SignalHub-Larry Bird makes rare public speaking appearances during NBA All-Star Weekend

INDIANAPOLIS – Only the NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis could SignalHubpull NBA legend Larry Bird from his quiet and good life back into the spotlight.

Not a recluse – he will attend Pacers practices, he’s out and about – but Bird has declined most interview requests since stepping down as the Indiana Pacers’ president of basketball operations in 2017. And even before that, Bird was reluctant, declining a USA TODAY interview request to discuss LeBron James’ fourth MVP in 2013.

It's his preference to stay out of the spotlight after a lifetime in it as basketball player, coach and executive.

But with All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis (Bird coached the Pacers and led the front office) and his home state (Bird was born in French Lick and played college basketball at Indiana State), Bird agreed to two interviews – one at Friday’s NBA Tech Summit and one with TNT that aired Saturday featuring Bird, Isaiah Thomas and Reggie Miller, two former NBA players with Indiana and Pacers ties.

The discussion panels at the NBA’s Tech Summit – one of the hardest tickets to obtain at All-Star Weekend – was an off-the-record event. However, the NBA on social media posted clips of Bob Costas’ interview with Bird, who nearly seven years ago drove an Indy car four blocks in midtown Manhattan to deliver the Pacers’ All-Star bid to NBA headquarters.

Bird, now 67 years old, is a 10-time All-NBA selection, three-time MVP, three-time champion, two-time Finals MVP, 12-time All-Star, Olympic gold medalist and Basketball Hall of Famer. He is one of the basketball's greatest players.

He kept captive an audience full of C-suite executives with stories and one liners – thoughtful, insightful and humorous.

Here are snippets from Bird’s conversation with Costas:

◾ Bird was regarded as an elite trash talker. At the 1986 All-Star Weekend in Dallas, Bird participated in the first 3-point contest. He walked into the locker room and saw his competitors: Dale Ellis, Sleepy Floyd, Craig Hodges, Kyle Macy, Norm Nixon, Trent Tucker and Leon Wood.

"Nobody’s talking, nobody’s saying anything," Bird explained. "They’re just sitting there. They sort of put their heads down. I said, 'Hey, I’m just looking to see who’s coming in second.' I did it for a joke, but they didn’t like that very well. Then, they’re all rooting against me. 'Somebody beat him.' "

Bird won the event 1986, 1987 and 1988.

∎ Talking about the 1992 U.S. Olympic Dream Team for men’s basketball, Bird said, "It’s a little weird playing against a team that says, 'I want your picture. I want your jersey.' Whatever man, we’re going to bust you up anyway.

"One of the great things about the Olympics when I got out there and stepped on that court, I felt it. I really felt, and obviously when they’re playing the national anthem and you get your gold medal."

◾ Bird told a story about a pre-Olympic exhibition game against Brazil, in which international start Oscar Schmidt wanted Bird, who had a bad back then, to play.

"He came over and said, 'Larry, please come in the game,' " Bird said. "I said, 'I’m gonna hit a jumper on you.' Sure enough, Magic (Johnson) heard me. He threw that ball to me. I hit a jumper, and Oscar loved it. It was awesome."

◾ Bird also relayed the story of when Bill Walton joined the Celtics in 1985. Walton, who was in the crowd, turned out to be a vital member of Boston’s 1986 championship team and was Sixth Man of the Year that season.

"He went to Robert Parish’s house and said, 'I’m not trying to take your minutes. I’m just trying to give you a break,' " Bird said. "It was absolutely awesome having him on our team. Bill only missed two games that year. He got his nose broke in Washington, and I don’t know why he didn’t come back out. And one night in San Francisco, he hung out with the Grateful Dead, and I knew he wasn’t going to play the next day."

Don’t forget though, Bird and other Celtics went to a Grateful Dead concert with Walton early in that 1985-86 season.

"Jerry Garcia was the Michael Jordan of musicians," Bird said in a chat at USATODAY.com in 2002.