Larry Bird had a secret 31 years ago as he won gold on Dream Team. He was about to retire.
Larry Bird had a secret 31 years ago as he won gold on Dream Team. He was about to retire.
Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2022.
INDIANAPOLIS – No one knew the thoughts swirling in Larry Bird‘s head the summer of 1992. Bird was in Barcelona, Spain, on a court battling Croatia in the gold medal basketball game of the Olympics — and he had a secret.
Bird was a member of the USA’s star-laced Dream Team, but he wasn’t there as some token player. He was not some perfunctory add to the roster.
If he had been anyone other than Larry Bird, he might not even have been on that team at all and, if he were, maybe as a backup.
Bird was 35. He had played 13 seasons at full throttle in the NBA and back injuries were plaguing him.
Without Bird, that Dream Team had colossal talent: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley.
But as the USA trounced Croatia 117-85 for the gold medal Aug. 8, 1992, Bird wasn’t just a role player. He was a contributor, an important contributor. Against Germany in the USA’s third game, Bird led the American team with 19 points — and he did it with that secret looming in his head.
Larry was a force to be reckoned with,” said Bill Benner, who was a sports columnist for the Indianapolis Star, covering the Olympics in Barcelona. “He was not window dressing in any shape or form.”
And yet 10 days later, 10 days after Bird reveled in the gold, he retired from basketball.
