Good book spoiled: Larry Bird

Kelly Dwyer

08 Aug 2025 — 14 min read

This is the first of two breakdowns of Jackie MacMullan's 1999 book 'Bird Watching,' a document of Larry Bird's post-playing career and initial season as coach of the Indiana Pacers in 1997-98.

It is a great book, a fun read, and this is the spoiler alert.

THE BACK STORY

The story we heard for years, inside those 46-different Laker or Celtic documentaries floating around for viewing, was Larry badly damaged his back while performing unnecessary heavy landscape work for his mother in 1985.

Building her a driveway with his own upper torso, because why pay for something you can do yourself?

This explanation, the "mom's driveway" story, is never told nor mentioned in the book. Every other spinal setback is documented, but for whatever reason the driveway bit is kept under wraps.

In this turn, written in late 1998 and published in 1999, Bird pinpoints his back woes to the summer of 1983, not 1985, and mostly to serve as the reader's introduction to Dan Dyrek. Dyrek is Bird's longtime physical therapist, and the book stands as a 300-page Thank You note to Dyrek for helping Larry Bird walk normally, play golf, sleep without pain.

The back injury, in MacMullan's 1999 version, takes place during the 1983 offseason at Bird's house in Indiana. Bird refuses to let his brother Eddie and Eddie's idiot friend spread drainage gravel, the final touches around the new outdoor basketball court Larry installed with the pair's (apparently inept) help. Bird bleeps up his back tossing gravel with a shovel.

The only time mom's place is ever mentioned is when Mrs. Bird is making drinks and sandwiches for Larry's new friend Magic during the filming of the famous Converse advertisement in 1986. When Magic Johnson and Larry Bird drove tractors around. Four-wheelers.

There are some parts of history that I wish cell phone cameras were around for: Magic livestreaming a trip around the soybean stalks with Larry.

The second time Larry messed up his back?

Kenny Rogers.

You remember Kenny.

(Kenny's agent telling the director, Kenny will not step into the the banana boat. Kid can, Kenny won't.)

Kenny Rogers' 1989 charity basketball game ("I love Kenny Rogers's music," wrote Larry, extra "s"), Larry lifts for a rebound but lands the wrong way. Took a hit from Michael Jordan, knew immediately, had to fly to his therapist's office to address what was eventually diagnosed as "torn additional portions of the disc wall." How many portions are there?

Larry spends the first 21 pages discussing his once-throbbing back, of which "the right and left [spinal cord] joints should be parallel to each other, but the ones on the right side were all sorts of different angles."

His rehabilitation? Not ideal. Perhaps irresponsible.

Larry says he took a ten mile walk "the same day I had my first [back] surgery," which ... Larry?

What the hell Larry.

Ten miles? Same day? Larry? What the hell.

DID LARRY STRETCH HIS ACHILLES

According to his personal trainer, not nearly enough.

DID LARRY TEAR HIS ACHILLES

No.

DID LARRY HAVE SURGERY TO REMOVE BONE SPURS?

From each Achilles? Yes, cost him most of 1988-89 and Boston's Eastern title defense.

WAS LARRY CHEAP

It is a familiar theme. Larry Bird frets over money like Jaco Pastorius, well, darn, never mind. Messed that one up.

Bird worries over money.

He does not understand why NBA teams pay so much for luxury hotels with beds lodgers only spend a few hours in. Hours spent sleeping, too, as if snoozers can spot the five stars surrounding them while slumbering.

While coaching Bird asked his Pacers front office if he could force the team to fly commercial for a ten-game midseason stretch. The Pacers declined, citing sponsorship concerns with the team charter plane. The players' union is not mentioned.

In Barcelona, during Larry's stint with the Dream Team, Bird was at the hotel pool with family and friends, feeling himself, and thought he'd play a prank on Patrick Ewing by sending the check to Bird's first beer of the evening to Ewing's seat by the pool. Patrick responded by dropping Bird's bill into Ewing's open tab, happy to buy beer after Barcelona beer for Larry.

Barcelona beers were eight bucks, though, a tag which infuriated Bird, who was barely comfortable with the buck-fifty Boston beers in 1992 (Larry's quoted price). Bird was aghast that his new friend Patrick kept buying Bird those "eight-buck beers," as if Larry wasn't used to guys named "Patrick" sparing no cost while buying Larry Bird beers.

(Larry Bird got to be good friends with Patrick Ewing but also Patrick Ewing's friend "Baby.")

When Bird met with the Celtics for the first time in 1978 Larry was offered something to drink, he asked for a beer, the Celtics asked which kind Larry would like, and the most expensive thing Larry Bird could think of was a Heineken, so he asked for one. He was satisfied with his choice, as were the Celtics.

DID JALEN ROSE LOVE HIM

You bet.

At one point in the down-then-up 1997-98 season, Jalen Rose nearly gives up a game with questionable decision rendering. "You got careless and reckless and we could have lost this game," Bird screamed at the 24-year old.

Jalen yelled "you're right, coach!" Then he jumped up and hugged a very surprised Larry Bird.

If Larry Bird yelled at me I'd probably do this too.

DID RIK SMITS' UNCLE DIE ON AN OIL RIG IN THE OCEAN

According to this book, yes. I was unable to find accounts of it online.

Smits' uncle passed away with less than a month remaining in the 1997-98 regular season. Rik, a native of Holland, asks Larry Bird for time off due to a deceased uncle and coach says "sure."

Before Rik asks for the length of his leave, Larry asks what we're probably all thinking because we're all jerks, there's a month to go in the regular season, playoffs soon, so, was this uncle like a close-close uncle or only one you saw every so often or and Rik Smits says "like a father."

Then Smits tells his coach that his uncle died in an oil rig on the ocean and Larry was basically like "oh geez holy shit take as much time as we need, here." The Pacers scored 55 points in their next game (Reggie Miller sat the contest due to suspension, for elbowing Vlade Divac and yes I checked no video).

Smits missed seven games over 15 days away from the Pacers, came off the bench for the final four contests of the regular season ahead of the pre-playoff break. Famed for his pained feet, the space away from the hardwood (working around 71 minutes total in about a month's time) likely aided Smits' stellar, healthy postseason.

Rik averaged 16.8 points per game in the first round against his 7-3 Cleveland counterpart, All-NBA Rookie Team center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, doing the damage in only 27 minutes per contest (in 83-possession per game evenings). Smits pumped Patrick Ewing for the same amount in the second round, plus 16.3 against Chicago in the Eastern finals.

Bulls fan, here. Every time Indiana decided not to pass the ball to Rik Smits in the 1998 Eastern finals, I wondered what I and every other Chicago Bulls fan did to deserve Dutch luck.

DEM BULLS

Plenty of back and forth as to how much leeway Bulls forward Scottie Pippen was allotted in Pippen's defense of Pacer guard Mark Jackson. Indiana lost the first two games of the series, Mark Jackson turning the ball seven times in each loss.

Larry Bird's podium account after Game 2 gave no sign of annoyance, but apparently (Chicago Tribune columnist and Basketball Hall of Famer) Sam Smith asked for a little private time to send Lar-Bear over the edge:

"Sam Smith came up to me and said he was writing an article about how much Pippen was getting away with it."

Scottie Pippen, superfraud. Sounds exactly like an angle Chicago Tribune columnist and future Bulls employee Sam Smith would take.

"He said he wanted to talk to me about it. I said "I don't really want to say much. How about you say it for me? Then you can save me some fine money?"

Not entirely accurate. Here are the Pacer coach's quotes:

“They’re playing good defense, no question. But tonight I thought they got away with a lot.

I’d like to see Scottie Pippen guard Michael Jordan full court like he guards Mark Jackson. They let him get away with too much. I’d like to see him guard Michael and see how long he lasts in the game. He plays with Michael and plays for the Bulls. So we’re not going to get the calls. We’ve got to try to play through that. It would be very interesting to see what would happen to Scottie playing Michael. That’s why he should stay in Chicago.”

Pippen was a free agent following the season, and was asked about the scenario after Bird's comments were relayed:

Pippen smiled. “That’s impossible, this season, anyway,” he said.

Bird was not fined because the Bulls did worse.

DID PHIL JACKSON COMPARE A THIRD-ROUND NBA GAME TO A POTENTIALLY-SEVERE INTERNATIONAL SPORTING INCIDENT

Yes. After Indiana tied the 1998 Eastern finals at 2-2, Bulls coach Phil Jackson compared some whistles gone wrong in an NBA game to the makes-people-sad-and-angry-to-this-day-so-why-bring-it-up-Phil refereeing gaffes late in the Men's Basketball final during the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Every Bulls podium response was televised via SportsChannel back then (even regular season turns), we watched Jackson's comments live and ... what the fuck, Phil:

“Our players felt like it was Munich ’72 revisited."

Phil.

“(The Pacers) had many, many opportunities they didn’t deserve in that ballgame. I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch the last 10 minutes of that game without making a phone call to Rod Thorn.”

Imagining Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen angrily throwing wristbands and spent ankle tape around a sweaty, loser's locker room, screaming, "this is like Munich ’72 revisited!"

I get it, the USSR loss wasn't a national tragedy, 1972 wasn't 1962, the leaders of the times had other shit to deal with: Brezhnev is busy pretending the train is running, Nixon is up at 4 AM grumbling to himself about the clumps of hair Haldeman dusts over the Oval Office carpet, they're not interested in alighting WWIII over a basketball game.

But, like, some of us had three delivered newspapers and advanced internet wire service literacy by 1998, I didn't want to hear about the Commies cheating our kids out of the gold a dozen times in a day, Phil.

Jackson was fined $10,000.

''It's playoff time and everyone gets riled by what's going on,'' Bird said today in response to Jackson's complaints.

So, riled.

''The Bulls aren't used to losing. They are used to rolling though the playoffs. We've given them more of a challenge than they thought we would.''

ANY SLOP?

Plenty.

Celtic G.M. M.L. Carr wanted to trade Boston's 1996 first-round pick and 1997 unprotected first-round pick to Toronto for the Raptors' 1996 first-round selection, Boston moving up from No. 9 to No. 2 in the 1996 draft so Carr could choose local product Marcus Camby. Local products were a chief concern to Carr and the Celtics in the mid-1990s, according to Bird, rather bush.

Bird credits himself with chiefly talking Carr out of turning two into one, abandonin' the Camby Plan.

Chagrined, Carr took off on the idea and instead traded his first-round lottery pick from two years prior (Eric Montross) for an unprotected 1997 first-rounder from Dallas. Additionally, Dallas gave Boston the No. 6 pick in the 1996 NBA draft in exchange for Boston's No. 9.

If Carr traded his 1996 and 1997 first-rounders to Toronto for the draft rights to Marcus Camby, the Celtics would have never drafted Antoine Walker at No. 6 overall in the 1996 NBA draft. And without that extra 1997 lottery pick to dangle (Ron Mercer at No. 6), the Celtics would have never hired Rick Pitino.

And that would be bad, correct? Someone answer that.

I mean, it's not as if Marcus Camby finished his stellar 17-year career with only 30 fewer blocks than Robert "Chief" Parish, so, good save, Larry?

Ahead of the 1998 trade deadline, with Bird coaching the Pacers, either Portland or Toronto (not noted) wanted Mark Jackson in a proposed three-way deal with Indiana, who declined the drink. In this offer the Pacers received Trail Blazer Kenny Anderson.

Anderson was instead traded to Toronto and then Pitino's Celtics (for rookie Chauncey Billups, whom Pitino chose No. 3 in the NBA draft fewer than eight months prior) before the end of the trade deadline. Bird said he wanted Anderson, a 1994 All-Star, but not at the expense of Jackson, locker room continuity.

I never understood why Pitino, in his first year as Celtic coach, leapt to employ or even field Kenny Anderson, let alone deal players for him. The 27-year old point guard was not a voluminous nor accurate three-point shooter, and hardly the sort of press-and-trap lead guard befitting a Pitino-led defense.

What if someone told Pitino that Larry Bird really, really wanted Anderson on his Pacers, and Pitino jumped first? The great Mirin Fader is about to do Thee Book With Larry Bird, and while some may argue there are more pressing details to work through in Larry's dark, knotted past, I'd like her to ask Lar' if he duped Rick Pitino into trading Pitino's top-three rookie for Kenny Anderson to lead Rick's team (in millions earned per season).

An odd deal, even then. All Chauncey Billups did was take loads of threes and play pressure defense, we knew he was the perfect Pitino point guard and I promise you any Billups deal made no sense at the time. Unless Rick (who presumed his two rookies would be named "Tim" and "Keith") was collecting cards to deal for a win-now Mookie Blaylock or a grand slam like Gary Payton or maybe Damon Stoudamire. But Kenny Anderson?

In this book Larry gives this months-old Anderson anecdote away while adding that he very much appreciated Anderson's game, and would have Kenny Anderson on the Pacers if not for abandoning Jackson so far into a successful season.

While acquiring Anderson, Pitino banished Celtic-favorite-and-very-much-a-Larry Bird-favorite Dee Brown to cellar-dwelling Toronto, who'd just switched owners and fired the coach and general manager.

I wouldn't accuse Rick of going personal with Bird's most-beloved of active ex-teammates, but flipping players to either of the Canadian teams in 1998 was a most-unwelcome choice, literally. Ask Kenny Anderson, who refused to show up to the Raptors after Portland traded him to Toronto. Even (ex-)Heat trade deadline victim Ike Austin liked Clipperdom for a month before accusing Pat Riley of swapping while angry.

Bird and the Pacers wanted to deal for Latrell Sprewell after the 1998 lockout ended, before learning Golden State's price was too dear: One (1) Davis Bros. The Warriors instead dealt Sprewell for three (3) suddenly-sad Knicks: John Starks, Terry Cummings, Chris Mills.

When the Pacers knocked $2 million off the books at the 1999 draft upon turning Antonio Davis into the first season of Jonathan Bender's rookie scale deal, Larry Bird spied 1999 free agent Lorenzen Wright with Indiana's savings. The Pacers instead signed nobody. The Pacers' third-ranked payroll remained at No. 3, the late Wright signed with Atlanta.

When Larry Bird finally became Pacer general manager in 2003, four years after this book's publication? He fired Isiah Thomas as Pacer head coach and hired Rick Carlisle first, obviously, correcting the whiff Pacer prez Donnie Walsh made three years prior.

Then? Bird signed Kenny Anderson to Bird's first veteran free agent deal as NBA executive (non-minimum, non-extension). By 2o03, Anderson had been through Boston but also with two teams which do not exist in 2025: Seattle's SuperSonics and New Orleans' Hornets.

"We are very happy to have Kenny aboard. He will be a great addition to the team. He gives us an extra point guard to help provide us with depth at that position. He has always been one of my favorites and I look forward to working with him."

WHOM, DOES, LARRY, LOVE

Loves Allen Iverson, says he "makes people around him better," one of Bird's favorites. Loves Rod Strickland but wouldn't want to coach him, which sounds like something a Hoosier would say about New York.

Loves Antoine Walker as a Celtic, Gary Payton and Vin Baker as Seattle SuperSonics. Loved Charles Barkley, and the way Chuck was seen "carrying coolers out to the truck for the medical staff" at Team USA training camp in 1992.

Um, what the hell is inside these coolers?

WAS BIRD PAID LIKE A MODERN NBA COACH?

The book's author reports Bird made $4.5 million to coach his rookie season in 1997-98.

I looked up this figure and they said $4.5 million is about $9.07 million in 2025-money, but then again this is the Bureau of Labor Statistics Website so I'm assured all these numbers are bogus. The NBA coach closest to Bird in adjusted 2024-25 salary was of course Indiana Pacer coach Rick Carlisle, making $9 million in the fourth year of a four-year, $28 million deal (according to Sportico).

Rick Pitino made $7 million in 1997-98 with Boston in role as team president and head coach. I looked up Pitino's terms and according to the BLS website, a 1997 salary of $7 million in 2025 dollars is "America is the GREATEST and HOTTEST country in the world" which is not a number, let alone currency, but certainly something I'll pass along.

Phil Jackson made $2.75 million in 1996-97 on a one-year contract, winning his fourth coaching championship.

Phil Jackson's agent – you know the type, talks like he's Brent Musburger's brother – noticed:

"Two fine coaches who have never won an NBA championship have just been paid exorbitant amounts of money. What does that do to the worth of a man who has won four titles and may win five?"

It meant $6 million, as it turns out, in Phil's final year with the Bulls. I asked the BLS website how much $6 million meant in 2025 money and it logged me back into Twitter and sent me to the list of 72 accounts Phil Jackson follows.

After leaving the Bulls and following a year away from the NBA, Phil signed with the Lakers in 1999 for five years and $6 million a year which is not a raise, but, eh, y'know.

DID BIRD PUBLICLY EMBARRASS HIS TEAM'S GENERAL MANAGER

Larry Bird required a contract extension in 1988, the Boston Celtics sent nominal general manager Jan Volk out to Bird's summer home to negotiate. Larry was annoyed, but not because there weren't any available agents of sorts around the Wickliffe IN bars Larry Bird used to bicycle to and from. No, Larry was annoyed because he was squinting and looking around not seeing Red Auerbach the fuck anywhere.

According to Bird, Volk never developed the temerity to put himself out there, state some terms, negotiate an actual contract extension, and Volk flew back to Boston after a fruitless day down south.

(Southern Indiana is south.)

(Northern Indiana is south.)

When Bird returned to Boston he chided the Celtics, told the media Boston "sent a boy down there to do a man's job."

Told the press he would play out the final season of his contract in 1988-89 and become a free agent. If I found any of this online, I'd quote it.

Red rang for a meeting. Larry showed up to negotiations with his agent and the salaries of everyone in the NBA, printed out "by computer." Boston and Bird agreed on the terms which Bird rode into retirement.

DOES LARRY BIRD STILL HATE JIM PAXSON

Oh yeah. Calls his ex-Celtics teammate a "classic clubhouse lawyer," tells us Jim Paxson is "always talking behind people's backs."

Earlier in the decade, upon both Paxson and Bird's retirements, Paxson was flown into Florida as a traveling representative for a trading card company, as Bird (who lives in Naples FLA) was scheduled for a promotional event with the company, a card signing afternoon.

Bird was told Jim Paxson was going to be the executive rep and Bird told the card company to fly Jim Paxson home, and find another executive rep to fly into Florida. Without leaving the airport, Jim Paxson was flown out of Florida.

None of this was tangential or relevant until we remember the fact that Jim Paxson re-entered the NBA for the first time in eight years (as VP of the Cavs) around the time this book was written in the autumn of 1998.

NEXT: Part II, many, many further feuds, Dream Team, grabbing the Pacer job, leaving the Celtics.

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