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Larry Bird Net Worth
Larry Bird net worth is $75 million as a former American professional basketball player and business leader. He is recognized as one of the best basketball players of all time and is most well-known for playing for the Boston Celtics from 1979 to 1992. He made a salary of $26 million during the course of his career. After leaving the NBA, Larry started a career in business that has since grown very successful.
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Larry Bird, an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association, was born on December 7, 1956. (NBA). Larry Bird, sometimes known as “the Hick from French Lick,” is considered one of the best basketball players of all time.
He was a basketball star in his native French Lick, Indiana, when he was younger. He was heavily recruited and initially committed to playing collegiate basketball for Bobby Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers, but he left after one month to enroll in a community college in French Lick.
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Early Life
Larry Joe Bird was born to Georgia and Claude Joseph “Joe” Bird in West Baden Springs, Indiana. He has four brothers and a sister in addition to his father, a Korean War veteran. Bird’s mother supported him and his brothers by working two jobs in the adjacent town of French Lick.
When he was a senior in high school, his parents separated, and approximately a year later, his father committed suicide. In order to escape his familial issues, Bird turned to basketball. He averaged 31 points, 21 rebounds, and 4 assists per game as a senior while serving as Springs Valley High School’s standout player.
Career
Larry Bird earned his first-year $650,000 salary with the Celtics by averaging 21.3 points per game and winning Rookie of the Year honors for the 1979–80 NBA season. Bird signed with the team for a then-record $650,000 per year. Additionally, Bird led the Celtics in minutes played, steals, and rebounds with an average of 10.4 per game.
The Celtics picked Kevin McHale before the start of Bird’s second season and acquired center, Robert Parrish, from the Golden State Warriors. The frontline made up of those three players would go down in NBA history as one of the best. With a 61-21 record that year, the Celtics beat the Houston Rockets to win the NBA title, marking Larry Bird’s first career triumph.
Larry Bird was a significant player in reviving the NBA in the 1980s, along with Johnson, who also made his NBA debut in 1979 with the Los Angeles Lakers. Both the Celtics and Lakers were dominant, with one or both of them participating in each NBA championship during the decade.
Even though he wasn’t particularly quick on his feet, Bird quickly earned a reputation for not just reacting to his opponents’ moves but also foreseeing how they would play out in advance.
By the time he had played in the league for two years, Bird was already well-known for his reliable, clutch scoring, and tenacious defense. He made a name for himself as one of the most tenacious and determined players in the NBA thanks to his unmatched concentration and composure.
Despite the fact that he was injured for most of the 1988–89 season, the Celtics made the playoffs in each of Bird’s 13 seasons, and he added championships in 1984 and 1986. He was selected for the All-Star team 12 times and won the Most Valuable Player award at the 1982 All-Star Game. From 1984 to 1986, Bird won the NBA MVP award three times in a row, and in 1990, he reached a significant milestone by scoring 20,000 career points. But at that time, his once ferocious assault on the floor had been halted by a back injury.
The United States sent its first professional athletes to the Olympic Games in the summer of 1992. The American men’s basketball squad, sometimes known as the “Dream Team,” was founded by NBA stars Michael Jordan, Bird, and Johnson. Bird announced his retirement from playing just a few weeks after his team and he handily captured the Olympic gold medal for the United States. He had outstanding career averages of 24.6 points and 10 rebounds per game.
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Coaching Career
From 1992 until 1997, Bird worked as a special assistant in the Celtics’ front office after his playing career was over. Then, in 1997, he accepted the job as coach for the Indiana Pacers, declaring he would only serve in that capacity for a maximum of three years. Bird coached the Pacers from 1997 to 1998, guiding them to a 58-24 record.
He was honored for his efforts by being named the NBA Coach of the Year because this was their best performance on record at the time. Later, under his direction, the Pacers won the Central Division in 1999 and 2000. Following the conclusion of the 2000 season, Bird, who had promised to only serve as head coach for three years, announced his resignation.
Larry Bird was rehired by the Pacers in 2003, although this time he served as the team’s president of basketball operations. He became the first person in NBA history to win all three awards of NBA MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year when he was elected NBA Executive of the Year following the 2011–2012 campaign.
After briefly severing ties with the Pacers in 2012, Bird rejoined them as their president of basketball operations in 2013. He held this post until his second resignation in 2017. He has, though, remained a member of the group in an advising capacity.
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Personal Life
Even though they divorced after less than a year of marriage, Bird wed Janet Condra in 1975. After a brief reconciliation, they gave birth to Corrie in 1977. But eventually, they went their separate ways. Bird later wed Dinah Mattingly in 1989. Conner and Mariah, their two adoptive children, are theirs.
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Who Is Janet Condra?
Prior to meeting Larry Bird, Janet Condra’s life was fairly simple. At Indiana’s Spring Valley Highschool, she completed her lyceum. There she met Larry Bird, and as a result of that, the two of them fell hopelessly in love. They become lyceum cuties as a result. Although they were married in 1975, their union did not last more than a year. They were shut off on October 31, 1976. Janet gave birth to Corrie Bird not long after the separation.
Corrie Diane Bird, Janet Condra’s daughter, was born in the United States on August 14, 1977. She manages the family medicine division at the AP&S Clinic.
Who Is Dinah Mattingly?
Dinah Mattingly, sometimes known as Dinah Bird, was born in New York on November 16, 1954, and it appears that she is the daughter of an FBI agent. Nevertheless, according to certain other documents, she is from West Baden, Indiana.
Although not much is known about her family, Mattingly is rumored to have a brother by the name of Doug Mattingly. Dinah, who is now 68 years old, attended Terre Haute High School before attending Indiana State University to further her education.
Larry Bird’s long-term girlfriend since college was Indiana native Dinah. The couple got hitched on October 31, 1989. While Mattingly and the NBA executive were traveling in the latter’s Ford Bronco, the latter made the proposal.
Dinah Mattingly Aided Larry in Managing His Anger
Evidently, even at the start of their relationship, Dinah was more than just Larry’s girlfriend. For instance, when Bird was playing for the Boston Celtics in the early years, Mattingly would caution him because he was prone to snap judgments, probably off the court. Then, he had a reputation for being impulsive and arrogant.
