2011 SoB Hall of Fame Inductee | Larry Bird

By John in Celtics, Featured, Now!, Opinion, Top Story ⋅ January 1, 2012 at 1:13pm ⋅ Post a comment

Larry Bird (Jerry Wachter / Getty Images)

In 2009, it was the Red Sox’ turn. Next year, it was the Bruins. This time around, it’s the Boston Celtics’ turn to send an athlete to the SoB Hall of Fame. That athlete is none other than the man himself, Larry Bird.

In 13 glorious seasons, Bird won three championship rings. During the run between two titles in 1984-1986, Bird won both Finals MVPs and all three league MVPs. He has an All-Star MVP and a coach of the year among multiple other awards to back up his career, not that he needs it. He nearly averaged a career triple-double, coming up a few assists per game short. All this was in a whopping 38.4 minutes per game, making Bird a real iron man, back problems aside.

Regular Season Stats

Season	Games	Games Started	Field Goal Percentage	Three-point Percentage	Free Throw Percentage	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	Points
1979-1980	82	82	.474	.406	.836	852	370	143	53	1745
1980-1981	82	82	.478	.270	.863	895	451	161	63	1741
1981-1982	77	58	.503	.212	.863	837	447	143	66	1761
1982-1983	79	79	.504	.286	.840	870	458	148	71	1867
1983-1984	79	77	.492	.247	.888	796	520	144	69	1908
1984-1985	80	77	.522	.427	.882	842	531	129	98	2295
1985-1986	82	81	.496	.423	.896	805	557	166	51	2115
1986-1987	74	73	.525	.400	.910	682	566	135	70	2076
1987-1988	76	75	.527	.414	.916	703	467	125	57	2275
1988-1989	6	6	.471	—-	.947	37	29	6	5	116
1989-1990	75	75	.473	.333	.930	712	562	106	61	1820
1990-1991	60	60	.454	.389	.891	509	431	108	58	1164
1991-1992	45	45	.466	.406	.926	434	306	42	33	908
Career	897	870	.496	.376	.886	8974	5695	1556	755	21791

Playoff Stats

Season	Games	Field Goal Percentage	Three-point Percentage	Free Throw Percentage	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	Points
1979-1980	9	.469	.267	.880	101	42	14	8	192
1980-1981	17	.470	.375	.894	238	103	39	17	373
1981-1982	12	.427	.167	.822	150	67	23	17	214
1982-1983	6	.422	.250	.828	75	41	13	3	123
1983-1984	23	.524	.412	.879	252	136	54	27	632
1984-1985	20	.461	.280	.890	182	115	34	19	520
1985-1986	18	.517	.411	.927	168	148	37	11	466
1986-1987	23	.476	.341	.912	231	165	27	19	622
1987-1988	17	.450	.375	.894	150	115	36	14	417
1989-1990	5	.444	.263	.906	46	44	5	5	122
1990-1991	10	.408	.143	.863	72	65	13	3	171
1991-1992	4	.500	.000	.750	18	21	1	2	45
Career	164	.472	.321	.890	1683	1062	296	145	3897

Testimonials:

Not only did Larry Bird help the Celtics end a brief five-year championship drought, but he and Magic Johnson revitalized an NBA that was on the brink of collapse. The 50s and 60s were all about baseball, the 70s and 90s and 2000s all about football, but the 80s were all basketball. No one better represents that golden age than the most clutch shooter in Celtics history. – Matt G

Larry Bird. Guy couldn’t jump, couldn’t run, but boy could he shoot. All he did was win. – Aryeh