Sports Then and Now

Bird and Person battled in an epic and deciding Game Five in the '91 NBA Playoffs.

In the ’90-’91 season, the Celtics were still one of the top teams in the NBA. They finished with a 56-26 record under head coach Chris Ford and won the Atlantic division. However, everything wasn’t rosy for the Celtics especially with Larry Bird.

Age and injuries were catching up with the “Big Three”. Kevin McHale only played 68 games, Robert Parrish miraculously stayed healthy and only missed one game, and Larry Bird missed 22 games to due to a compressed nerve in his back. This would be the injury that would cause Larry Legend to retire after the following season.

Bird, at age 34, would still have a productive season. He averaged 38 minutes per game, 19.4 points (which led the team), 7.2 assists, and 7.6 boards. However, he was a far cry from the Larry Bird of old.

The Celtics faced the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs that season. Boston would split the first two games at the Garden before traveling to Indiana for Games 3 and 4. The Celtics would take Game 3 112-105, but they couldn’t close out the scrappy Pacers in Game 4. The series was tied 2-2 and set up a winner take all Game 5 back in Boston.

Larry Bird spent the night of May 4, 1991 in the hospital in traction due to his insufferable back pain. No one really thought Bird would be able to play in the deciding Game Five versus the upstart Pacers.

However, as people learned throughout Bird’s whole career, never count him out.

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Kobe Bryant was a first team All-NBA selection seven times in the decade and led the Lakers to NBA titles to start and end the decade.

As we near the end of 2009 and thus the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, Sports Then and Now is looking at some of the athletes and moments that shaped the decade.

When the decade started many were wondering how the NBA could overcome the retirement of Michael Jordan. Of course Jordan did come back for two seasons during the decade as a member of the Washington Wizards, but he really was more of a footnote in the decade rather than a main player.

The decade belonged to two powerhouse teams, the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs. There were other teams with good runs, but those two squads were consistently contending for NBA titles.

Some are still looking for the next Michael Jordan, but while it is doubtful there will never be another MJ, as the NBA heads into the new decade it has a plethora of talented young stars poised to lead the league into the future.

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Below is a look at our picks for the top 10 NBA players over the past decade:

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The UNLV Runnin' Rebels are relevant again in college hoops.

Not since 20 years ago have the UNLV Mens Basketball Team drawn this much excitement as the decade comes to a screeching halt next Friday. In his sixth years as the coach of the Runnin’Rebels, Lon Kruger and 2009-2010 edition is certainly invoking memories of Greg Anthony, Larry Johnson and Stacy Augman.

Ranked 20th in this week’s ESPN/USA poll the Rebels are in Hawaii this week for the inaugural Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. Being the only ranked team there is not a guarantee to the championship for the 10-1 Rebels. In the other side of the bracket lies USC and St Marys, both teams that have beat ranked opponents this year.

However,if last nights drubbing of SMU is any indication just how strong and how deep these Rebels are, then it looks like it’s going to be a year where UNLV and perhaps even three other Mountain West teams will be joining them in the big dance in March 2010.

Last night the Rebels used 11 men to roll to a one sided 67-53 win over the Mustangs from SMU. The final score was no indication of the beating that took place on the floor.

The Rebels jumped out to a 42-19 halftime lead and never looked back. They increased the lead to 28 midway through the second have and allowed the SMU Mustangs to get as close as 12 points with about 2 minutes to play.

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Watching old highlights of Larry Bird helps illustrate just how amazing a player he was.

On the program “Outside The Lines”, ESPN recently did a feature about the lack of American born white players in the NBA. This got me thinking about the amazing career of one of the great American born white players of the last 30 years, Larry Bird.

Bird is also back in the forefront lately through the new book he co-wrote with Magic Johnson entitled, “When the Game Was Ours.” Click here to read a great review of the book recently posted by Joe Gill. Also, if you sign up to receive daily updates from Sports Then and Now or the sites for Boston, Chicago or Baltimore between now and January 15, 2010, you will be automatically registered for a drawing where you could win one of two copies of the book.

As part of our occasional series remembering the careers of some of the greats of the game through Youtube videos, I’ve picked several videos that depict Bird’s legendary career.

Watching these videos, I was absolutely amazed at just how great Bird was. At the time he played, we all new Bird was great, but seeing his many amazing passes and shots, it is clear that he was one of the all-time greats and will never be duplicated. There are certainly many great players today, but none (regardless of color) who have quite the package of greatness embodied by “the Kid from French Lick.” Enjoy.

Larry Bird’s Great Moments

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The Harlem Globetrotters began in Chicago as the "Savoy Big Five."

When Professor James Naismith nailed that peach basket to the wall in 1891, he couldn’t have imagined the popularity his invention would someday enjoy around the world.

When promoter Abe Saperstein gathered five poor inner-city kids from Chicago’s South Side to play some serious basketball in 1926, how could he have known the destiny of fame and goodwill that would one day materialize?

The six-foot Naismith and the five-foot Saperstein; astute academian and absolute comedian; oil and water, fire and ice. As individuals, they were almost polar opposites.

But when the brainchild of the professor and the vision of the promoter happened to cross paths, something magical and enduring and beyond anyone’s wildest dreams was set in motion.

When evaluating success, it is often useful to look to the past. Hindsight offers a great perspective on the turning points, opportunities, happenstance and even the mistakes which all contributed to the positive outcome.

With that in mind, let us trace the course of basketball in general and its intersection with the path of its greatest proponent, the Harlem Globetrotters.

Basketball was an almost instant success after its inception. Within five years, intercollegiate competition was organized. Semi-pro tournament teams began to appear as the demand for the fast-paced, fan-friendly game increased. These early teams would tour the eastern United States, barely surviving on their meager cut of the gate receipts.

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“When The Game Was Ours”

Written by: Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson with Jackie MacMullan

What can I say about this book? For one, I could not put it down.

This is a must read for any sports fan.

A book has to grab my attention right away or it finds its way to the Land of Lost Toys AND Books.

“When The Game Was Ours” did not find its way to that place. This book brought me back to memories of my youth.

As a child of the 80’s, my fondest sports memories were of Celtics-Lakers on Sunday afternoons.

Bird. McHale. The Chief. Magic. Worthy. Kareem.

These are all names that are interwoven into the fabric of my sports soul.

To say I was excited to read this book is an understatement!

The journey starts with the tandem of Bird and Johnson telling the stories of their childhoods in French Lick and East Lansing. You learn about their high school playing days and how they were courted by the big time college basketball programs.

Bird would choose the powerhouse of Indiana coached by the infamous Bobby Knight and Magic stayed with his hometown school of Michigan State.

You will discover the reasons for Bird’s transition from Indiana to dropping out of school and then being wooed by Indiana State. Bird was very close to cutting his basketball career short.

The rivalry between Magic and Bird would start in college culminating with the 1979 NCAA championship.

This is when Magic and Bird followed each other’s career obsessively.

This is when the rivalry bloomed.

This is when the NBA became relevant again.

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