Larry bird:After you win one, it really don’t mean much to win another one” – Larry Bird explains why he never cared about MVP awards
championships. That is nothing revolutionary, but that notion has lost its value in the modern era, with a lot of young guys coming up focusing more on their individual accolades and stats rather than winning.
If you ask Larry Bird, personal recognition is nice, but nothing can compare to the joy and feeling of winning a ring for their team and city.
“After you win one, it really don’t mean much to win another one. The thing you wanna go for is the championships. Once you win the MVP award, it’s yourself; you’re by yourself. Once you win the NBA championship, the whole city is involved. All you Celtics fans around the country and the whole city. It’s just something that’s an unbelievable feeling,” Larry explained.
Different mindset
For someone who achieved so much in his career and won almost every possible individual award you can think of, to say that is all inferior to achieving success as a team is really a revelation to hear. But then again, Larry comes from a different time and background.
The Boston Celtics legend won three straight MVP awards, but when they didn’t manage to top it all with a championship in 1985, it felt empty. Sure, winning the prestigious award was nice, but he couldn’t really celebrate with his teammates and fans, which was all that mattered to ‘Larry Legend.’
That infamous 1984-1985 season was quite possibly the best statistical year of Bird’s career, as he averaged 28.7 ppg, 10.5 rpg, and 6.6 apg, but to no avail, as the C’s lost to the Lakers in six games. The tremendous individual year was no match to the 1984 and 1986 seasons that Larry capped off with titles and Finals MVP awards to compliment his regular season MVPs.
The 1985 bar fight maybe played a role
One of the underrated aspects of the Celtics’ failed campaign to win the 1985 championship was Larry getting into a bar fight during the ECF, as his numbers really dipped down after the event. Being the leader he is, Bird owned up to his mistake and took the blame.
“The one good thing about all this is that maybe people finally understand that I’m human,” Bird said. “I make mistakes; I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I like to drink beer and go out and have a good time – I’m human.”
It is a shame that the Celtic and Bird didn’t manage to pull off the ultimate three-peat from 1984-1986, with Boston being close to pulling off three straight titles and Bird getting three straight MVPS and Finals MVPs. The fact that he was so close to the feat speaks volumes about how good Larry was during his prime.
