Fans of Hall of Fame Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird typically know quite a bit about The Hick From French Lick, but not all of them can tell you about the last time Larry Legend laced ’em up and took the court to play organized basketball. But fellow Celtics alum and Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle does, and he told Boston Dot Com’s Chad Finn all about it.
Evidently, that tilt of sorts took place in the Pacers’ practice facility in 2000 in a four-on-four friendly contest, which went to the first team to hit 2 of 3 shots in a halfcourt setting, perhaps to keep those storied legs from getting too tired out.
“This is a story no one has ever heard, but the last time Larry played basketball was, I believe, the 2000 season,” began Carlisle.
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“He and I and a couple of the older veteran guys on our team with Indiana took on four of the younger guys,” said the now-Pacers coach. “Larry hit the game-winning shot in the third game to give us the win.”
Laughing, Carlisle added “he fell on the floor in exultation, and we’re piling on him. It was great. The young guys were just shaking their heads, like, ‘Look at these old fools.'”
“It was a vintage Bird shot, too. Step back, high arc, all net. The same stuff that he had that night (against the Atlanta Hawks).
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“After that day, he never went back on the court to play again.,” said Carlisle, though Bird added some important context in another interview later on with ESPN’s Mike Mazzeo.
“I think it was me, Chris Mullin, Rik Smits, and Derrick McKey against Al Harrington, Austin Croshere, Jonathan Bender and I can’t remember who the fourth one was, and we beat them pretty good.”
“It was the last time I played because they didn’t knock me down on the floor. I fell on the floor,” added with a chuckle. “I was tired”
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“Rick didn’t tell you about the time two little kids were out here, and we were leaving the arena and he said, ‘Why don’t we stop and beat those two little guys? Let’s go,'” said Bird.
“They were probably 13 or 14 years old. He threw me the ball and I took off running hard, and I pulled a hamstring.”
“I think it was the year before that 4-on-4 game. I was going to quit then,” recalled Bird with a laugh. “I had never had a pulled hamstring before.”
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