Larry Bird might have been a legend for the Boston Celtics, but his allegiance to his home state of Indiana did not waiver. Born in French Lick, Indiana, Bird grew up in a humble family and pursued his dreams of playing college basketball. Ahead of Bird’s draft during his senior season at Indiana, the Pacers were actively looking forward to drafting the future legend for their team. However, a promise made by the 3-time NBA MVP to his mother prevented him from joining his home team.
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After the American Basketball Association (ABA) merged with the NBA, the Indiana Pacers faced a dire situation in the face of financial ruin. The team had offered their top free agent, Dan Roundfield, a $200,000 contract. However, at that moment, the Atlanta Hawks swooped in to acquire Roundfield for a bigger sum of $450,000. With the exit of their top talent, the Pacers now faced a gaping hole in their lineup.
Larry Bird seemed like the best prospect to be drafted in such a difficult predicament. The Pacers coach, Bobby Leonard, approached him with an offer to join the team, given he would forego completing his degree, right after the draft. However, that wasn’t something Bird was looking to do. After all, he had promised his mother, Georgia, that he would only leave Indiana State after completing his degree and was adamant about his determination.
In a 2009 account for the book When The Game Was Ours, Larry Bird said,
“My mom didn’t care about the money. She was hanging in there. It wasn’t a life-or-death situation. If it was, maybe I would have made a different decision.”
Though Bird lost out on the opportunity to represent his home state in the NBA, he might not regret being selected as the sixth overall pick by the Boston Celtics in 1978. Bird joined the Celtics in 1979 and became one of the franchise’s greatest legends.
Aside from winning the 1980 Rookie of the Year award, Bird became a three-time NBA champion, a two-time Finals MVP, a three-time season MVP, and a 12x All-Star while being part of the Celtics. All of this does make one ponder how different things would have been had Larry Bird forgone his college degree and joined the Pacers instead.
Larry Bird returned to the Pacers in 1997
The Pacers’ woes continued as they struggled to find their footing in the league after Larry Bird was drafted into the NBA. The early history of the franchise denotes a number of bad trades and misfortunes that led them to be termed a struggling team in the NBA. However, all that was to change after Indiana drafted UCLA shooting guard Reggie Miller as the 11th pick of 1987.
Under coach Bob Hill, Miller flourished to lead the Pacers in playing .500 from 1989 to 1993 and qualifying for the playoffs. The Pacers experienced the best of their form in the late ’90s when Larry Bird returned to the franchise as the head coach from 1997 to 2000.
Under Bird, the Pacers appeared in back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals and an NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000 after a 56-26 regular season. Though the Lakers ended Indiana’s championship dreams in six games, Larry Bird’s tenure as a coach was lauded with a Coach of the Year award in 1998.
