“Goddamn Who’s Larry Bird”: When Nolan Richardson First Heard Of Future NBA Legend’s Heroics On The Radio

Larry Bird had one of the most incredible NBA careers in history, walking out as a Hall of Famer with several accolades to his name.

The 1980s were the perfect time to get into basketball. You had several stars and powerhouse teams in the league including Bird’s Celtics, Magic and Kareem’s Lakers, Dr. J’s 76ers, and countless other all headlined the NBA at the time.

However, that decade was dominated by two stars, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson who won eight NBA titles in those years, playing each other thrice in the process as well with Bird winning three championships for his career overall.

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Nolan Richardson Recalls The First Time He Heard About The Legend Of Larry Bird

Before Larry Bird was torching the NBA, he was lighting it up in college. Bird attended Indiana State where he averaged a ridiculous 30.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 53.3% from the field in his three years at university.

College basketball wasn’t as popular then as it is now, and so many people didn’t truly know how great Bird was in his early days. Nolan Richardson was one of those people.

Tuning in to an Indiana State vs. New Mexico State game, all Richardson could hear was ‘Bird.’ Not being able to watch the game, Richardson was trying to imagine what was going down, and all he could picture was some dude named ‘Bird’ all over the place doing everything.

In all honesty, Bird was doing everything that day. In the 1979 matchup between New Mexico State and Indiana State, the Sycamores would win 91-89, with Bird pouring in a whopping game high 37 points and 17 rebounds to secure the victory for his school.

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