I graduated from ISU while Larry was there. I had season tickets and never missed a game. I have never seen a player like Larry before or after that had the ability to outhink his opponent which allowed him to be two steps ahead of his defender. I have seen him make fakes that left the defender wondering where the ball went. He deliberately bounced the ball off the backboard so he could rebound it to get a better shot. He was a chess master while everyone else was playing checkers

Larry Bird was my P.E. Assistant at Springs Valley High School. He was a senior, I was in jr. high. We always had to run 10 laps around the gym as a warmup exercise, except for one day that I will never forger. A trampoline was on the gym floor about 35 feet from the goal at the south end of the court and Larry Bird was jumping on the trampoline. The P.E. teacher (who was also the basketball coach) blew his whistle and said, "I'm going to give the basketball to Larry and he is going to take ten shots while jumping on the trampoline (35 ft. out). Every time Larry makes a shot you don't have to run a lap." So as Larry Bird was jumping up and down on a trampoline 35 ft. from the basket he proceeded to made 7 out of 10 shots which meant we only had to run 3 laps. Little did we know that our "P.E. Hero" would become one of the greatest NBA players of all time. Proud of you Larry.

Something about that understated description that Austin Carr has of Larry Bird, “no nights off with him”, that just sums him up. 100% all the time, everytime, or else why bother? Larry’s mindset. Because he was switched on to the game every second, people didn’t understand how he was doing what he was doing. Only Larry knew.

Unless you got to watch him during his prime years, you have him underrated. I never got to watch Russell live, so Bird is the guy I'm starting my all time team with.

Bird averaged about 30ppg his senior year and shot 20 shots or less!! Imagine if he shot as much as Pistol Pete?! Larry Bird handcuffed himself a lot when it came to scoring/shooting just to get his teammates involved, that's why Bird was a 3x champion. Not dogging the great Pistol I have nothing but love for his game and old footage, dude was a straight up G!

The greatest small forward ever. Period.

I watched a documentary on his childhood and teenage years. Larry had it tough. His dad committed suicide when he was a young teenager and Larry had to work full-time at a grocery store after school. Hats off to Larry Bird for persevering and not looking for excuses that would have kept him from succeeding. Class act.

Seeing those college pics and vids, it's amazing how well he did in the pros considering the damage done to his shooting hand, index finger. What a difference...from unremarkable looking finger to a gnarled knobby thing. One could only imagine the stats he would have amassed had he not injured his finger so severely and not had the back problems he suffered.

The thing with Larry is that while he couldn't jump, he could run like a deer, was wiry strong, and had great stamina. He was athletic in a different sense.

Larry Legend is the greatest small forward of all time!

One of the top 5 of all-time. He was really a better passer than shooter. Such a competitor, like they said, the man had no conscious. The championship game vs. MSU will remain one of my biggest heartbreaks in sports.

Bird looked great in green, but man alive those blue unis are sweet

...and what a beautiful shot He have, I think. LARRY BIRD THE BEST EVER

He was somebody with very special skills and basketball IQ

Never seen a guy drag team further by himself in a season in college. Sorry Carl Nicks...

Bird's college career predated the advent of the 3-point line or his scoring average would have been much higher.

A higher shooting percentage dies not fully show the whole reality in a player's shooting ability. The type of team he's on, the competition he played against, and the type of defense shot against all are factors. I would not argue against Bird being #1. He was as great of a wining player as there ever has been. To me, Maravich's overall skill set makes him one of the greatest players.

Normally undefeated and championship teams are made up of a group of excellent to very good players, that's how they win. It is truly amazing that ONE player took a team of average or below players to an undefeated season and to the NCAA Championship game. That is just incomprehensible!! Every team that has ever won an NCAA basketball championship were loaded with talent, not Indiana State. Bird didn't do it all by himself, just most of it.

Bill Walton is a fine announcer. His enthusiasm, knowledge, and sportsmanship put him head and shoulders above every other national NBA announcer.

My personal favorite player of all time.

Larry Bird is my inspiration in shooting and i look up to him as a role model in basketball, when i'm shooting my ball in the court, all i wanted was to shoot as good as Larry and scored points. He's a legend, i adore him so much :)

Larry bird is the goat

Larry was the man...and the best shooter ever..and had the brains to really strike fear in his opponents

Most dominant basketball player ever. And such a trash talker... he really knew how to put on a show for the crowd.

Crazy thing is that Larry was a better shooter in college than the pros. Right before coming to Boston he was playing softball with one of his brothers and got the index finger on his shooting hand bent all the way back and it has remained crooked for the rest of his life making his shot worse, yet he’s still one of the greatest NBA shooters ever

He was shooting 3 pointers when they were only worth two. lol

The Lakers ALL BELIEVED IT WAS GOOD! You know the shot I'm talking about!

We never got to see much of this growing up, but when he hit the Big Time, we were glued to our sets!

Nice smile, "Larry Legend" does what needs to be accomplished to win. Fully understand what TEAM stands for...

he definitely is the #1 professional hero for anyone who feels they don't get no respect. That goes for any profession you are in.

dude was an assassin....the ability to shoot the ball and score like that and then add in everything else,like defense,passing,rebounding and basketball IQ....no doubt he was going to become a legend and master of the game.

Larry Legend. Deserved nickname.

@Boacasean: Well I guess it depends on what you rate a player's greatness on then, doesn't it? The fact that Larry Bird easily did more with less than anyone in the history of the NBA .. IS what makes him the greatest player of all time as far as I'm concerned.

Nicely put. It's become cliche to suggest that Bird worked harder than his peers, but I think his talent was more mental than physical, and therefore harder to quantify.

i love the sound of the net and basketball when u make a swish =)

*LARRY BIRD WAS THE BEST BASKETBALL PLAYER IN THE HISTORY.* Bird was the best all-around player in NBA history.

the 86 celtics was not only stacked af.... but also selfless af too... parish and mchale... both HOF forwards knew Bird was the leader.. Bill Walton, arguably 1 on the greatest Centers ever, says it was an honor to play with Bird.... DJ, another HOF PG, was always looking for Bird to pass to... chemistry on this team was unreal... they all knew Bird was their leaders and it was no question.... Everyone wanted to play with Bird... no one ever wanted to leave that team..... dunno if I can say the same for Lebron...... lol

Walton's comments about Bird's speed and jumping are just story-telling techniques. I have seen stats on his free standing jumps and he was about average; what's wrong with that? His speed was fine also. The guy was athletic. Very few people played as many minutes as he did.

I like that this video highlights how hard Larry worked to be great. These guys aren’t born shooting 3s. They work and work and work. As the old saying goes: amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong.

we will never know that. Pistol is magic on the court, Bird is warior on the court.

hahah I love Walton's crazy hyperbole

Best Basketball Shooter in the history of the universe.

Best vollege shooter that I saw. Rick Mount from Purdue.

thanks for sharing this; bird is my favourite of alla times

@budlite8 Actually I can't remember if its in book "When the game was ours" but Larry Bird said that every night he goes to bed, his biggest regret was not beating Michigan in that finals game. He said in the NBA its one thing to choke because theres always money and everything goes in circles, sooner or later a team will have another shot at the title, but as far as college goes he said that was probably ISU's only shot at ever getting a hold of an NCAA title and he didn't win it for him.

In a hypothetical all time draft, Bird is the obvious #1 pick if your goal is to win.

@mrho4speed Yeah, Jimmer is just a straight up jump shooter, Bird could shoot with his back to the basket in the post, left hand, fadeaway, 3 long distance shooting wins, never beaten, etc, etc.

One of the greatest player on earth...thank you larry...

@fatriani: Forget that. What about the Indiana State Sycamores? They were never a contending team before Larry Bird and haven't been one since Larry Bird. Enough said.

a legend is born...

people always bashing Pete Maravich sadly. People bashing Bird even sometimes. MARAVICH ONE OF THE BEST PASSERS EVER IN BASKETBALL HISTORY WHEN HE DID PASS SAME WITH LARRY BIRD PERIOD. Have some respect literally. Pete had literally half a heart...Bird a horrible back. You go out there and be that good. Pete was the first fancy memorable guy other than BOB COUSY. Pete was one of the best ball handlers ever who owned the other team one on one by getting by them and superb passer of all time in any basketball college or NBA. Anyways great video on BIRD for sure best college shooter.

@MerkinMuffly I agree. Bird had so many variations on his shot. Could change the arc while retaining accuracy. Scoop shots, tip-ins, floaters, bank shots and his left hand was huge. All without the 3 point line and drawing the other teams best defender and averaging 30 pts/game for 3 years and shooting over 53% - amazing! You should see the posts I have going with a magic nut on bird vs magic - championship game.

Best shooter i ever saw in college was Rick Mount Purdue - over 35 pts / game at a Big 10 School. And he got his team to the finals in 1969 vs UCLA and Alcindor

Pete maravich best ever

in college, looking back at all the film of the games, maravich would have averaged 13 3 pointers a game. 13. He would have averaged 57.2 points a game in his 4 year college career.

Larry Bird once walked into the locker room before the all-star game 3 point contest and asked, which one of you guys is coming in second. He later one that contest. he also won all the other 3 point contests he participated in. Larry Bird is the man.

Freeman Williams from Portland State was the most incredible shooter I ever saw live. He had the coach's green light whenever he had the ball and pretty much started shooting the second he had it within range which was like 2 steps over half court. He held the ball when he shot with one hand on top of the ball and I always thought this was the key to his range and accuracy. Thinking he scored over 40 points on #1 Kentucky and over 80 points against another. He was also a slasher and a whirling dervish driving to the hole! Came out the same year as Bird.

mab837: That is a Van Morrison song entitled "Glad Tidings." Nearly all of his songs kick major ass, so make sure you also check out "Caravan", "Days Like This", and, of course, "Brown Eyed Girl"

Best all around player!

Larry bird ! Enough said !

i totally agree Pistol Pete Maravich is my favorite player of all-time, also the story of his life.

Hard to argue that Bird was the greatest shooter except when someone mentions Pete Maravich.

"what a move by larry"

Great contribution to the argument

seriffaviator - thank you very much, man :)) regards.

freedomamerica: Another thing to consider is, Larry only played 3 seasons at Indiana State, while both Ferry and Kimble played a full 4 (at Duke and Loyola Marymount respectively), yet he still managed to score (way) more career points than either of them. Bird also shot a higher % (from the field) and had a much higher scoring average (than both of them) as well. And they didn't even have the 3 point shot in college basketball when Larry played.

Larry Bird led the nation in scoring and rebounding when he was a junior (back when players stayed all 4 years in college). Red Auerbach drafted him as a junior for the Celtics even though Bird was going to play another year at Indiana State. It was the Bird drafting that starting the whole, "declaring for the draft" set of rules.

@MerkinMuffly in 5 games vs kentucky, pete shot 44.2%, averaged 53.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and made 60 out of 75 free throws, if those stats arent good enough to beat a team one time idk what stats are good enough, and the max they ever lost to kentucky was 26 never by 40

My favorite of all time fellow Hoosiers

@jlcon99 Pistol Pete wasn't considered a pure shooter, because he was just as good as scoring other ways. He was a great finisher around the basket. He had all kinds of layup methods. Pistol Pete was the most skilled offensive player until Jordan, but was more crafty, while Jordan was a high leaping athletic guy with large hands.

You think Bill Walton thinks highly of Larry? He could talk all day about how great he was. great vid

Bird hurt his shooting index finger playing in a softball game while in college just before he turned pro. He said he could never shoot as well as he did before. He crushed his knuckle. You'll notice it when he holds up the #1 sign, how bent his finger is.

Ray Allen and Bird...my two favorite shooters ever.

The word..the truth..the best player still

I love Larry, obviously. But when it comes to college, pistol Pete has GOTTA be # 1

larry bird is the best shooter in the history of the game!!!!!!!!

Bird's legacy is that he went to a team of nobodies in college and took them to the final game before losing a game. Then went to the NBA and orchestrated the biggest single season turnaround (at that time). "Franchise" should be his middle name. If basketball IQ could be measured on a measuring stick....Larry would be the stick. #1 is exactly where he needs to be ranked and it wasn't just shooting. Pete and Chris could at the lights out at LSU, but they didn't win like Bird.

what people don't understand is that Larry Bird Retired in his prime because he was never any less...

Larry Legend averaged 53% from the field in three years at Indiana State

"bird" was the eagle among them...

Nobody is best than Larry Joe Bird.

Larry was meant to play basketball, no doubt. I remember his days at ISU so well when no one ever heard of ISU or believed there was a place called French Lick!

Lornezo Pajaro, Mexico is proud of you!

nice bangs larry!

hey dude thx a lot for trying to help but i was talking about the very beginning like 0:00 to 0:29.........but the song ur thinking of is glad tidings by van morrison........thx anyways

Pistol Pete is one of my favorite athletes of all-time. That said, another factor in Bird's favor is that he took the Indiana State Sycamores to the NCAA Final. That's a feat the Pistol didn't match at LSU.

Bird's only home loss came against Creighton in January of 1978. I was there, scoreboard malfunctioned. A totally screwy night. That was in the middle of a five game losing streak. They later lost to Creighton in the MVC Finals and had to settle for the NIT. Bird's senior year was THE YEAR.

larry legend was all about one thing: team. very few get out of the "me" zone.

You know guys one player that I was greatly impressed with for years about even though I'm the biggest Larry Bird Pete Maravich fan a guy that didnt no recognition in college or the NBA was Teddy Dupay. He wasn't well known in either league but he shot 60 percent in HS and over 50 percent in college at the university of Florida. You know to me that's a darn good shooter that didnt get the recognition that he deserves while playing the game.

Larry Legend...

"Larry Bird.. oohhh! meeenn,... he's a killer.."

Look what he did when he when to Boston they only won 21 games before bird got there. Then look at what he did when he started playing he didn't have Mchale or Robert. They when from losing to winner and they won 61 games is first year and they say Jordan is the great less. Look at Jordan record his first year as pro he only change there win by TWO game. In my book Bird is the Best NBA player that every play.

@geocgeo Yeah, Pete never even made it to an NCAA tourney. Pete probably avg. more shots per game than anyone in ncaa history. When Pat Riley played for UK, he would laugh about Pete taking half court shots as his team was getting their ass handed to them by 40 points. Pistol Pete was a perennial loser in college and the pros, the only year he had a winning record in the pros was when Larry Bird was on his team. Pistol Pete put on a great show, but Bird put on a great show as he was Winning...

Ever heard of Steve Collier? He was voted Indiana’s Mr. Basketball, the best boys player in the state in 1974. Oh, Larry Bird finished FOURTH in the voting. Five years later, which one would your rather have?

The first song is "Glad Tidings," by Van Morrison

@icannn206 Since when does the music you listen to have any effect on how you play? Make some sense please.

Filter - Hey man nice shot

Pistols 44 ppg avg makes him the greatest college player and shooter

hes da best

and he did all that with those shorts shorts to boot