Larry Joe Bird is a former NBA basketball player. He was born on December 7, 1956 in West Baden Springs, Indiana. He grew up in the neighboring town of French Lick and was a star high school player. Bird had a major plus point and that was his height, he was 6 feet tall as a high school sophomore. He played at guard position for two years. He became forward as a senior and averaged more than 30 points per game.

Bird enrolled at Indiana University, but felt overwhelmed by the size of the campus and left after only 24 days. He eventually ended up at Indiana State University. He led the ISU Sycamores to the NCAA championship game in 1979, but were defeated by the Michigan State University Spartans, which was led by Magic Johnson at that time.

Bird won the Naismith and Wooden awards, given to the year's top male college basketball player. Bird, a 6' 9" (206 cm) forward, was productive virtually at all aspects of the game. On June 8, 1979, Bird was drafted the Boston Celtics for an amount of $3,250,000 for five years. At that time this contract was the largest rookie contract in NBA history. He was one of the league's most accurate shooters, usually finishing among the top 3-point shooters as well as among the top free-throw shooters. During his years with the Celtics, Bird became one of the greatest talents in the NBA. He led the team to three NBA championships, and won numerous MVP awards. His career average was 24.3 points per game, with a high of 29.9 points per game in the 1987-88 season. He also became known as an excellent passer, averaging 6.4 assists. Bird announced his withdrawal from the game on August 18, 1992, after helping the so-called Dream Team win the Olympic gold medal in Barcelona. In 2003, he returned to the Pacers as President of Basketball Operations. One of his first moves in his new capacity was to fire Thomas and hire Carlisle to coach the team. He is married to Dinah and the couple is blessed with two kids Connor, 7, and Mariah, 5.