YouTube Gold: A Young Larry Bird
He wasn’t what he would be, but even at this early age, Bird was a great player.
Larry Bird’s story is well-known now of course: a poor kid from French Lick who went to Indiana to play for Bob Knight but, bullied by Kent Benson, left after just a few weeks. That wasn’t the only reason he left - he felt overwhelmed - but he carried a grudge against Benson into the NBA, punishing him at every opportunity.
After IU he eventually found his way to Indiana State where he became a true star. Then he and Magic Johnson lit up the stage in the 1979 national championship game before both moved on to the NBA and a career-long rivalry and deep friendship that still endures.
Before he emerged as a national figure, Bird was just doing Bird things only no one outside of Terre Haute knew much about him, other than guys like Knight, Denny Crum and the college coaches who had pursued him. It wasn’t like today with ESPN and YouTube. A guy like Bird from a place like French Lick (population circa 2,200 when he was in high school) just didn’t draw a lot of attention.
This video is from the 1977 NIT where Indiana State played Houston. Coached by Guy Lewis and featuring Otis Birdsong, who had an outstanding pro career and was for a time part of a promising Kansas City Kings backcourt along with former UNC star Phil Ford, Houston just nipped the Sycamores as Bird missed a game winner.
It’s not the level of Bird we saw in the NBA, but you can see what’s coming.