 was winning three consecutive MVP awards, the first player to do so since Bill Russell. His 1985-86 Celtics are considered by many the greatest team in NBA history. Bird was a career 24.3 ppg scorer, a deadly three-point shooter who won the first three Three-Point Contests (1986–1988), and a fierce trash-talker who backed up every word. His rivalry with Magic Johnson is credited with rescuing the NBA from declining popularity in the early 1980s. Bird finished with 21,791 career points and 59 triple-doubles. Chronic back problems forced his retirement in 1992, but he represented the USA on the legendary Dream Team in Barcelona that summer. As an executive, he won NBA Executive of the Year with the Indiana Pacers in 2012.