Basketball royalty Larry Bird had a short but unforgettable stint in coaching following his retirement in 1992. From 1997 to 2000, Bird served as the head coach of the Indiana Pacers, going head-to-head against the Chicago Bulls in 1998. Despite having no coaching experience, Larry Bird challenged Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen’s team in the Eastern Conference Finals, pushing the Bulls to a Game 7. A series, which could have ruined Michael Jordan’s ‘Last Dance’ with the Bulls.
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However, after just about reaching the Finals, Larry Bird was severely disappointed in himself and his coaching abilities. Jalen Rose, who was then a youngster playing for the Pacers, recently revealed in an interview what Bird told him after losing the Eastern Conference Finals.
In his entire career, Michael Jordan has only played three Game 7s in his career. The final Game 7 of his career came in 1998, against Larry Bird’s Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals series. The Bulls won against the Pacers with a narrow margin of 4-3 in the series, moving forward to win their sixth ring and completing a second three-peat.
Jalen Rose reveals Larry Bird’s real feelings after losing to the Chicago Bulls in 1998
In an appearance on ShowTime Basketball, Jalen Rose revealed the real emotions displayed by Larry Bird, who replaced Larry Brown as the Pacers’ coach after the team failed to make the playoffs in the previous season, after losing the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals. Bird had come a long way as a coach without prior experience in about a year. Here is how Jalen Rose describes the impact Larry Bird had in changing the mentality and motivation for the Indiana Pacers squad.
“98. Last Dance. Like the rest of the world see it as the ‘Last Dance,’ like they beat us. So, I don’t really love that documentary as much as everybody else. After we lost that game in 98 to the Bulls, we were the only team taking it to seven games. So this is after Larry Brown was benching me, Larry Bird came in…. The next year we was at Game 7 against the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals. Basically the same team. ”
In the fourth quarter of the crucial Game 7, Rose made two straight shots right before the Bulls called time out. Although Rose was in good form and motivated, Larry Bird benched him during the game’s final moments. This had enraged the veteran Pacer quite so much he would ignore Bird and the coaching staff after losing the game.
When Larry and Jalen met at the team bus, Bird expressed his true feelings and apology to Rose after benching him during the game.
“I’m like, I’m gonna just walk like a kid, mad a their parents. Like I’m gonna just walk past and not say nothing. And he’s like ‘Jalen.’ Turned around like ‘Alright coach?’ He had a beer in his hand, he’s like ‘I f***ed up. I should have got you back out there.'”
In the Pacers team of that season, Reggie Miller, Rik Smiths, Dale Davis, and Jalen Rose were among some of the best players for the team. Reggie Miller averaged 17.4 points, while Jalen Rose averaged 7.8 points per game in the series. Both Jalen Rose and Larry Bird were exceptional assets for the 1997-98 Indiana Pacers team, often considered one of the toughest teams of that era. Larry Bird won the Coach of the Year award for exceptional performance as Pacers coach.
Jalen Rose was made feel validated by his coach and NBA legend Larry Bird
During his short three-year stint as a coach, Larry Bird proved his championship-winning capabilities were beyond being a player legend. Had he continued coaching for a few more years, he would have won his first title as a coach as well.
The Pacers under Bird were considered a really good team. They had improved within a season quite significantly after Bird took over the position from Larry Brown.
In the 1997-98 season, Jalen Rose played all 82 games, although he was not a starter. In the next season, after acquiring Chris Mullin, Jalen Rose’s performance reached the next level. He started scoring 11 points per game, his then-career high. This followed up with an NBA Finals appearance, where Rose averaged 18.2 points in the season. Through the three years that Bird coached Jalen Rose, he had nothing but praise for the youngster competing against Kobe Bryant.
