For those who didn't knew, Larry Bird were not drafted in 1979 NBA draft. He was drafted in 1978 by Boston Celtics but didn't signed. He wanted to finish college first. So it means, he was instantly considered as candidate for rookie of the year in 1979 together with Magic Johnson
Auerbach drafted Larry as a "Future" draft pick and had to sign him before the next draft or Bird would be drafted again. A rule was made to ban the future draft pick shenanigans. Now guys are drafted after one year of college. What a difference!
@@MikeJones-rk1un actually, no. You are wrong. I had a dvd copy of Larry Bird documentary. He was really drafted in 1978 but opted not to play. But instead he finished his college. Almost the same thing with the Gasol brothers more than 2 decades after, only different reasons with the Gasols.
Five teams could have drafted Bird when the Celtics did. So, yes, five guys were drafted ahead of Bird. Two were All-Stars and three never were. None made the HoF. (Only one other guy in that draft did: Mo Cheeks, drafted in the 2nd round.)
exactly! wtf, learn your history, guy was so good he was drafted 6th in 78- after already declaring he was coming back to play his senior year! Magic went no. 1 in 79, if Bird had been in that draft he would have been no lower than no. 2, or maybe Magic would have dropped a notch after Larry Legend's unreal senior season...no one knew who he was in 1978- except Red!!! What a brilliant pick!
This was a nice video. Usually when people make this kind of content, they are super negative about the players picked ahead of the "legendary" one, but this was very respectful of every player and tried to put a positive spin on all of them. It was really nice to see.
Thompson and Richardson had relatively solid careers. Ford was done in by injury. None of them were actually poor selections as the teams who draft high needed immediate help, and would have had to wait another season for Bird to arrive.
before his back injury, Bird was actually athletic for a 6'9" forward. quicker and higher vertical than Luka now. the fact that he dominated the league while basically being crippled should tell you how good he was.
Phil Ford is the type of story that never gets told but fans should know. Sucks when injury changes the course of a player’s career. But props he was able to still play at a high level
Smarter ? Pistol Pete was 3 steps ahead of every point guard that laced em up ,his vision was 2nd to none.Phil was a product of Dean Smith and great teammates,couldn't hold Pete's jock
I wish I was 26 rather than 66, but old age has its advantages. I was in the old Boston Garden and witnessed game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Sixers in both 1981 and 1982, as well as game 7 in the Finals in 1984 against the Lakers. Happy memories!
Larry Legend was my childhood idol. He's the reason why I played basketball. I thought I've seen all highlight clips of Bird but there are a few in this video I havent. Thank you for this video, Henry Hoops. Subbed. 👍👍
Hello Bird was drafted #6 as a junior and everyone thought Red Aubach was insane. He played senior year and took Indiana state university to the finals with a 33-0 record. On sports illustrated as college's best kept secret.
Fantastic video! It does a really good job of showing that the players drafted before Bird weren't busts. They just weren't Larry Bird. You can't fault them for that. On point, clarifying the risk as to why teams didn't draft him higher. 13:12 - I love this clip. A young MJ just tripping out on how good Larry was.
Thompson and Richardson had relatively solid careers. Ford was done in by injury. None of them were actually poor selections as the teams who draft high needed immediate help, and would have had to wait another season for Bird to arrive.
yeah i mean this kinda misses the point. Larry had said he wasn’t coming out in 78. The Celtics were so enamored with him that they took him a year early to see if they could sign him inspite of the fact if he didn’t sign he went back into the draft in 79 where he would have been 1 or 2 next to magic. Think about that for a second, they used the number 6 pick on player that said he wasn’t coming out that year that’s how highly they regarded him. Now they did that because they had the number 8 pick as well which they used on freeman williams. However before the season the Celtics were traded for the Buffalo Braves so owner Irv Levin could move the team to San diego(nba wouldn’t let the Celtics move even then). As part of that a number of players were swapped including Williams which left the Celtics with just Birds year as all they had to show for the 6 and 8 picks. Thankfully they got the signing done just under the deadline and the rest is history. But make no mistake being picked at 6 was a mark of respect and a sign of the absolute balls that Red Auerbach had.
@@part6133 yup for a minute. Owner John y brown went HOFer Red Auerbach (by far the best gm of his time) head and traded 3 1sts for him, which ended up being 3,9, and 21 (he instead consulted his wife Phyllis George an NFL reporter). McAdoo was deep into his decline phase and the team finished with 2nd worst record in the league. Auerbach was incensed and almost quit. Finally as Auerbach was basically the Celtics he convinced brown to sell. Auerbach got out of it by signing ML Carr from the pistons as a free agent. However since free agency required compensation Red offered McAdoo but wanted two 1s as well. Pistons said yes and promptly went 16-66 and the picks were 1 and 13. Red then traded these picks to GSW for the 3 which became Kevin McHale and an under valued center named Robert Parish. Rest is history.
Richardson's substance abuse issues started by the 2nd year of his career, if he'd have avoided it, he'd have been a hall of famer, he was that good. It also explained why his play game to game would swing wildly. Sober he was an incredible talent.
I would have been the perfect person to have made sure that he stayed sober, plus I would also do a bit of community service in getting rid of the drug dealers, as well as the tobacco shops and liquor stores...no sources of temptation means no reason for him to have substance abuse issues, right?
The attitudes of the players back then were so different. It was about winning instead of money, and it was about beating the best, as opposed to joining up with them.
lmao these two statements literally contradict each other. Players literally care far more about winning then they ever did, that’s why they’re teaming up with each other
The only reason that five players were drafted ahead of Bird is because Auerbach drafted Bird after his junior year even though he was slated to still play his senior year and not coming out of college yet. The Boston area then had the Indiana State games locally broadcasted. The rule was changed within the year to only allow players who were not playing college any longer to be drafted.
Red Auerbach and Jerry West always got the players that they always wanted.. When you have a heart of a champion you know what it takes to win it all baby..
This was a coup for Auerbach, he had locked up Bird on a gamble that he could sign him in the window between the end of the 79 season and the 79 draft.
The rule change wouldn't have effected anything. He was drafted his Junior year because his enrollment class at Indiana University in 74 graduated. The Indiana Pacers had the first pick and tried to get him to leave college and failed. They then traded their pick to the Portland Trail Blazers who also failed. Five teams, including the Pacers who held the third pick, passed on Bird until the Celtics used the sixth pick to draft him. They drafted him even though they knew that they might lose the exclusive rights to him if he didn't sign before the next draft. He could reenter the draft in 1979 and go to whatever team drafted him. Larry signed before the next draft as the highest-paid rookie in the history of team sport at that time. He was technically drafted before all of those players.
In a way, nobody was drafted ahead of Bird. He wasn't going to play that year, so he became the number a unique draft pick chosen ahead of the number one pick for the following year.
I believe Bird is the best ever. He kept Jordan out of the finals. Swept the Bulls 2 years straight in playoffs. That being said, Bird was drafted lower because he was drafter as a JR in college before his epic undefeated run. If he would have been drafted after senior year he would have most likely been number 1.
Really cool that Michael Ray Richardson was able to pull it together and play overseas and later coach and mentor. He’s a man and that’s saying A LOT these days.
So many people forget that Bird wasn't just MVP for 3 straight years, he finished 1st or 2nd for 8, that's right, 8 straight years after he won ROY and was 4th. He was the best player in the NBA for a solid 9 years.
Bird took Indiana State to a perfect record and to the final game of the Final Four national championship in 1978 season. Against Magic Johnson. That’s how good he was. One player took a 2nd rate basketball program to the final game. Teams tried doubling teaming him and still couldn’t beat ISU.
He gave Golden State the #1 pick for Parish and #2 pick, , he even said I’ll get a better pick than them. GS picked joe Barry Carroll, Red picked Kevin McHale ! Lol back in 1970 Red had 4Th pick and declared he’d pick the best player out of a very rich draft !#1 was Bob Lanier, #2 was Rudy Tomjanovich #3 was Pete Maravich….red at #4 chose Dave Cowens, the audience said “ who “ ! Cowens led them to two titles ! The others never got any, only Rudy as a coach ! Cowens also won rookie of the year and MVP in 1973. The richest draft ever as Archibald, Issell, Austin Carr, Calvin Murphy among many great picks. The Chicago bulls picked Jimmy Collins…..who ?
@@SuperBeachbum74 What goes around comes around. The Celtics later picked in the lottery: Eric Montross (#9), Ron Mercer (#6), Randy Foye (#7), Jeff Green (#5). The only picks to write home about in the 20+ years of dry spell were Antoine Walker at #6 and Paul Pierce at #10. They also picked Chauncey at #3, and Joe Johnson at #10, but traded them away to become stars on other teams.
@@SuperBeachbum74 Red was president and vice chairman of the organization until his death. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Auerbach President and vice chairman (1984-2006) The only aforementioned pick not under his reign was Jeff Green in 2007
Robey was traded for a key piece that ended up being one of the Celtics’ greatest players from that era: Dennis Johnson, a huge part of the ‘84 and ‘86 teams.
0:51 that's actually not true, Alex Groza in 1951 was banned due to the CCNY point-shaving scandal from 1947-1950. It cost three colleges their basketball programs for at least one season, including Kentucky's
Junius Kellog was instrumental in breaking up that point shaving ring. He went on to play briefly for the Harlem Globetrotters before being paralyzed in an accident, then became a pioneer of wheelchair sports. Remarkable man.
Several others have pointed out the obvious, that Red Auerbach took a huge gamble by drafting a guy who was a junior. Under the rules then, Auerbach had to sign Bird before the next NBA draft or lose that pick entirely. In hindsight, it was a brilliant decision, and was another ornament in the crown of one of basketball's greatest - perhaps the greatest- head coaches/general managers of all time. I remember hearing about the pick in my car outside my garret apartment while I was parking in New Haven, CT. I just sat there in my car, listening to the news on the radio. I frankly was stunned. It was a brilliant move by Auerbach, getting the best college player since Bill Walton when he theoretically shouldn't have been able to do it. Let me emphasize: NO ONE at the time did things like this. I don't remember anyone having done this before Auerbach. He didn't get Bird for a year, but Bird was a once in a decade kind of player. He was a little slow, bit otherwise he was mechanically perfect as a player with the prettiest shot you could imagine and a basketball IQ that was almost up there with Bill Russell. I hated the Celtics (I was in New Haven for grad school and pulled for the Razorbacks, who had just enjoyed their best season ever, led by the legendary Triplets, one of whom, Ron Brewer was taken one spot after Bird). I mentioned the Triplets. Two of them graduated the year Bird was drafted. The third was Sidney Moncrief, who was a senior the same year Bird was. On the playoffs, Arkansas and Indiana State played in the semi-finals. Bird had a huge first half and ISU had a lead at the half. Then Moncrief took over the game on both ends of the court. He was the leading scorer for both teams in the second half and guarded at 6'4 the taller Bird, and completely shut him down. Bird scored one basket in the second half. Arkansas caught up and had the game tied at the end of the second half. The Arkansas guard, U.S. Reed (who in the previous game had beaten Indiana University - the Bobby Knight one - with a 60 foot game ender) was dribbling outside the key, taking time off the clock, when suddenly one idiot red called him for carrying the ball, perhaps the last time any player has been called for that in the Final Eight. Al Mcguire, the legendary coach and perhaps the best basketball color man I've ever seen, was seething at the call, since it took the outcome of the game out of the hands of the players and instead put it on the hands of a ref who made a ridiculously fussy call. So instead of Arkansas getting the shot, the ISU guard did, who hit an absurdly difficult prayer shot to win the game. Only one player of the game was named at this time, but they broke precedent by naming both Bird and Moncrief players of the game. It was a great game marred by perhaps the worst call I've ever seen by a college ref. Interestingly, in the Eighties, Bird and Moncrief were the only two players to lead their teams in scoring, rebounds, and assists. It is especially stunning that Moncrief did this, since he was a shooting guard. He did this playing for Milwaukee. I was so overjoyed when he went from the player perennially called the person who most deserves entrance into the NBA HoF to actually being in the HoF. Playing in Milwaukee, he got almost no national exposure.
Interesting story about Bird and the days of no shot clock...Bird's Indiana State Team was playing at Creighton for what would be the regular search Missouri Valley Title and in the 2nd half of a great game ISU was up by one with ten minutes left, Bird was something like 17 of 18 at the time and the Bluejays decided to play for the last shot - 10 minutes on the clock. They in fact did hold for the last shot and Rick Apke hit the game winner. I was always dissapointed with Larry's NBA career after watching him so much in college, The injury to his hand before his rookie season did effect his shooting ability which may seem hard to believe but I promise you in college if Larry shot the ball you just assumed it was good.
No one mentioned this: Larry Bird was eligible for the 1978 draft because although he was just a junior at Indiana State, his freshmen class (1974-75) graduated in 1978 and eligible for the 1978 draft. It's not like you could draft a freshman Michael Jordan in 1982 as a future pick.
Yeah, didn't Bird originally sign for IU but hated it there and sat out a year before playing for Indiana State? He was like 23-24 when he finally went to the NBA (his rookie peers were 22)
Spurs got David Robinson in 1987 1st pick. And Tim Duncan in 1997 1st. Pick. Both were great players who kept the Spurs in good shape and with 5 NBA Championships . No complain here at all. They lived up to their 1st pick expectations and then some.
Bird went as low as he did because only Red Auerbach was willing to wait a year for him, and also willing to overpay, because all Bird had to do was wait a year and he'd be a free agent, and he leveraged that into the richest rookie contract ever in any sport. Also, Red had two first round picks, so he didn't have to deal with the fanbase yelling about not getting their pick for a year, if then. They changed the rule after that. If he had been in the regular draft, he'd have gone much higher, so the premise of this video is wrong. But I liked the content.
@@PeakfreudIndiana wanted him And told him point blank if he came out they’d take him #1. He Told them he was going back to school and since the Pacers weee cash strapped them they traded the pick to Portland and their #1 draft pick
@@cindyknudson2715 In hindsight he was under paid. He still makes money for Boston and helped increase the Value of the entire NBA. I still Hated him, because I was a Pistons fan.
@@paulsonj72 Huuum, What Does the NBA & Pacers look like if he goes to Indiana? Does Magic become the Goat with 7 rings, because the small market Pacer cant surround him with Talent? Does Jordan Emerge from the East Sooner? Does the Reggie Miller era even happen? Do the Bad Boys get 3 or 4 Rings? At Bare minimum Magic gets 6
@@rayanthonycastro9767 As a Celtics fan I never hated any Lakers players, I hated the IDEA of the Lakers. Selling overpriced tickets to celebrities and millionaires and buying up a bunch of legend players (this was before salary caps). The Celtics with their old, quirky, non air conditioned stadium and their tougher east conference schedule, was easy for a blue collar type to identify with. Indeed, I think nobody ever hated Irvin. The thing can't be done.
@@digitalnomad9985 That's why the Lakers/Celtics 80's rivalry was the greatest rivalries to ever exist. It'll never get replicated again considering what needed to happen for both teams to come together. The appeal was the two opposites of home life and the American dream to people at the time. That's why Larry Bird retired when Magic did because only he was able to go toe to toe with him. Because without Magic, there's no Bird...it was the chase of beating each other that drove them to multiple championships on their respective teams and the reason why they remain good friends to this day. As a Lakers fan, the Celtics are the enemies for life but the respect is there for each other because of these two great players that everyone got to witness for a brief moment in time.
All the dudes before him had solid careers and 2nd guy save for the injury most likely would have done better than he did. Just glad to see those 5 picked before Larry doing good jobs after their NBA careers. Just because you can't be the GOAT of your draft don't mean you can be somebody.
Thompson and Richardson had relatively solid careers. Ford was done in by injury. None of them were actually poor selections as the teams who draft high needed immediate help, and would have had to wait another season for Bird to arrive.
Also none of the players were seen as better prospects than Larry Bird, it was the risk of him staying in college and not being able to sign him before the 1979 draft that resulted in him dropping to sixth.
The only reason Bird wasn't draft 1, is because he couldn't even play that year. So being drafted 6 is wild considering Boston basicallly sacrificed an entire year just to get him.
Bird was drafted early in a loophole that is now illegal. His sophomore year at Indiana state her was dropping 32ppg, 13rpg, and 4+ago on 54% shooting. His junior year “dropped” to 30, 11.5 and 4. He had a great senior year and that deep NCAA run, but he was a stat machine already
You said that when Purvis Short scored 59 points in one game it was one of the top 10 scoring performances in NBA history. I was like, huh? Wilt had over 20 60 point games by himself.
my favorite larry bird story is when he showed up for the 3 point shooting competition he asked everyone whose going to finish 2nd very brash but he backed it up i still think he was better then lebron ever was.
The Celtics completed the building of the '80s team with the 1980 Draft, when they traded their 1st overall pick to GS for Robert Parish and the 3rd overall pick, resulting in Kevin McHale; in 1983 they traded Rick Robey to PHX for DJ
It’s weird that Johnson was involved in two of the most lopsided trades in NBA history, both involving former Celtics (the first was when Seattle traded him to Phoenix for a declining Paul Westphal and immediately tanked a championship team in the process).
@@Zaghzackio There was lots of friction with DJ and his prior teams. One of his coaches called him a cancer. He was known to be a moody player who didn't like to practice. Apparently the coach in Boston, was more willing to accommodate this if he played hard during games. So they went to get rid of DJ
You've never heard of Kareem, Moses Malone or Dr. J? There would definitely be an NBA even without Bird and Magic. Bird and Magic combined won 8 rings. Bill Russell, 11.
@@bobturnley2787 The ticket sales and TV revenue went through the roof when Bird and Magic took over. Before, they were tape delaying NBA games and showing them REAL late at night. Ultimately, professional sports is an entertainment industry. It doesn't matter much who wins if nobody is watching. The strategic, passing style game they ushered in was simply more fun to watch than the run and gun that preceded it.
@@digitalnomad9985 Ticket sales are always big for teams that WIN. TV revenue and exposure took off in the 80s because of CABLE TV which few people had in the 60s and early 70s. The USA channel began showing the NBA in 1979, ESPN in 1982, and TBS in 1984. The merging of the NBA and ABA in 1976 was bigger than anything Bird and Magic ever did. Run and gun? What's the NBA game now? Bring the ball up the court, shoot a 3 and repeat. If you touch the superstar they call a foul. Boring.
@@st7728 stole him? no. any team ahead could have taken him, they refused. he was eligible, they chose to ignore that he wasn’t going to play for one year.
The insane thing about the Warriors passing on Bird was they had Robert Parrish and the pick they traded to the Celtics for the 1st pick in that draft (Joe Barry Carroll ) was Kevin McHale . that would have been wild Warrior/Laker rivalry
Warriors before Curry was the worst organization in the NBA outside of having Barry and Wilt, they been doing dumb moves. People no longer remember how bad the GSE was ran before Curry and that they were a small market team but even with decades of blunders their fan base were faithful and are now being rewarded. In the 90s they had a couple of years of entertaining roster but it was messed up when they traded for Webber and included multiple 1st round picks just to have Webber couldn't get along with the coach and Webber wasn't a GSW less than two years.
The problem was NOBODY ELSE was ALLOWED to draft Bird in 1978. The Celtics finagled a deal with the NBA to draft him as a "future". The Lakers attempted to do the same thing with Lebron James in the early 2000s but were turned down.
That is incorrect. Bird was _automatically_ eligible for the 1978 draft and every team in the league could have chosen him. The first five *chose* not to because *everyone* knew Bird was staying in college for another year. Boston *chose* to take the gamble.
7:01 For perspective. Don Buse led the ABA in both assists and steals the last year the league existed. He then led the NBA in both the year after the merger. The Pacers at the time were still suffering badly from most of their team of 2 years before the merger retiring, or having to be traded for "not enough money to pay the salaries" issues. Elite company, Mister Robinson.
So... two solid careers, one guy wrecked by injury, one guy who was on track for a great career before being banned for drugs, and only one guy who could really be considered a bust (Robey). And even he was an integral part of a championship-winning team. No total disasters a la Darko Milicic or Hasheem Thabeet.
They might be hanging around with Fran Tarkenton or Joe Montana - both drafted in the third round. Or maybe with Joe Barry Carroll - #1 draft pick of the year - who was traded to the Warriors by the Celtics in return for Robert Parrish and the #3 pick Kevin McHale. (Carroll was a fine player - he just didn't make it to the Hall of fame as Parrish and McHale did. Of course he didn't play with the Larry Byrd Celtics either.)
To be fair, most teams didn't expect Bird to come out for the draft at all in 1978 - he was still a Junior and had said he's be going back for his Senior year. But he WAS available, due to the "missed" abort year at Indiana University - and Red was sure he could get Bird signed before the year ran out even *IF* he took Indiana State to the finals. Red Wins in the draft AGAIN - with his second-best draft selection of all time (after Bill Russell).
@@johndavisson344 In a pre-arranged deal that basically gave his draft rights TO the Celtics. Slightly different mechanics in those days, but SAME effect.
No, Larry first went to college (Bobby Knight's Indiana) in 1974-75. So his draft class was in 1978. That's why he was eligible for the 1978 draft back then.
@@kel9855 But he told the pros he was going back to college to keep playing, soo googoo basically has it right, he only went #6 because he was going be playing in college in 1978-79, so it was risky to pick him.
I can't blame the teams drafted ahead of the Celtics. Most teams can't afford to draft a player that isn't going to be available for a year. None of the players that were drafted ahead of him were busts.
I remember watching Phil Ford when he played for the Kings. They went from 30 wins to 49 wins upon his arrival. Unfortunately his supporting cast was never good enough to get far in the playoffs.
There’s no bad picks, at the time, it’s very hard to project with 19-20 year old kids. I think all those players were good in their own right and had their own story. Players like MJ defied all expectations. Kobe and KG are also good examples of risky picks that turned to gold. But for every super star there is a whole list of players that were Uber hyped yet did not pan out. Also, Purvis Short, man he could shoot.
Bird would have been selected 1st or 2nd, but most teams didn’t know they could draft him a year early because he transferred from IU his freshmen year. That’s what made Red Auerbach so crafty.
Some guy named LeBron might argue that point. And MJ if you treat him as a slashing small forward rather than a mid-range shooting guard (but then Bird is a stretch 4)
@@blackjacktrial Lebron can argue all he wants. It’s still true. By the way, a reporter asked who was in Lebron’s all time top three. Larry Bird was the second player he mentioned, just after Michael Jordan. Speaking of which, Michael Jordan hasn’t played small forward since he was a sophomore at UNC. Even then, he mostly played shooting guard because Matt Doherty was the small forward.
@@broaddusmarines MVP: Lebron 4 Bird 3 FMVP: Lebron 4 Bird 2 Rings: Lebron 4 Bird 3 All-NBA First Team: Lebron 13 Bird 9 All-stars: Lebron 18 Bird 12 Some other no-so-obvious stats that 99.999% of NBA fans are not aware of: Playoff series record: Lebron 39-11 Bird 24-9 Playoff series without the Home Court Advantage: Lebron 9-8, Bird 0-2 Game 7 road wins: Lebron 2 Bird 0 Championships while not having the best record in the league: Lebron 3 Bird 0 Lebron's achievements were just a little bit better, not to mention longevity/health is part of the game. Just ask Bill Walton.
This is not the full story. Larry was eligible because he had been in college 4 years, but decided he was going back to finish his degree. Any team that picked him would be without him for that year but would still need to sign him to a contract before the next draft or he could be selected again.
A lot of teams didn’t draft him because they wouldn’t have him in their team for another year. Big risk for the team for him being injured during that last year at school. So you really can’t go by the draft numbers.
Thompson and Richardson had relatively solid careers. Ford was done in by injury. None of them were actually poor selections as the teams who draft high needed immediate help, and would have had to wait another season for Bird to arrive.
As Warriors fan that grew up in New England it hurt even more when Celtics stole Robert Parish and draft pick (Kevin McHale) for rights to Joe Barry Carrol and another pick - yikes!
Purvis Short wasn’t a scrub. Just not a star. Trading for Bernard King in the first place was a huge gamble. He was on a collision course with substance abuse and 2 teams already gave up on him. By the time they traded him for Sugar Ray Richardson, it was a high stakes bet between 2 teams on which one would self destruct first.
12:01 Red was *NOT* coach at that point. He retired as COACH after the 1966 Finals, to become President or some such of the Celtics as his ONLY position in the organization (and is famed in part for eventually picking Bill Russell both a player/coach as his successor, and the FIRST Black Coach of ANY US MAJOR LEAGUE SPORT).
Could you imagine if the Bulls had drafted Bird, and then also drafted Jordan a few years later? Jeez man....Bird and Jordan together on the Bulls would have been unstoppable. Probably would have been the closest thing to an undefeated season, year after year! I'm certain that all the EXPERTS will materialize to let me know how wrong this is, how it was impossible, etc. All I am saying is, imagine....
But then imagine that Portland drafts Jordan so the Bulls don't get him. I will never understand why Portland passed. Many thought Jordan should have been #1, but to not even be #2? The only reasonable thought is that the NBA wanted Jordan in a big market like Chicago because the NBA knew they had almost gone under a few years ago so all owners were willing to do whatever it took to save the league. They wanted stars in big markets. I wouldn't put it pass the NBA at all, most rigged league in the US.
OJ Mayo got functionally banned from the NBA for drugs (suspended indefinitely with a minimum of 3 years, but with a requirement of the NBA commissioner signing off on his return). All it takes is making the wrong people look bad
League had just instated a zero tolerance policy. The stereotype was that the whole league was on coke, and Bias had just died after being drafted. Players got the choice of voluntarily checking into rehab with amnesty, or if they failed a test they’d be banned. Most of them got reinstated later on, including Richardson, but due to advanced age and ravages of substance abuse they never got back on track.
When the Celtics drafted Larry, he wasn't yet the Larry Bird who would become famous. He still had a year of eligibility at Indiana State and was clearly going to play it. That meant that any team who drafted him ran the risk that they couldn't sign him before the next draft. If that happened, Bird would go back into the draft and would certainly be the first or second player selected (depending on whether or not Magic went first). Bird had a lot of unknowns performatively and was no guarantee to sign. The Celtics were falling apart and Red could take that chance. Bird had an amazing senior year and became the Larry Bird everyone has come to know. Because his rights were about to expire, and because he was one of the best two players available, he could hold the Celtics hostage. By that I mean he could more freely negotiate his contract like no one had before.
True but Bird was a man of his word and was never really going to screw the Celtics. Ended up giving them his entire career and a revived franchise for years to come for their faith in him. (Although naturally he made a bundle off of them he would have anywhere)
@@mistermonologue2442 I agree with your assessment of Bird's character. But he was handled by Bob Woolf, the best sports agent in the business at the time, and Woolf would have taken care of his player. Of course, this is all speculation, and we got to watch an amazing player for a terrific team, huh?
Every one in the pros knew Bird was the best player in that draft. In Sept 1977 after his rookie year, Sports Illustrated put Bird on the cover of the college basketball preview issue and called him College Basketball's Secret Weapon inside they said he had the best all around game in the country. He was only secret because Indiana State were nobodies, but he took them to a 25-2 record his first year by putting 33p/13r a game. He got the notice of pro scouts who came to look at a center for another college instead were talking about Bird because he had 31 points at halftime. He then went on to have another great season, so everyone knew by the 1978 draft.
@@paulsonj72 Other than the existence of that fact, is there any reason to believe he actually did "hold them hostage"? As I recall contemporaneously, he told the Celtics and ISU he would not leave school early. I don't recall ANY speculation that he might. Perhaps I missed it? He certainly held up the Celtics, but ISU? I don't recall that. What did he get?
As others have said, Auerbach drafted Bird after his junior year, figuring he would return for his senior year but he would retain the right to sign him until the '79 draft.
When bird was drafted he was still in college he didn't even play in the NBA that year. The Celtics sold the house to get him. Bird didn't want to leave school in 78. Magic was drafted in 79. That's the reason those other teams passed on him he wasn't going to play in the NBA that year
Fun Fact: The Warriors could have had Robert Parish, Larry Bird, and could've gotten Kevin McHale. They had Parish at the time and could've drafted Bird and could've even drafted McHale in 1980
Larry Bird was drafted as a “junior eligible,” meaning the Celtics would own his rights after he went back to school for his senior year. Not mentioning that is leaving out the most important fact regarding his draft.
Few players caused rule changes and a sort of "upping of the game" of defensive strategy as Phil Ford. He came it at a time of change in the NCAA and forced that change to accelerate.
Larry Bird Won 3 Championships. Was 12X All Star 10X All NBA 3X All Defense & ROTY. Capper won 3 stright MVPs. He finished 2nd the 3 yrs before 2nd the 2 yrs after. Avg 24 PTs 10 RB 6 Ast for his career. the last 4 seasons of his career he played with crippling back pain
The thing I will never get over. Tom Brady played for the University of Michigan. Ann Arbor is 40 miles from Detroit. Brady was drafted in the 4th round which means the Detroit Lions had four chances to draft Brady and they didn't.
Imagine realizing you had a problem, going to rehab, and then receiving a lifetime ban (later reinstated) for bettering yourself. That stupid policy was the reason drugs were as rampant in the league as they were. Because teams and players were more willing to cover it up than lose their players
11:49 this is why you really can't blame the other teams for passing on him. Too risky. Bad franchises can't afford to pick a guy who doesn't wanna come to the team and now you wind up with nothing. Larry holds all the leverage. Any team he doesn't wanna play for he can just say " F it" and enter the next years draft
Imagine doing this with Jokic
Imagine farts
Someone already did
Imagine with Big Ben 😂
@@lalalalalala9109 💀
Imagine if someone did this tom Brady, Scooby Doo, or Bob Dole🙄🙄
For those who didn't knew, Larry Bird were not drafted in 1979 NBA draft. He was drafted in 1978 by Boston Celtics but didn't signed. He wanted to finish college first. So it means, he was instantly considered as candidate for rookie of the year in 1979 together with Magic Johnson
Auerbach drafted Larry as a "Future" draft pick and had to sign him before the next draft or Bird would be drafted again. A rule was made to ban the future draft pick shenanigans. Now guys are drafted after one year of college. What a difference!
9l kill
Your grammar sucks, amigo
@@MikeJones-rk1un actually, no. You are wrong. I had a dvd copy of Larry Bird documentary. He was really drafted in 1978 but opted not to play. But instead he finished his college. Almost the same thing with the Gasol brothers more than 2 decades after, only different reasons with the Gasols.
@@rayanthonycastro9767 Manu was drafted in 1999, stayed in Europe until 2002.
No one was drafted before Bird. He was drafted an entire Year before anyone else.
Technically when these people were drafted he could be to because he skipped a year of college but wanted to finish before joining the nba
@Hyg Hhff Not really.
He was a 79-80 rookie, but was drafted in 78-79.
He was drafted an entire year before anybody else in his class.
Exactly!
Five teams could have drafted Bird when the Celtics did. So, yes, five guys were drafted ahead of Bird. Two were All-Stars and three never were. None made the HoF. (Only one other guy in that draft did: Mo Cheeks, drafted in the 2nd round.)
exactly! wtf, learn your history, guy was so good he was drafted 6th in 78- after already declaring he was coming back to play his senior year! Magic went no. 1 in 79, if Bird had been in that draft he would have been no lower than no. 2, or maybe Magic would have dropped a notch after Larry Legend's unreal senior season...no one knew who he was in 1978- except Red!!! What a brilliant pick!
This was a nice video. Usually when people make this kind of content, they are super negative about the players picked ahead of the "legendary" one, but this was very respectful of every player and tried to put a positive spin on all of them. It was really nice to see.
Thompson and Richardson had relatively solid careers. Ford was done in by injury. None of them were actually poor selections as the teams who draft high needed immediate help, and would have had to wait another season for Bird to arrive.
before his back injury, Bird was actually athletic for a 6'9" forward. quicker and higher vertical than Luka now. the fact that he dominated the league while basically being crippled should tell you how good he was.
I agree. He was a beast. For a guy with supposedly no athleticism why is he killing the best defenders?
BUT,.. BEFORE THE BACK INJURY,.. HE HAD THE FINGER INJURY 2/3 DAYS, OR A WEEK BEFORE,.. STARTED PLAYING, SO,.. HE WAS NNNEEEVVVEEERRR HEALTHY!!!
Phil Ford is the type of story that never gets told but fans should know. Sucks when injury changes the course of a player’s career. But props he was able to still play at a high level
He's one of my favorite players of all time. Watching him play at UNC made me want to become a point guard.
Avery Johnson
5’11”
No college scholarships
3 college teams
No NBA draft
Walk on.
World Champion
I put Phil just behind Pete for ball handling skills. but maybe a little smarter lol
Smarter ?
Pistol Pete was 3 steps ahead of every point guard that laced em up ,his vision was 2nd to none.Phil was a product of Dean Smith and great teammates,couldn't hold Pete's jock
I wish I was 26 rather than 66, but old age has its advantages. I was in the old Boston Garden and witnessed game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Sixers in both 1981 and 1982, as well as game 7 in the Finals in 1984 against the Lakers. Happy memories!
SRO Obstructed View.Why they we're called "seats"I haven't a clue cuz u stood the entire game
Larry Legend was my childhood idol. He's the reason why I played basketball. I thought I've seen all highlight clips of Bird but there are a few in this video I havent. Thank you for this video, Henry Hoops. Subbed. 👍👍
Hello Bird was drafted #6 as a junior and everyone thought Red Aubach was insane. He played senior year and took Indiana state university to the finals with a 33-0 record. On sports illustrated as college's best kept secret.
Fantastic video! It does a really good job of showing that the players drafted before Bird weren't busts. They just weren't Larry Bird. You can't fault them for that. On point, clarifying the risk as to why teams didn't draft him higher.
13:12 - I love this clip. A young MJ just tripping out on how good Larry was.
Solid players before him indeed.
Thompson and Richardson had relatively solid careers. Ford was done in by injury. None of them were actually poor selections as the teams who draft high needed immediate help, and would have had to wait another season for Bird to arrive.
Those players were also not on a team with 4 Hall of Famers.
And maybe they were HOF because they played with Bird. Bird made everyone on the court with him better.
yeah i mean this kinda misses the point. Larry had said he wasn’t coming out in 78. The Celtics were so enamored with him that they took him a year early to see if they could sign him inspite of the fact if he didn’t sign he went back into the draft in 79 where he would have been 1 or 2 next to magic. Think about that for a second, they used the number 6 pick on player that said he wasn’t coming out that year that’s how highly they regarded him. Now they did that because they had the number 8 pick as well which they used on freeman williams. However before the season the Celtics were traded for the Buffalo Braves so owner Irv Levin could move the team to San diego(nba wouldn’t let the Celtics move even then). As part of that a number of players were swapped including Williams which left the Celtics with just Birds year as all they had to show for the 6 and 8 picks. Thankfully they got the signing done just under the deadline and the rest is history. But make no mistake being picked at 6 was a mark of respect and a sign of the absolute balls that Red Auerbach had.
Bulls would have drafted him or Magic in '79, with the #2 pick. Then, they probably would never get Jordan in '84.🤔
@@blacksheepmiracle1433 another interesting what if what if the Celtics don't make the McAdoo trade and keep the #3/#9/#21?
Celtics had Mcadoo ??
@@part6133 yup for a minute. Owner John y brown went HOFer Red Auerbach (by far the best gm of his time) head and traded 3 1sts for him, which ended up being 3,9, and 21 (he instead consulted his wife Phyllis George an NFL reporter). McAdoo was deep into his decline phase and the team finished with 2nd worst record in the league. Auerbach was incensed and almost quit. Finally as Auerbach was basically the Celtics he convinced brown to sell.
Auerbach got out of it by signing ML Carr from the pistons as a free agent. However since free agency required compensation Red offered McAdoo but wanted two 1s as well. Pistons said yes and promptly went 16-66 and the picks were 1 and 13. Red then traded these picks to GSW for the 3 which became Kevin McHale and an under valued center named Robert Parish. Rest is history.
Yeah, this is kind of misleading. What do you expect high-pick teams would do... take their golden ticket and wait a year?
Richardson's substance abuse issues started by the 2nd year of his career, if he'd have avoided it, he'd have been a hall of famer, he was that good. It also explained why his play game to game would swing wildly. Sober he was an incredible talent.
A real tragedy with Richardson. Enormous talent. He could have fit in anywhere. A player with the chance to have a collection of rings.
I would have been the perfect person to have made sure that he stayed sober, plus I would also do a bit of community service in getting rid of the drug dealers, as well as the tobacco shops and liquor stores...no sources of temptation means no reason for him to have substance abuse issues, right?
Magic Johnson said that he (magic) thought Michael Ray was a better player than himself.
big pharma are the real drug dealers. @@paxhumana2015
I couldn't stand him or Boston Celtics cause I'm a Lakers fan for life but I got to give respect to him cause I been a Lakers fan since 81
You must be crying yourself to sleep last season and probably this season
L Boston better
@@bluearrow_001 probably not
@@kayodephillips5435 this season yea 💀
Larry Bird could dunk on you
The attitudes of the players back then were so different. It was about winning instead of money, and it was about beating the best, as opposed to joining up with them.
Cough cough kd
Evidently, some players back then were more about drugs instead of winning.
Because back then they weren't getting paid shit 😂 and half of them were wasting those paychecks on blow
lmao these two statements literally contradict each other. Players literally care far more about winning then they ever did, that’s why they’re teaming up with each other
@@HipsterShiningArmorin they get paid well being on a more visible squad and other high profile players
The only reason that five players were drafted ahead of Bird is because Auerbach drafted Bird after his junior year even though he was slated to still play his senior year and not coming out of college yet. The Boston area then had the Indiana State games locally broadcasted. The rule was changed within the year to only allow players who were not playing college any longer to be drafted.
The Celtics I like this kid the NBA we can help you get him the Celtics we would like that very much
Red Auerbach and Jerry West always got the players that they always wanted.. When you have a heart of a champion you know what it takes to win it all baby..
This was a coup for Auerbach, he had locked up Bird on a gamble that he could sign him in the window between the end of the 79 season and the 79 draft.
The rule change wouldn't have effected anything. He was drafted his Junior year because his enrollment class at Indiana University in 74 graduated. The Indiana Pacers had the first pick and tried to get him to leave college and failed. They then traded their pick to the Portland Trail Blazers who also failed. Five teams, including the Pacers who held the third pick, passed on Bird until the Celtics used the sixth pick to draft him. They drafted him even though they knew that they might lose the exclusive rights to him if he didn't sign before the next draft. He could reenter the draft in 1979 and go to whatever team drafted him. Larry signed before the next draft as the highest-paid rookie in the history of team sport at that time. He was technically drafted before all of those players.
@@bettyrose959 Exactly!
In a way, nobody was drafted ahead of Bird. He wasn't going to play that year, so he became the number a unique draft pick chosen ahead of the number one pick for the following year.
I believe Bird is the best ever. He kept Jordan out of the finals. Swept the Bulls 2 years straight in playoffs. That being said, Bird was drafted lower because he was drafter as a JR in college before his epic undefeated run. If he would have been drafted after senior year he would have most likely been number 1.
If he had come out in 1978 Indiana was going to take him #1 overall.
Really cool that Michael Ray Richardson was able to pull it together and play overseas and later coach and mentor. He’s a man and that’s saying A LOT these days.
“He didn’t take off his top yet.” A truly underrated observation.
Purvis is where he is at, because he is never nervous!!
Wrong Purvis, that was Pervis Ellison
On that kind of average Pervis should be named an all star
So many people forget that Bird wasn't just MVP for 3 straight years, he finished 1st or 2nd for 8, that's right, 8 straight years after he won ROY and was 4th. He was the best player in the NBA for a solid 9 years.
Legend for all the reasons
Bird took Indiana State to a perfect record and to the final game of the Final Four national championship in 1978 season. Against Magic Johnson. That’s how good he was. One player took a 2nd rate basketball program to the final game. Teams tried doubling teaming him and still couldn’t beat ISU.
Well, one team did in the very last game.
This shows the genius of Red Auerbach and how he took advantage of drafting talent
He gave Golden State the #1 pick for Parish and #2 pick, , he even said I’ll get a better pick than them. GS picked joe Barry Carroll, Red picked Kevin McHale ! Lol back in 1970 Red had 4Th pick and declared he’d pick the best player out of a very rich draft !#1 was Bob Lanier, #2 was Rudy Tomjanovich #3 was Pete Maravich….red at #4 chose Dave Cowens, the audience said “ who “ ! Cowens led them to two titles ! The others never got any, only Rudy as a coach ! Cowens also won rookie of the year and MVP in 1973. The richest draft ever as Archibald, Issell, Austin Carr, Calvin Murphy among many great picks. The Chicago bulls picked Jimmy Collins…..who ?
@@SuperBeachbum74 Bill Russell Trade
@@SuperBeachbum74 What goes around comes around. The Celtics later picked in the lottery: Eric Montross (#9), Ron Mercer (#6), Randy Foye (#7), Jeff Green (#5). The only picks to write home about in the 20+ years of dry spell were Antoine Walker at #6 and Paul Pierce at #10. They also picked Chauncey at #3, and Joe Johnson at #10, but traded them away to become stars on other teams.
@@kel9855 red Auerbach no longer was president then !
@@SuperBeachbum74 Red was president and vice chairman of the organization until his death.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Auerbach
President and vice chairman (1984-2006)
The only aforementioned pick not under his reign was Jeff Green in 2007
Robey was traded for a key piece that ended up being one of the Celtics’ greatest players from that era: Dennis Johnson, a huge part of the ‘84 and ‘86 teams.
Underrated ☘️
0:51 that's actually not true, Alex Groza in 1951 was banned due to the CCNY point-shaving scandal from 1947-1950. It cost three colleges their basketball programs for at least one season, including Kentucky's
Banned by the nba…
Ralph Beard, Groza's teammate in both college and the NBA, was also banned for the same reason.
first banned by the NBA, not NCAA
Junius Kellog was instrumental in breaking up that point shaving ring. He went on to play briefly for the Harlem Globetrotters before being paralyzed in an accident, then became a pioneer of wheelchair sports. Remarkable man.
1ST Band for drugs. The Kentucky guys was band for gambling.
Love the videos
thanks jeff!
I always loved watching Purvis Short shoot them jumpers...
Several others have pointed out the obvious, that Red Auerbach took a huge gamble by drafting a guy who was a junior. Under the rules then, Auerbach had to sign Bird before the next NBA draft or lose that pick entirely. In hindsight, it was a brilliant decision, and was another ornament in the crown of one of basketball's greatest - perhaps the greatest- head coaches/general managers of all time. I remember hearing about the pick in my car outside my garret apartment while I was parking in New Haven, CT. I just sat there in my car, listening to the news on the radio. I frankly was stunned. It was a brilliant move by Auerbach, getting the best college player since Bill Walton when he theoretically shouldn't have been able to do it. Let me emphasize: NO ONE at the time did things like this. I don't remember anyone having done this before Auerbach. He didn't get Bird for a year, but Bird was a once in a decade kind of player. He was a little slow, bit otherwise he was mechanically perfect as a player with the prettiest shot you could imagine and a basketball IQ that was almost up there with Bill Russell. I hated the Celtics (I was in New Haven for grad school and pulled for the Razorbacks, who had just enjoyed their best season ever, led by the legendary Triplets, one of whom, Ron Brewer was taken one spot after Bird).
I mentioned the Triplets. Two of them graduated the year Bird was drafted. The third was Sidney Moncrief, who was a senior the same year Bird was. On the playoffs, Arkansas and Indiana State played in the semi-finals. Bird had a huge first half and ISU had a lead at the half. Then Moncrief took over the game on both ends of the court. He was the leading scorer for both teams in the second half and guarded at 6'4 the taller Bird, and completely shut him down. Bird scored one basket in the second half. Arkansas caught up and had the game tied at the end of the second half. The Arkansas guard, U.S. Reed (who in the previous game had beaten Indiana University - the Bobby Knight one - with a 60 foot game ender) was dribbling outside the key, taking time off the clock, when suddenly one idiot red called him for carrying the ball, perhaps the last time any player has been called for that in the Final Eight. Al Mcguire, the legendary coach and perhaps the best basketball color man I've ever seen, was seething at the call, since it took the outcome of the game out of the hands of the players and instead put it on the hands of a ref who made a ridiculously fussy call. So instead of Arkansas getting the shot, the ISU guard did, who hit an absurdly difficult prayer shot to win the game. Only one player of the game was named at this time, but they broke precedent by naming both Bird and Moncrief players of the game. It was a great game marred by perhaps the worst call I've ever seen by a college ref. Interestingly, in the Eighties, Bird and Moncrief were the only two players to lead their teams in scoring, rebounds, and assists. It is especially stunning that Moncrief did this, since he was a shooting guard. He did this playing for Milwaukee. I was so overjoyed when he went from the player perennially called the person who most deserves entrance into the NBA HoF to actually being in the HoF. Playing in Milwaukee, he got almost no national exposure.
US reed beat Louisville and that was in 1981. Indiana didn’t make the NCAA tournament in 1979. They did win
The NIT that year
Interesting story about Bird and the days of no shot clock...Bird's Indiana State Team was playing at Creighton for what would be the regular search Missouri Valley Title and in the 2nd half of a great game ISU was up by one with ten minutes left, Bird was something like 17 of 18 at the time and the Bluejays decided to play for the last shot - 10 minutes on the clock. They in fact did hold for the last shot and Rick Apke hit the game winner. I was always dissapointed with Larry's NBA career after watching him so much in college, The injury to his hand before his rookie season did effect his shooting ability which may seem hard to believe but I promise you in college if Larry shot the ball you just assumed it was good.
What are you even talking about, with, without that injury Bird's still one of, if not the greatest shooter the NCAA/NBA ever saw
@@braziliantvhd2768 I think he's saying Bird was an even BETTER shooter in college. 👍 amazing as that is to imagine.
No one mentioned this: Larry Bird was eligible for the 1978 draft because although he was just a junior at Indiana State, his freshmen class (1974-75) graduated in 1978 and eligible for the 1978 draft. It's not like you could draft a freshman Michael Jordan in 1982 as a future pick.
Yeah, didn't Bird originally sign for IU but hated it there and sat out a year before playing for Indiana State? He was like 23-24 when he finally went to the NBA (his rookie peers were 22)
Didn't Magic just finish his sophomore year when the Lakers drafted him?
@@calvinbaIIBird was 22 when he played his first NBA game. He turned 23 in December of 1979.
Magic declared for the draft early without graduating.
Spurs got David Robinson in 1987
1st pick.
And Tim Duncan in 1997 1st. Pick.
Both were great players who kept the Spurs in good shape and with 5 NBA Championships .
No complain here at all.
They lived up to their 1st pick expectations and then some.
Bird went as low as he did because only Red Auerbach was willing to wait a year for him, and also willing to overpay, because all Bird had to do was wait a year and he'd be a free agent, and he leveraged that into the richest rookie contract ever in any sport. Also, Red had two first round picks, so he didn't have to deal with the fanbase yelling about not getting their pick for a year, if then. They changed the rule after that. If he had been in the regular draft, he'd have gone much higher, so the premise of this video is wrong. But I liked the content.
I was wondering, because if true instead of Mike Thompson they could have drafted Bird?
Bird earned _every penny_ that he got from the Celtics.
@@PeakfreudIndiana wanted him
And told him point blank if he came out they’d take him #1. He
Told them he was going back to school and since the Pacers weee cash strapped them they traded the pick to Portland and their #1 draft pick
@@cindyknudson2715 In hindsight he was under paid. He still makes money for Boston and helped increase the Value of the entire NBA.
I still Hated him, because I was a Pistons fan.
@@paulsonj72 Huuum, What Does the NBA & Pacers look like if he goes to Indiana?
Does Magic become the Goat with 7 rings, because the small market Pacer cant surround him with Talent?
Does Jordan Emerge from the East Sooner?
Does the Reggie Miller era even happen?
Do the Bad Boys get 3 or 4 Rings?
At Bare minimum Magic gets 6
Larry Legend.... I used to love watching him play. His shot was automatic....almost flat footed but nobody could block it.
The fact that none of these guys was a bust is a big credit to the execs, considering all the mistakes others have made.
This was really good. LARRY LEGEND is my favorite nba nickname
Even as a Lakers fan for a long time (Yes, I'm miserable right now) I gotta give respect for the guy. He was tough, mentally and physically.
He is very deserving to have our respect. I hate Boston Celtics as well but I respect all of their legends like Bill Russell, Larry Bird, etc.
@@rayanthonycastro9767 As a Celtics fan I never hated any Lakers players, I hated the IDEA of the Lakers. Selling overpriced tickets to celebrities and millionaires and buying up a bunch of legend players (this was before salary caps). The Celtics with their old, quirky, non air conditioned stadium and their tougher east conference schedule, was easy for a blue collar type to identify with. Indeed, I think nobody ever hated Irvin. The thing can't be done.
@@digitalnomad9985 That's why the Lakers/Celtics 80's rivalry was the greatest rivalries to ever exist. It'll never get replicated again considering what needed to happen for both teams to come together. The appeal was the two opposites of home life and the American dream to people at the time. That's why Larry Bird retired when Magic did because only he was able to go toe to toe with him. Because without Magic, there's no Bird...it was the chase of beating each other that drove them to multiple championships on their respective teams and the reason why they remain good friends to this day. As a Lakers fan, the Celtics are the enemies for life but the respect is there for each other because of these two great players that everyone got to witness for a brief moment in time.
Wonder how are you now
@@Sharphe Duuude, I'm frickin elated. Grizz humbled to the core
All the dudes before him had solid careers and 2nd guy save for the injury most likely would have done better than he did. Just glad to see those 5 picked before Larry doing good jobs after their NBA careers. Just because you can't be the GOAT of your draft don't mean you can be somebody.
Thompson and Richardson had relatively solid careers. Ford was done in by injury. None of them were actually poor selections as the teams who draft high needed immediate help, and would have had to wait another season for Bird to arrive.
Also none of the players were seen as better prospects than Larry Bird, it was the risk of him staying in college and not being able to sign him before the 1979 draft that resulted in him dropping to sixth.
The only reason Bird wasn't draft 1, is because he couldn't even play that year. So being drafted 6 is wild considering Boston basicallly sacrificed an entire year just to get him.
Bird was drafted early in a loophole that is now illegal.
His sophomore year at Indiana state her was dropping 32ppg, 13rpg, and 4+ago on 54% shooting. His junior year “dropped” to 30, 11.5 and 4. He had a great senior year and that deep NCAA run, but he was a stat machine already
You said that when Purvis Short scored 59 points in one game it was one of the top 10 scoring performances in NBA history. I was like, huh? Wilt had over 20 60 point games by himself.
my favorite larry bird story is when he showed up for the 3 point shooting competition he asked everyone whose going to finish 2nd very brash but he backed it up i still think he was better then lebron ever was.
The Celtics completed the building of the '80s team with the 1980 Draft, when they traded their 1st overall pick to GS for Robert Parish and the 3rd overall pick, resulting in Kevin McHale; in 1983 they traded Rick Robey to PHX for DJ
Rick Robey for DJ is a straight up robbery 😂 didn't know that was his they acquired him but Red Auerbach strikes again with another genius move
It’s weird that Johnson was involved in two of the most lopsided trades in NBA history, both involving former Celtics (the first was when Seattle traded him to Phoenix for a declining Paul Westphal and immediately tanked a championship team in the process).
@@Zaghzackio DJ wasn't a right fit at Phoenix. The coach even called him a cancer on the team. He was a goner.
@@Zaghzackio There was lots of friction with DJ and his prior teams. One of his coaches called him a cancer. He was known to be a moody player who didn't like to practice. Apparently the coach in Boston, was more willing to accommodate this if he played hard during games. So they went to get rid of DJ
@@HipsterShiningArmor His coach in Seattle said DJ was a cancer on the team.
There would be no NBA if it wasn't for Bird and Magic.. They took the NBA to the heights no one could imagine..
You've never heard of Kareem, Moses Malone or Dr. J? There would definitely be an NBA even without Bird and Magic. Bird and Magic combined won 8 rings. Bill Russell, 11.
@@bobturnley2787 The ticket sales and TV revenue went through the roof when Bird and Magic took over. Before, they were tape delaying NBA games and showing them REAL late at night. Ultimately, professional sports is an entertainment industry. It doesn't matter much who wins if nobody is watching. The strategic, passing style game they ushered in was simply more fun to watch than the run and gun that preceded it.
@@digitalnomad9985 Ticket sales are always big for teams that WIN. TV revenue and exposure took off in the 80s because of CABLE TV which few people had in the 60s and early 70s. The USA channel began showing the NBA in 1979, ESPN in 1982, and TBS in 1984. The merging of the NBA and ABA in 1976 was bigger than anything Bird and Magic ever did. Run and gun? What's the NBA game now? Bring the ball up the court, shoot a 3 and repeat. If you touch the superstar they call a foul. Boring.
I love Larry Legend stories. If I was picking a team of players in their prime. The Legend is my first draft pick!!!
After Larry started his rookie year the NBA changed the rules where a player had to declare themselves available before they could be drafted.
Of course they did, Boston stole him! Smart that they used that loophole!
@@st7728 stole him? no. any team ahead could have taken him, they refused. he was eligible, they chose to ignore that he wasn’t going to play for one year.
@@bostonrailfan2427 Exactly
Red Aurbach "Do you know how short of a period of time 1 year is?"
The insane thing about the Warriors passing on Bird was they had Robert Parrish and the pick they traded to the Celtics for the 1st pick in that draft (Joe Barry Carroll ) was Kevin McHale . that would have been wild Warrior/Laker rivalry
Warriors before Curry was the worst organization in the NBA outside of having Barry and Wilt, they been doing dumb moves. People no longer remember how bad the GSE was ran before Curry and that they were a small market team but even with decades of blunders their fan base were faithful and are now being rewarded.
In the 90s they had a couple of years of entertaining roster but it was messed up when they traded for Webber and included multiple 1st round picks just to have Webber couldn't get along with the coach and Webber wasn't a GSW less than two years.
@@blowc1612 Joe smith & Webber plus other top 3-5 selections… Until the mr. logo great legendary Jerry West took over
@@kennethpage417 people no longer remevee that less than a decade ago that people forget gsw existed.
More Larry Bird stories!!!! 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Excellent video
Who knows how much longer Bird could have been dominant if not for the back issues later in his career.
he probably would have played another 3 seasons, I imagine.
The problem was NOBODY ELSE was ALLOWED to draft Bird in 1978. The Celtics finagled a deal with the NBA to draft him as a "future". The Lakers attempted to do the same thing with Lebron James in the early 2000s but were turned down.
That is incorrect. Bird was _automatically_ eligible for the 1978 draft and every team in the league could have chosen him. The first five *chose* not to because *everyone* knew Bird was staying in college for another year. Boston *chose* to take the gamble.
7:01
For perspective.
Don Buse led the ABA in both assists and steals the last year the league existed.
He then led the NBA in both the year after the merger.
The Pacers at the time were still suffering badly from most of their team of 2 years before the merger retiring, or having to be traded for "not enough money to pay the salaries" issues.
Elite company, Mister Robinson.
So... two solid careers, one guy wrecked by injury, one guy who was on track for a great career before being banned for drugs, and only one guy who could really be considered a bust (Robey). And even he was an integral part of a championship-winning team. No total disasters a la Darko Milicic or Hasheem Thabeet.
Hasheem Thabeet. God damn. What a reference.
They might be hanging around with Fran Tarkenton or Joe Montana - both drafted in the third round. Or maybe with Joe Barry Carroll - #1 draft pick of the year - who was traded to the Warriors by the Celtics in return for Robert Parrish and the #3 pick Kevin McHale. (Carroll was a fine player - he just didn't make it to the Hall of fame as Parrish and McHale did. Of course he didn't play with the Larry Byrd Celtics either.)
To be fair, most teams didn't expect Bird to come out for the draft at all in 1978 - he was still a Junior and had said he's be going back for his Senior year.
But he WAS available, due to the "missed" abort year at Indiana University - and Red was sure he could get Bird signed before the year ran out even *IF* he took Indiana State to the finals.
Red Wins in the draft AGAIN - with his second-best draft selection of all time (after Bill Russell).
Bill Russell wasn' drafted by the Celtics. He was drafted by the Hawks and traded on draft day
@@johndavisson344 In a pre-arranged deal that basically gave his draft rights TO the Celtics.
Slightly different mechanics in those days, but SAME effect.
That guy was a fuking genius. He traded the '80 1st pick (Joe Barry Carroll) for Kevin Mchale AND Robert Parish.
@@pharkasj Red made draft mistakes - just not many of them, and far more great draft decisions.
Same on trades.
0:28 you say he "wasnt even top 5 of his own draft class" well THAT certainly is misleading....
he went #6 in the draft *_before_* his draft class.
No, Larry first went to college (Bobby Knight's Indiana) in 1974-75. So his draft class was in 1978. That's why he was eligible for the 1978 draft back then.
@@kel9855 But he told the pros he was going back to college to keep playing, soo googoo basically has it right, he only went #6 because he was going be playing in college in 1978-79, so it was risky to pick him.
Exactly!
So hyped how easy it was to get here from insta hyped for this video
I can't blame the teams drafted ahead of the Celtics. Most teams can't afford to draft a player that isn't going to be available for a year. None of the players that were drafted ahead of him were busts.
Teams drafting 1-5 always need immediate help.
Well also the teams didn’t fully know that bird was up for grabs in the draft since he wanted to go another year in college
I remember watching Phil Ford when he played for the Kings. They went from 30 wins to 49 wins upon his arrival. Unfortunately his supporting cast was never good enough to get far in the playoffs.
Michael Ray 👈👈👈 What could've possibly been......
Super vid.. thnx
There’s no bad picks, at the time, it’s very hard to project with 19-20 year old kids. I think all those players were good in their own right and had their own story. Players like MJ defied all expectations. Kobe and KG are also good examples of risky picks that turned to gold. But for every super star there is a whole list of players that were Uber hyped yet did not pan out. Also, Purvis Short, man he could shoot.
Lol. Freeman Williams was a BAD pick no matter how you try to sugar coat it.
Bird would have been selected 1st or 2nd, but most teams didn’t know they could draft him a year early because he transferred from IU his freshmen year. That’s what made Red Auerbach so crafty.
@djikopgot everyone knew it.....nobody could put a pick that high on hold for a year. Nobody except Red that is.
he is the greatest small forward of all time. not top 5, he is number 1
Some guy named LeBron might argue that point.
And MJ if you treat him as a slashing small forward rather than a mid-range shooting guard (but then Bird is a stretch 4)
@@blackjacktrial Lebron can argue all he wants. It’s still true.
By the way, a reporter asked who was in Lebron’s all time top three. Larry Bird was the second player he mentioned, just after Michael Jordan.
Speaking of which, Michael Jordan hasn’t played small forward since he was a sophomore at UNC. Even then, he mostly played shooting guard because Matt Doherty was the small forward.
@@broaddusmarines MVP: Lebron 4 Bird 3
FMVP: Lebron 4 Bird 2
Rings: Lebron 4 Bird 3
All-NBA First Team: Lebron 13 Bird 9
All-stars: Lebron 18 Bird 12
Some other no-so-obvious stats that 99.999% of NBA fans are not aware of:
Playoff series record: Lebron 39-11 Bird 24-9
Playoff series without the Home Court Advantage: Lebron 9-8, Bird 0-2
Game 7 road wins: Lebron 2 Bird 0
Championships while not having the best record in the league: Lebron 3 Bird 0
Lebron's achievements were just a little bit better, not to mention longevity/health is part of the game. Just ask Bill Walton.
This is not the full story. Larry was eligible because he had been in college 4 years, but decided he was going back to finish his degree. Any team that picked him would be without him for that year but would still need to sign him to a contract before the next draft or he could be selected again.
Phil Ford was so dynamic. Sad what happened to his career. He's like a mix between Stephon Marbury & Derrick Rose.
Hey Henry! Would love to collab on some content with ya! Let me know if you would be interested 🙏🏼
A lot of teams didn’t draft him because they wouldn’t have him in their team for another year. Big risk for the team for him being injured during that last year at school. So you really can’t go by the draft numbers.
After seeing the behind the back pass, I couldn't really focus on the rest LOL
"I hope you don't tell Mr. Auerbach, but I would've played for nothin.' "
Larry was build different back then
Thompson and Richardson had relatively solid careers. Ford was done in by injury. None of them were actually poor selections as the teams who draft high needed immediate help, and would have had to wait another season for Bird to arrive.
Bash all you want, but the fact Darco Milicic got a ring before all those superstars in his draft class cannot be changed...
Always catch so much shrapnel being a Warriors fan in every NBA story. Passing on Larry Bird and trading away Bernard King 😢
As Warriors fan that grew up in New England it hurt even more when Celtics stole Robert Parish and draft pick (Kevin McHale) for rights to Joe Barry Carrol and another pick - yikes!
@@mikethibert3351 my dad is about to be 70 and still brings that one up. Poor us lol. #dubnation
Purvis Short wasn’t a scrub. Just not a star. Trading for Bernard King in the first place was a huge gamble. He was on a collision course with substance abuse and 2 teams already gave up on him. By the time they traded him for Sugar Ray Richardson, it was a high stakes bet between 2 teams on which one would self destruct first.
Drafting Bird that year was high risk, high reward. You can’t argue with the subsequent results.
12:01
Red was *NOT* coach at that point.
He retired as COACH after the 1966 Finals, to become President or some such of the Celtics as his ONLY position in the organization (and is famed in part for eventually picking Bill Russell both a player/coach as his successor, and the FIRST Black Coach of ANY US MAJOR LEAGUE SPORT).
Could you imagine if the Bulls had drafted Bird, and then also drafted Jordan a few years later? Jeez man....Bird and Jordan together on the Bulls would have been unstoppable. Probably would have been the closest thing to an undefeated season, year after year! I'm certain that all the EXPERTS will materialize to let me know how wrong this is, how it was impossible, etc. All I am saying is, imagine....
But then imagine that Portland drafts Jordan so the Bulls don't get him. I will never understand why Portland passed. Many thought Jordan should have been #1, but to not even be #2? The only reasonable thought is that the NBA wanted Jordan in a big market like Chicago because the NBA knew they had almost gone under a few years ago so all owners were willing to do whatever it took to save the league. They wanted stars in big markets. I wouldn't put it pass the NBA at all, most rigged league in the US.
Now how does Michael Ray Richards get totally BANNED from a league for drugs, and so, so many others have gotten chance after chance after chance
It was the 80s and bias had just died🙄🙄🤷
OJ Mayo got functionally banned from the NBA for drugs (suspended indefinitely with a minimum of 3 years, but with a requirement of the NBA commissioner signing off on his return). All it takes is making the wrong people look bad
There is a good documentary on him. He most likely would have been a great if not for the ban. (Barring an injury)
League had just instated a zero tolerance policy. The stereotype was that the whole league was on coke, and Bias had just died after being drafted. Players got the choice of voluntarily checking into rehab with amnesty, or if they failed a test they’d be banned.
Most of them got reinstated later on, including Richardson, but due to advanced age and ravages of substance abuse they never got back on track.
@@75aces97 Thanks for the explanation.
When the Celtics drafted Larry, he wasn't yet the Larry Bird who would become famous. He still had a year of eligibility at Indiana State and was clearly going to play it. That meant that any team who drafted him ran the risk that they couldn't sign him before the next draft. If that happened, Bird would go back into the draft and would certainly be the first or second player selected (depending on whether or not Magic went first).
Bird had a lot of unknowns performatively and was no guarantee to sign. The Celtics were falling apart and Red could take that chance. Bird had an amazing senior year and became the Larry Bird everyone has come to know. Because his rights were about to expire, and because he was one of the best two players available, he could hold the Celtics hostage. By that I mean he could more freely negotiate his contract like no one had before.
True but Bird was a man of his word and was never really going to screw the Celtics.
Ended up giving them his entire career and a revived franchise for years to come for their faith in him.
(Although naturally he made a bundle off of them he would have anywhere)
@@mistermonologue2442 I agree with your assessment of Bird's character. But he was handled by Bob Woolf, the best sports agent in the business at the time, and Woolf would have taken care of his player. Of course, this is all speculation, and we got to watch an amazing player for a terrific team, huh?
Every one in the pros knew Bird was the best player in that draft. In Sept 1977 after his rookie year, Sports Illustrated put Bird on the cover of the college basketball preview issue and called him College Basketball's Secret Weapon inside they said he had the best all around game in the country.
He was only secret because Indiana State were nobodies, but he took them to a 25-2 record his first year by putting 33p/13r a game. He got the notice of pro scouts who came to look at a center for another college instead were talking about Bird because he had 31 points at halftime.
He then went on to have another great season, so everyone knew by the 1978 draft.
He also had ISU held Hostage somewhat. He could have signed with Boston at any time in the 1978-79 season.
@@paulsonj72 Other than the existence of that fact, is there any reason to believe he actually did "hold them hostage"? As I recall contemporaneously, he told the Celtics and ISU he would not leave school early. I don't recall ANY speculation that he might. Perhaps I missed it?
He certainly held up the Celtics, but ISU? I don't recall that. What did he get?
As others have said, Auerbach drafted Bird after his junior year, figuring he would return for his senior year but he would retain the right to sign him until the '79 draft.
When bird was drafted he was still in college he didn't even play in the NBA that year. The Celtics sold the house to get him. Bird didn't want to leave school in 78. Magic was drafted in 79. That's the reason those other teams passed on him he wasn't going to play in the NBA that year
Henry, he was drafted 5th because it wasn’t clear if he was coming out as a junior. Teams knew they would have to wait a year for him.
Damn Michael Ray Richardson and purvis short we’re buckets
Purvis Short went to my Alma Mater.
Fun Fact: The Warriors could have had Robert Parish, Larry Bird, and could've gotten Kevin McHale. They had Parish at the time and could've drafted Bird and could've even drafted McHale in 1980
WOW! didn't know Eddie Murphy played basketball. Even went from a different name and a 2nd pick. Just wow.
Great video
Thanks man!
Larry Bird was drafted as a “junior eligible,” meaning the Celtics would own his rights after he went back to school for his senior year. Not mentioning that is leaving out the most important fact regarding his draft.
Correct. And lose those rights if they couldn't sign him before the 1979 draft.
Few players caused rule changes and a sort of "upping of the game" of defensive strategy as Phil Ford. He came it at a time of change in the NCAA and forced that change to accelerate.
Larry Bird Won 3 Championships. Was 12X All Star 10X All NBA 3X All Defense & ROTY. Capper won 3 stright MVPs. He finished 2nd the 3 yrs before 2nd the 2 yrs after. Avg 24 PTs 10 RB 6 Ast for his career. the last 4 seasons of his career he played with crippling back pain
Rick Robey played for KENTUCKY and helped the Wildcats win the 1978 national championship. Do your research.
Michael Thompson, Trent Tucker, Ray Williams Randy Beuer and Kevin Mchale. The Minnesota Gophers
In other words, the teams who passed on Bird, not being actual fortune tellers, make reasonable picks.
Too bad reasonable picks don't win titles. The GMs can get a gold star though for participating!
@@stickman1742 You missed the "not being actual fortune tellers" part. Don't demand perfection from humans or you'll go through life embittered.
I remember watching Mychel Thompson at U of Minnesota
Wasn’t a fan of his but loved McHale. Minnesota boy
The best small forward of all time period
Bullshit: Elgin Baylor might have something to say about that…& if he doesn’t; i do!
The thing I will never get over. Tom Brady played for the University of Michigan. Ann Arbor is 40 miles from Detroit. Brady was drafted in the 4th round which means the Detroit Lions had four chances to draft Brady and they didn't.
Imagine realizing you had a problem, going to rehab, and then receiving a lifetime ban (later reinstated) for bettering yourself. That stupid policy was the reason drugs were as rampant in the league as they were. Because teams and players were more willing to cover it up than lose their players
He didn't get banned for going to rehab. He got banned for relapsing. The league already had drug problems long before he came into the league.
Bird is a top 5 player all time; and after a few beers, I might argue he’s the G.O.A.T.
11:49 this is why you really can't blame the other teams for passing on him. Too risky. Bad franchises can't afford to pick a guy who doesn't wanna come to the team and now you wind up with nothing. Larry holds all the leverage. Any team he doesn't wanna play for he can just say " F it" and enter the next years draft