Larry Bird

[Eric15]

Wooden Award Winner
NBA MVP 3x
NBA Champion 3x
Olympic Gold Medal Winner
NBA Coach of the Year
NBA Executive of the Year
Deadbeat Father - thanks, Dasher
Devilishly Handsome - thanks, MyMeloMyMan

What an incredible all-around career resume.

 

[Knicks411]

Yeah, I guess Jerry West may be the only guy close, right? But he didn't have the coaching resume of Bird. (And was probably a little worse of a player)

 

[Orangezoo]

Absolutely Agree. One of the best basketball players and minds ever. Great to see him be able to have success as an executive as well. He needs to teach Michael a thing or ten about guiding a franchise.

 

[dasher]

I hate him. And I'm a Celtic fan. He has a daughter he refuses to see since her birth. provides $$ but no contact. What kind of man does that? None that I know.

 

[samspann1]

Nice to see Bird getting his propers. He loves playing up that "aw shucks" country boy image, but he's got a really sharp basketball mind.

My favorite player of all-time.

 

[samspann1]

I hate him. And I'm a Celtic fan. He has a daughter he refuses to see since her birth. provides $$ but no contact. What kind of man does that? None that I know.

Probably happens far more frequently than we know.

Karl Malone did the same thing to his son (although I don't know if he even paid support).

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

He's a weird weird dude...but what a great career. You forgot to add "devilishly handsome" to your list as well

 

[Eric15]

He's a weird weird dude...but what a great career. You forgot to add "devilishly handsome" to your list as well

My original post has been adjusted accordingly.

 

[Orangezoo]

I hate him. And I'm a Celtic fan. He has a daughter he refuses to see since her birth. provides $$ but no contact. What kind of man does that? None that I know.

Hard to assess a lot from that.. My wife will not speak to her own parents other than to send $$$ and gifts on christmas .. she has very valid reasons so much to say she has every right to never speak or write to them again.. not saying Bird's are.. but you never can say...

 

[Upstate]

the consummate "made the players around him better"

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I hate him. And I'm a Celtic fan. He has a daughter he refuses to see since her birth. provides $$ but no contact. What kind of man does that? None that I know.

Your info is a bit out of date. This article was printed in 1998.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1012762/6/index.htm

Overlooking the high school graduation that Bird did not attend and all the times he was playing golf in Terre Haute but never made the 20-minute drive to see her, Corrie holds out hope of an ongoing relationship with her dad. "I've never gotten so mad that I haven't wanted to see him," she says.

Bird declined comment for this story. But on April 17 he visited with Corrie for the first time since taking over the Pacers. Dinah left a pair of tickets for Corrie and a friend to attend the Pacers' last home game of the regular season, and after the game Bird talked with Corrie. "I was really happy to go to the game," says Corrie. "Dad seemed interested in what I had to say. He walked me to my car, and he hugged me. I hope I can see more of him now."

 

[br801]

Yeah, I guess Jerry West may be the only guy close, right? But he didn't have the coaching resume of Bird. (And was probably a little worse of a player)

As players I'd call it a dead heat. They can both start for my team.

 

[CuseinNYC]

Don't forget, "inhuman tolerance for beer". Charles Barkley had an amazing quote sometime back about never again making the mistake of going out boozing with Larry Bird.

Wooden Award Winner
NBA MVP 3x
NBA Champion 3x
Olympic Gold Medal Winner
NBA Coach of the Year
NBA Executive of the Year
Deadbeat Father - thanks, Dasher
Devilishly Handsome - thanks, MyMeloMyMan

What an incredible all-around career resume.

 

[Knicks411]

Hard to assess a lot from that.. My wife will not speak to her own parents other than to send $$$ and gifts on christmas .. she has very valid reasons so much to say she has every right to never speak or write to them again.. not saying Bird's are.. but you never can say...

Sure, but I feel like the situation where a (grown) child refuses to speak to their parents is an awful lot different than a father refusing to see his child from birth. (Apparently he saw her after 20 years or something). What could the child have possibly done at birth to deserve that?

 

[Guinness]

Sure, but I feel like the situation where a (grown) child refuses to speak to their parents is an awful lot different than a father refusing to see his child from birth. (Apparently he saw her after 20 years or something). What could the child have possibly done at birth to deserve that?

Exactly. Not to mention Larry was married to her mother when she got pregnant. I am sorry but real men don't turn their backs on their kids. He may be one of the greatest basketball players of all time but he is s#$% at being a human being.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Exactly. Not to mention Larry was married to her mother when she got pregnant. I am sorry but real men don't turn their backs on their kids. He may be one of the greatest basketball players of all time but he is s#$% at being a human being.

Actually, he wasn't married to her when they got pregnant. Forget where I read it, but the conception happened when they were already separated/divorced and weere considering reconciling. I also read a conflicting account that the ex-wife was the one who forced the distance between father and daughter by refusing to let Larry see her/be in contact.

I'm not trying to defend Larry here, just getting the info out there that I found. I can't imagine being separated from my child, but some guys are like that. My wife hasn't spoken to her father in about a dozen years and that was the first time in about 15 before that.

As for the last statement you made, I would want to hear from Larry's two adopted kids to find out exactly how bad he is at being a father/human being.

 

[Guinness]

As for the last statement you made, I would want to hear from Larry's two adopted kids to find out exactly how bad he is at being a father/human being.

This is not sports where going 2 for 3 is good. Admittedly I am pretty unforgiving on this stuff. I don't like men who cheat on their wives and I care even less for men who turn their backs on their kids. Couple that with being a Celtic and I have no reason to like the guy!

 

[dasher]

Guinness is 100% correct. Larry decided he didn't want the daughter in his life. She was trying to see him and he refused. End of story.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

I wonder if he is like one of those Asian parents, shunning the daughter...

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I wonder if he is like one of those Asian parents, shunning the daughter...

Nahh. He went out and adopted another one. She's at BU now. He helped her move in there last fall. I think it was last fall.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Guinness is 100% correct. Larry decided he didn't want the daughter in his life. She was trying to see him and he refused. End of story.

And where are they today? Unfortunately I can't find the answer to that question. Most recent article I can find from 1998 says they had talked and were friendly. He's pretty private so I'm not surprised you don't hear anything new on that front.

Hey, he could have been worse, he could have not paid for her upbringing. At least he's got that going for him.

 

[cto]

Hey, Steve Jobs did exactly the same thing -- claiming he was not the father of his out-of-wedlock daughter Lisa because he was "sterile." After he got married and had more kids, he admitted his paternity of Lisa. And I gather he subsequently supported her quite well.

 

[dasher]

Hey, Steve Jobs did exactly the same thing -- claiming he was not the father of his out-of-wedlock daughter Lisa because he was "sterile." After he got married and had more kids, he admitted his paternity of Lisa. And I gathered he subsequently supported her quite well.

well, that makes Steve Jobs a asshat as well.

 

[stuckinbig11]

probably took money from boosters while at UCLA and not man enough to acknowledge it