Biography of Larry Bird [Age, Height, Kids, Wife, Achievements, Net Worth & Salary]

For millions of basketball players, Larry Bird is a legendary name that is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time.

He had indeed inspired many of the basketball players who wish to grow from their root level fighting all the odds and creating their own identity with their skill and hardship.

Larry Bird, also nicknamed “The Hick from French” and “Larry Legend,” is a former greatest professional basketball player, great coach, and a superb executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

63-year-old Larry is an American and was born on December 7, 1956. His unique number single-handedly secured his place as one of the most skilled players ever.

During his career, approximately over 13 seasons, Larry Legend had a marvelous coherence that always presents him as a classy, confident, and hardworking rookie.

The latter inspired his team members, along with millions of basketball fans.

Bird had always been a perfectionist whom millions of Celtics fans and basketball players idolize.

When Larry Bird had to retire due to his back surgery in 1992, Commissioner David J. Stern said, “Larry Bird has helped define how a generation of basketball fans has come to view and appreciate the NBA.”

Larry Bird’s Fans are curious to know more about their favorite basketball player. That’s why, in this article, we will be sharing with you about Lary Bird in detail, like his age, height, weight, education, Instagram, and Twitter.

Let’s get started.

Larry Bird | Quick Facts

Full Name	Larry Joe Bird
Birth Date	December 7, 1956
Birth Place	West Baden Springs, Indiana, United States of America
Nick Name	The Hick from French Lick and Larry Legend
Religion	Christianity
Nationality	American
Ethnicity	Caucasian
Education	High school from Springs Valley (French Lick, Indiana) College from Indiana State (1976-1979)
Horoscope	Sagittarius
Father’s Name	Claude Joseph “Joe” Bird
Mother’s Name	Georgia
Siblings	Yes (Ally Elaine Smith)
Age	65 Years Old
Height	6’9″(2.06 m)
Weight	220 lb (100 kg) may vary now
Shoe Size	17
Hair Color	Blonde
Eye Color	Grey
Body Measurement	Unknown
Figure	Athletic
Married	Yes
Wife	Janet Condra Dinah Mattingly
Children	3 children
Profession	Basketball Player, Coach, and executive
Net Worth	$75 million
Position	Small Forward/Power Forward
Jersey Number	#33
Affiliations	NBA
Active Since	Playing career (1979-1992): Boston Celtics Coaching career(1997-2000): Indiana Pacers
Merch	Jersey, Posters, Autographed Basketball, Rookie Card
Social Media	Twitter, Instagram
Last Update	May, 2022

Larry Bird | Early Life And Family

On December 7, 1956, Larry Bird was born in West Baden Springs, Indiana, and was brought up in French Lick.

He had to deal with emotional turbulence after his parents divorced, and his father committed suicide when he was in high school. As a result, Larry’s family went through an economic struggle.

Bird has five siblings; three brothers Mike, Mark, Jeff, Eddie, and a sister, Linda. His mother, Georgia, struggled to raise the six kids after separation from her husband and suicide.

All of Larry’s family incidents affected him because Larry Legend abandoned his family, but this made him take the path towards the opportunity to be a basketball player.

He stepped into a sportsman as a basketball player, which helped him get out of his family troubles.

Since his high school days at Spring Valley High School, he proved himself a star player with averaged 31 points, 21 rebounds, and four assists as a senior.

As Bird had proved himself as a star player through his high school achievements, he received a scholarship from Indiana State University in 1974.

However, due to some circumstances, Larry was not able to continue his study in Indiana.

The American player moved back to French Lick and enrolled at the Northwood University, just a year before Indiana.

Larry legend graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physical education in 1979.

On another side, he, too, had a successful college basketball career. During his college day, he won numerous awards and the Naismith College Player of the Year Award.

Larry Bird | Wife And Kids

Larry legend was married to Janet Condra in 1975, but after a year, they started having issues, which almost led them to be separated.

However, they harmonized for a while and had a daughter Corrie; in 1977, they separated permanently. Later, in 1989 Bird got married to Dinah Mattingly, and the couple has adopted two children.

In his early childhood, Bird had to go through emotional and economic chaos after his father’s demise, Claude Joseph, a Korean War veteran.

In his several interviews, Larry revealed that his background had always kept him motivated even after all of his success and economic stability at present.

Larry Bird | Professional Career

Boston Celtics selected Larry in 1978, but he wished to finish his final season at Indiana University, but he didn’t join the Celtics.

The Celtics had decided not to pay Bird more than any other players, but eventually, he ended up signing a five-year, $3.25 million contract with the Celtics and was the highest-paid rookie time of his career.

Along with Bird’s entrance into the team, the Celtics game was improved compared to all of the previous season with 32 games.

As a result of his tremendous performance at the Celtics, he got selected to the All-Star team and was also praised with the title Rookie of the Year.

He played for Celtics until his retirement but always stayed part of the team as an advisor.

Bird even participated in the World University Game in 1977 in Sofia, where he won gold with the US team and participated in Summer Olympics in 1992.

Larry Bird | Achievements And Highlights

The 63-year old’s career had always been a handful of achievements and earned it with his consistent and hardworking performance, classy and energetic determination.

His love for basketball rose from his high school ending up in Boston Celtic being the most increased aid rookie of a time.

In 1980, Bird was titled Rookie of the Year. Larry Bird was the NBA champion with Boston Celtics three times in 1981, 1984, and 1986.

To add to this, he has also won three consecutive NBA MVP awards in the year 1984, 1985, and 1986.

He was NBA All-Star for the 12th time and two times got into NBA finals of MVP in 1984 and 1986. Also, Bird was the first person to be titled NBA MVP, NBA Coach of the Year, and NBA Executive.

On June 24, 2019, Bird shared NBA Life Time Achievement Award with Jhonson. He was even listed in the list of 50 best NBA players in 1996 and recorded at No. 30 on ESPN Sports Century’s Top 50 athletes in 1999.

Awards

• 3 times NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986)
• 2 times NBA Finals MVP (1984, 1986)
• 3 times NBA Most Valuable Player (1984–1986)
• 12 times  NBA All-Star (1980–1988, 1990–1992)
• NBA All-Star Game MVP (1982)
• 9 times  All-NBA First Team (1980–1988)
• All-NBA Second Team (1990)
• 3 times NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1982–1984)
• NBA Rookie of the Year (1980)
• 3 times NBA 3-Point Shootout champion (1986–1988)
• 2 times 50–40–90 club (1987, 1988)
• AP Athlete of the Year (1986)
• No. 33 retired by Boston Celtics NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team National college player of the year (1979)
• 2 times Consensus first-team All-American (1978, 1979)
• Third-team All-American – NABC, UPI (1977)
• 2 times MVC Player of the Year (1978, 1979)
• No. 33 retired by Indiana State

Larry Bird | Injury, Rumors And Controversies

During the 1985 NBA season, Larry sustained an injury to his back while shoveling crushed rock to create a driveway at his mother’s house. As a result, he has played with back problems since then.

Furthermore, the basketball player had to go through back fusion surgery that led his playing career to an end at 36 years old. There might be times when Bird was accused of being overrated at times.

Still, he had always been loved. Once a man named Eric James Trophy, who was found guilty of robbery and intended to kill, requested his 30 years sentenced in prison to 33 years so that he could match it with Larry Bird’s jersey, which is no. 33.

Larry Bird | Stats

Year	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Playoffs	164	162	42.0	.472	.321	.890	10.3	6.5	1.8	0.9	23.8
Career	897	870	38.4	.496	.376	.886	10.0	6.3	1.7	0.8	24.3
All-Star	10	9	28.7	.423	.231	.844	7.9	4.1	2.3	0.3	13.4

Larry Bird | Net Worth, Salary, And Career Earnings

The Indiana-born was the highest-paid rookie of the year, with $3.25 million an average of $650,000 a year in a 5-year contract with the Celtics. Bird had played 879 games in his career until his retirement in 1992.

The American greatest basketball still worked as a coach and executive in the NBA, which had indeed led him to get over the low economic lifestyle of his early age, which he had discussed in his several interviews.

Today the net worth of Larry Bird is estimated to be over $75 million. The legendary player was the first player to earn $5 million.

Besides that, the basketballer’s career earning in the NBA was $24,070,000. He earned the highest salary, $7,070,000, during the 1991-92 season.

Furthermore, he has also dipped his toe in the business world and owned a hotel and restaurant and a car dealership in Indiana.

Similarly, the popular figure earns a decent amount through endorsement deals from companies like Heinz Corporation.

Larry Bird | Height And Body Measurements

Larry Bird is a charming man with brown eyes and dark brown hair. The Hick from the French Lick has got yellow-toned tan skin. As listed, his height is 6 ft 9 inches (2.06m), and his weight is 220lb (100kg).

Larry looks fit and has an athletic body, but he had to go through back fusion surgery, leading him to end his playing career.

Currently, he is in his 60s, due to which his bodily figure is not as athletic as before. His hair color has faded slightly, but Bird still has that blue-colored beautiful eyes.

Larry Bird | Social Media Presence

Twitter itself seems inspired by basketball’s legend as its logo is dedicated and named after Larry Bird.

But it seems like Bird himself is not fond of using social media as there are no personal accounts though we can find numbers of his fan pages over Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

We can find his followers updated about his news, achievements, and photos through the fan page of Larry Bird.

On his last year’s birthday, Boston sports posted a tweet wishing him on his special day. Sadly, the account was suspended some time ago.

Larry Legend’s fan page on Instagram has over 28.3k followers. It has only 27 posts and he hasn’t posted since February 8, 2015.

Aside from that, several documentaries upon Bird’s legacy and career has been released. Some of them are Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals, Celtics/Lakers: Best of Enemies, Larry Bird: A Basketball Legend, etc.

Larry Bird | FAQs

Who is Larry Bird’s wife?

The legendary basketballer’s wife is Dinah Mattingly. Previously, he was married to Janet Condra from 1975-76.

What is Larry Bird doing now?

Currently, Bird is enjoying his life away from basketball. Recently, he stepped down as the president of the Indiana Pacers and said,

“I’m 60 years old, and I want to do other things away from basketball. I will do some scouting for the Pacers, NBA, college, international, do some appearances and stay in a capacity to advise senior basketball management.”