Larry Joe Bird

Larry Joe Bird born December 7, 1956 in the great state of Indiana. Larry Bird is truly a hero growing up from poverty to becoming one of thee greatest basketball players of all time. Larry�s childhood was very rough. While growing up in poverty his parents had split up and became divorced. This was really hard on Bird, but it became even harder when his father committed suicide in 1975.

Bird was just a sophomore in high school when his father died, but his father�s death only pushed Bird to become better. In his sophomore year Bird was becoming one of the great high school recruits in the state of Indiana. In his senior season Bird began to receive scholarships for basketball. He received a letter from the University of Indiana and was a big excitement for the school. But he soon would turn down one of the best basketball colleges, because of the size of the school which overwhelmed him. After turning down Indiana, he chose to go to Indiana State. There, he chose to play basketball. In his career at the University of Indiana State he led the Sycamores to a School record 33-1 season and the championship game where they lost to the Michigan State Spartans, and their player Magic Johnson, soon to become one of Bird�s great rivals in the NBA.

Before he reached the NBA Bird got married to his high school sweetheart. But the marriage only lasted 11 months, although they produced a child which they named Corrie. In 1998 Corrie revealed on The Oprah Show that she was Bird's daughter. Like her father, she played basketball for her high school and attended the Indiana State University. After his first marriage didn�t work, he married another woman by the name of Dinah Mattingly in 1989. With her, they adopted two children Connor, and Mariah.

Finally in 1978 Bird was selected to the NBA draft, and was drafted 6th overall in the first round by the Boston Celtics. There, Bird made a huge impact by turning their team around, going from a 29-53 record to a 61-21 the next year. At Boston Larry Bird would become one of the greatest players of all time, by winning 3 National Championships, 3 MVP�s and becoming a 12 time NBA all-star. In 1998 Larry Joe Bird Made the NBA�s Elite by making the Hall of Fame. Holding many scoring records for the Boston Celtics, and the NBA, Larry bird went down in history as one of the greatest players to ever play the game.

Bird wasn�t done. Soon after retirement he was employed by the Celtics as their assistant. But In 1997 he was offered to coach in his home state of Indiana, To Coach the Indiana Pacers. In 2000, he led them to an eastern conference championship and won coach of the year. Soon after, he resigned the coaching position and moved on to become the team�s head of Basketball. Now at the Age of 53 he is still with the Pacers, and their organization.

Larry Bird is my hero because he tries his best in everything that he does. His work ethic to be the best that he can be is unbelievable. All the accomplishments that he has made and all the success, it makes me want to be more like him and succeed in everything that I do. Larry is an inspiration to not only me but many others in the world today. That is why I have chosen Larry Joe Bird as my hero.