There are many more things to an NBA star’s life than their talent at hooping. The highs, the lows are all pretty much a part of it, much like the rest of us. Just that, we only tend to notice and celebrate, or diss if need be, what they end up doing on the hardwood. Take Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, for instance.
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For his fans, Bird could do no wrong. But ask him about his daughter, and he will tell you it’s not a relationship he’s proud of.
In 1976, Bird and his first wife, Janet Condra, filed for divorce after a year of marriage. Unfortunately, they didn’t end on the best of terms, and as it happens, the casualty in all of this was their daughter, Corrie, who was born in 1977.
After the 1991-92 NBA season, Bird retired from basketball. A year later, in 1993, the Boston Celtics hosted a retirement ceremony for the legendary forward. Corrie was 15 years old at that time and reached out to her father to attend the momentous occasion. She didn’t receive a response.
John Gearan of the Worcester Telegram was the first person to report on this incident. Bird declined to speak on the matter. However, he had addressed the relationship with his daughter in his autobiography, Drive: The Story of My Life.
“I can’t honestly say I’ve had that much to do with her life because of my differences with Janet [Corrie’s mother]. I think about Corrie all the time, but what can I really do now?” Bird wrote.
The Celtics legend’s situation isn’t like an ordinary person who could receive custody of Corrie on weekends. The life of an NBA player meant his schedule was rarely free. It didn’t help that his relationship with Janet was not good either.
The three-time NBA champion understood where we went wrong. And he acknowledged that none of it is his daughter’s fault.
“I can’t go back and relive the first five or six years of her life. Corrie is a fine and beautiful young lady,” Bird wrote in the book. “She’s good at everything she does, and I’m really proud of her. To tell you the truth, I’ve never really known how to handle the situation.”
Corrie has since grown into a fine woman and is now 48 years old.
Bird, who grew up a family man, never intended to hurt his daughter. “I love her, and anytime Corrie needs anything, I will be there for her,” he had declared.
The nature of the father-daughter’s current relationship is unclear. But Bird certainly has enough time now to make up for the years he wasn’t able to be there for Corrie. Will it ever be enough? Corrie might have a different opinion from us.
